I’m going to get a few more volunteer hours at the club tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone has used a leaf rake to cull the casings together so I can scoop them up in a large dust pan?
I policed brass last weekend by hand and my hamstrings paid dearly for it.

Google or Amazon search for "nut gatherer". Its a wire mesh kinda deal used to pick nuts and small items off the ground.
Might work. Never tried one!

I have one of the “nut gatherers” and it works ehh, okay. Won’t pick up .22 cases, but it will pick up 9mm, .40, and larger brass. If you try to pick up too many cases at a time it spits some back out. Also picks up rocks. Mine came with a thing you put on the rim of a bucket to empty the cage into the bucket. Never tried that, though.

Anyway, never tried it on grass, but I think it might either miss the brass under the blades or get the blades tangled up in the cage. I think a rake with fine tines might work better. Something like an artificial turf rake maybe.

Edited to add “nut gatherers” for clarity.

I’ve heard too many mixed reviews about those nut gatherers. And the Ammo-Up rollers are crazy expensive.

How much brass are you looking to pick up.
When I was on the ground crew at the club my wife and I are members at that was one of my primary jobs.
I would go out there 3 to 4 times a month to work on different projects and when the action bays needed de braising that's what I did most of the day.
There were times I would pick up enough brass to fill a 55 gallon drum.
I mostly used a device that was towed behind the clubs 4x4 mule. When the basket was full I would empty them in the drum.
I also used a smaller versions I would push like a lawn mower.
These devices were originally designed to pick up walnuts. I originally saw them at the shot show.

71 TRUCK, that’s what the Ammo-Up machine is. A roller with flexible tines that pick up brass and then a comb plucks them out and dumps them in a basket. $770 for an 18” wide roller. I already own a rake! Also it been hot lately so I’m only going to clean up for a few hours in the morning.

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
71 TRUCK, that’s what the Ammo-Up machine is. A roller with flexible tines that pick up brass and then a comb plucks them out and dumps them in a basket. $770 for an 18” wide roller. I already own a rake! Also it been hot lately so I’m only going to clean up for a few hours in the morning.

That's what we have. One was what I called the single wide, the push one and the other was what I called the double wide, the one I towed.

Wow I didn't realize how expensive they had gotten. The ones we had at the club were purchased back in 2017 or 2018 if my memory is correct.

You need a Brass Monkey...

I have used the nut Gather on Cement, and they work.
Never tried them on grass

And then are we looking for 30-06 brass or 380?

It’s alway tough, best to shoot in a sand or gravel pit.

I know, a range, that is where it is.

183810_65575835.png (305×420) https://share.google/qzh5QpACDylKVjS20

Or

A farmer near town here,
Got four pieces of astro turf off of market place F.B. that he laid down. ( 15 ft. X 15 ft. )

The school paid him $40.00 to haul it away when they had new stuff installed.

If it's your own brass, just put a tarp down before you start shooting. If not the dog doodoo pac man looking thing works pretty well.

https://www.amazon.com/MXF-Sco...1096b0277cfcacdcf7f4

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
You need a Brass Monkey...

Monkey tastes def when you pour it on ice.

I’d prefer a trunk monkey.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sourdough44:
And then are we looking for 30-06 brass or 380?
Yes. Anything I don’t need I can trade, sell, or sell for scrap. I am doing volunteer work so I’m not being choosy. Boxes, paper, shotgun wads. Anything I don’t want I’ll throw away later. I’d be too ashamed to chase one kind of brass, let the rest sit there, and then claim I was cleaning up for volunteer hours.

Just curious, what club do you belong to?
I'm a member at ASC.

Nut rollers work great on hard decks and solid ground.

So so in the grass, and obviously type and depth of grass matters a lot.

They work poorly in the sand, burying more than they pick up. Only useful if you strategically poke and stab with the brass facing the right way, and even then you'll bury more than you grab.

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
Just curious, what club do you belong to?
I'm a member at ASC.

That’s the one, ASC
I used a plastic leaf rake today. It needs less space between the tines, and it needs a straight edge, not a curved edge.

I don't suppose it could be as simple as breaking out every other tine?

I shot mainly rifle before our range management sucked all the fun out of shooting there. Was lucky the rifle benches were on a concrete pad. Easy cleanup with a broom.

Spread a tarp before you shoot, and never have to worry about this again.