Caldwell Brass Trap – Catcher – Product Review – Save Your Brass and Your Back!

Authors Paul Helinski
The mouth of the Caldwell Brass Trap is nice and wide so it can be a little ways away and still catch erratic ejection.

The mouth of the Caldwell Brass Trap is nice and wide so it can be a little ways away and still catch erratic ejection.

Buy it at:
Midsouth: $40.32
Amazon: PRIME $42.59
Midway: $44.99

Who hasn’t been at the range after an afternoon of shooting and dreaded picking up the brass? Sometimes you can just sweep it into a pile and use a shovel to scoop it into a bucket, but there are always the few that you have to bend over to get. If you shoot in your back yard as we do here in Florida, you have no cement floor and handy sweep up. Brass picking becomes a chore.

If you reload, saving brass is part of your sport, but somehow you never find them all. Enter the $44.99 Caldwell Brass Catcher. This is one of those products that if we were going to design it yourself, this would be exactly how you do it. The mouth is wide, so even if your ejection is erratic, like with many pistols, it catches every round. It breaks down easily to fit in your shooting box, and you can even unzip the pocket in the back to get your brass. I can’t say enough positive about it, and I have shunned bending down to pick up brass completely since I opened the green Caldwell box.

This is what is in the package. The case, the base plate, and the net itself with the captured plastic rods.

This is what is in the package. The case, the base plate, and the net itself with the captured plastic rods.

The trap sets up with plastic rods that have been sewn into the edges of a mess bag. You connect the rods by feeling for the ends, then insert the loose ends into the steel base. The whole thing weighs about a pound so if you want it to resist wind, you should throw a couple boxes of ammo into the bag, or screw the plate down. Setting it up isn’t rocket science, but if all else fails, read the directions. This last option I do not speak of from experience.

What I found really nice about the trap is that once you have brass in it, you can throw your empty boxes into like a trash can and take it all with you. You can also mount the base on a tripod for stand up shooting. Just bring some elastic bands to attach it. Once you use this tool you won’t go back, that is for certain.

The rods are locked into the material so you don't have to worry about them coming out. You just feel for putting them together.

The rods are locked into the material so you don’t have to worry about them coming out. You just feel for putting them together.

My only concern with the product is that the zipper at the back of the bag seems a little cheap, and it doesn’t seem to really begin or end anywhere. It hasn’t failed on me, but beware putting a lot of weight in and carrying it like a trashcan. You could also just use closepins or safety pins if the zipper failed, so there is no reason why this Caldwell Brass Trap shouldn’t be a lifetime purchase. It isn’t cheap, but what is these days with shooting? I think it is well worth the asking price.

The Caldwell Brass Trap doubles as a trashcan when you leave the range.

The Caldwell Brass Trap doubles as a trashcan when you leave the range.

This zipper is perhaps the only weak link in the product. It doesn't seem real hardy. But you could pin it shut just as easily if it failed.

This zipper is perhaps the only weak link in the product. It doesn’t seem real hardy. But you could pin it shut just as easily if it failed.

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  • Observer September 26, 2016, 7:01 am

    Just use a mesh laundry hamper with a side opening like everyone else. They\’re only twelve bucks at Bed Bath & Beyond.

  • SSGRick September 19, 2016, 5:37 pm

    For my AR I use the Caldwell catcher that attaches to the rifle itself. It works just fine but has one major drawback, it has to be emptied every 20 rounds or so otherwise malfunctions begin to occur. FTF’s, FTE’s double feeds. A small price to pay for EASILY catching ALL of my brass for reloading. My other rifles are bolt actions and I police those rounds as fired. My pistols however, are a completely different story and I along with my soon are working on a catch system for those as well right now.

  • Sam June 1, 2016, 2:16 am

    I bo’t one & it PROVED to be a COMPLETE P.O.S.!!! My review was 100% truthful. Midway REFUSED to post it. The P.O.S. began to disintegrate at the range about 10 minutes after set-up. The rod guide material started pulling apart at the bottoms of each leg & just continued. You could watch it happen, Several fellow shooters did ‘review’ it. So did my gunsmith & the range masters & personnel. It did catch the brass, but for the bux, I want one that does NOT pull apart. It ain’t worth ‘renting’ one of these bloody things from Midway for one night. I left it 1/2ASSermbled for the trip home & left in on a table,
    The next AM, the P.O.S. was a bunch of loose parts all around the place it had been set. 6″ – 12+” of the material that the hoops fit thru had totally unraveled at all 4 points from where the hoops fit into the mounting block on up. That material isn’t Rip-Stop. Rip Crap? For sure! It ain’t the kind of material that one can seal up with a hot glue gun either, cuz it will melt.
    I use a big carry-all bag with a large hoop to catch my brass. So far, SOOOO much the better & I can CARRY stuff in it.

    • Administrator June 1, 2016, 8:17 am

      It’s funny because mine got left outside for a long time and it still works great. Sounds like just a buggy one.

  • Ymmot May 31, 2016, 12:50 pm

    Another waste of money!
    Buy yourself a folding fish net and rig it for this!
    It’s the same material and a lot cheaper!

  • brian July 21, 2014, 10:42 am

    If you shoot a semi-automatic rifle at a range, especially the AK’s and Mini, this should be manditory, but for another reason besides making it easier to pick of brass. That reason being that you will not hit your fellow marksmen with your brass or steel that you sling off. The owners of these guns are oblivious to the injury that these casings can cause. One should own this item or something like it out of respect for other shooter.

  • brian July 21, 2014, 10:42 am

    If you shoot a semi-automatic rifle at a range, especially the AK’s and Mini, this should be manditory, but for another reason besides making it easier to pick of brass. That reason being that you will not hit your fellow marksmen with your brass or steel that you sling off. The owners of these guns are oblivious to the injury that these casings can cause. One should own this item or something like it out of respect for other shooter.

  • Early Ray July 14, 2014, 5:08 pm

    (sorry for the ending, these sites don’t allow scroll down to finish or correct, but the gist is here)
    You are the worst kind of gun advocate because your kind would negotiate away our 2nd amendment rights behind closed doors outside of our purview with your middle of the road, cowtow attitude, making sure everyone’s sensibilities are addressed. I guess you will next ask us to seek permission to use our first amendment rights…we wouldn’t want free speech to offend anyone…or what about 4th and 5th? Lean forward liberals will never accept firearms. We get it. No, the right to bears arms is aasettled law opined by the Supreme Court. I don’t need to ask permission. I don’t need to quell the fears of liberals. I do not need to address them or their progressive lean forward hate America

  • Anthony July 14, 2014, 11:53 am

    I just wish they would install larger ones at the range /divide the shooters with a floor to ceiling net that is loose at the bottom,
    save your brass and saves getting hit with hot cases.

    • meeester December 12, 2016, 10:07 am

      Floor to ceiling net with a horizintal drawstring and enough loose material in the netting to make a pouch that will create a shelf to collect the brass before it hits the floor.

  • John Perilloux July 14, 2014, 8:09 am

    Yes, i have one like this that i made with a folding landing net. No zipper though, which over time may be a good thing.

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