Catching Brass from M1 Garand

[Landshark9025]

Started shooting and reloading a CMP Garand. Love it, but it ejects brass like it is mad. They generally go right and forward which puts them in grass. I tried a tarp, but as you can imagine, they melted the tarp.

I prefer not to dig around for the brass and at roughly $1/case for Lapua brass, I’m keen to get it all back.

Any ideas?

[BigAlofPa.]

I made up a brass catcher from a tin bin for when shooting off the bench. I did line it with rubber roofing. It's like this. I lay on the bench next to the gun. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Ho...-Bin/382161381

[shootinfox2]

Try a painters drop-cloth. They don’t melt that easy.

[country gent]

There are some tricks to tuning the extractor ejector springs and ejection on the garand. One of the Army manuals on accurizing tuning the garand gives these. trimming a coil or 2 from ejector sometimes helps a radius stoned on the bottom corner of the extractor helps some. Last Shuster manufacturering makes an adjustable port gas plug to bleed off excess pressure. These can be adjusted so a given load just "dribbles" the cases out by your elbow when shooting prone. Another plus to this plus is toning down the extraction helps brass last longer I believe brownels carry them. The garands extraction ejection is violent to say the least and can throw cases 20 feet or more, this was by design so empties didn't become an issue in battle. My garand in 308 will with commercial brass pull the case heads out of square in very few loadings. I mage a ported plug for it and tuned the extraction with port size it helped a lot here, but this was with full power match loads.
First incest in the Shuster adjustable plug and try it tuning the port size to the load. Then the mods to extractor and ejector. Another is lookat the hump on op rod see if there is a brass smear rub on it from it hitting the cases and throwing them forward. Its all in the pressure curve timing

[RU shooter]

replace the plastic tarp with an old cotton bed sheet .

[mdi]

My Garand flings HXP brass out to about 4:00 o'clock. Handloads vary from about 1:00 o'clock to 4:00 o'clock and from 4' to about 10-12'. I've tried a couple things to make brass retrieval easier, but none worked for me. I wasn't going to hang anything off my rifle and some of the ideas needed enough equipment to fill my truck bed and 30 minutes to set up (and take down afterwards when I had fired a couple hundred rounds and was tired). My "solution" is two fold. First, my Garand and 45 ACP brass are the only ones I tumble to a shine. Shiny brass is easier to spot in the dirt, rocks, etc., of the "range" where I shoot. Second is my "Brass Picker-Upper". I took a piece of spring steel rod, about 1/8" diameter, tapered one end and approx 1-1 1/4" from the end, bent the tapered end 90 degrees. I had a telescopic handle squeegee I didn't use so I removed the squeegee and inserted the rod into the end, securely. So I have a handle with about 8"-10" of springy/tough rod with a 90 degree angle sticking out one end. I collapse the telescopic handle for transport and storage (to about 3'), and extend it to pick up brass. I just insert the bent portion into a case mouth and bring up the case and drop it in a coffee can in my other hand. I can stroll around the shooting area picking up brass (any brass, and I often go home with more brass than I shoot), no bending over, no back pain. Works for me...

[W.R.Buchanan]

Get an adjustable Gas Plug for the gun. Choke the gas down until the action barely cycles, and it will poop the brass out right next to you.

For Slow Fire,,, open it up all the way so the action doesn't cycle at all, and then run the bolt manually after each shot. That way you don't have to chase brass at all. Use a single load device (SLED) for slow fire also.

Been doing this for years and I have never lost a case yet.

Randy

[Gtek]

Weedwacker and buzz it to the dirt!

[Landshark9025]

Thanks, guys. Looks like an adjustable gas plug and SLED will be on order later today, plus I think we have either a painter's tarp or old moving blanket somewhere.

Much appreciated.

[Walks]

I use an old cardboard box. And a 5lb Rock Cod Weight.

[Conditor22]

↑↑↑ stop it from leaving the bench↑↑↑

[MostlyLeverGuns]

First the adjustable gas plug, then the tuning of the ejector/extractor, the weedwacker, and the painter's tarp too. I think Lapua brass may be wasted in a Garand. Until you are under 1 MOA, you won't notice the difference between Lapua and the less expensive Fed/Win/Rem/Hornady stuff. With an adjustable gas plug, stop it down for 600 yards and hand eject the pricey brass. You won't notice the difference at 200(seriously - offhand)yards or 300 yards.

[Hick]

Get an adjustable Gas Plug for the gun. Choke the gas down until the action barely cycles, and it will poop the brass out right next to you.

For Slow Fire,,, open it up all the way so the action doesn't cycle at all, and then run the bolt manually after each shot. That way you don't have to chase brass at all. Use a single load device (SLED) for slow fire also.

Been doing this for years and I have never lost a case yet.

Randy

Along these same lines, I bought an extra gas plug and completely removed the valve-- so its wide open. Makes it a pull-bolt rifle that is easily converted back to full semi-auto by putting in the original gas plug. When you pull the bolt by hand the brass tends to land just to the right of the shooting bench. And-- its a little cooler by the time you eject. And you can pick when you want it to fly.

[trixter]

replace the plastic tarp with an old cotton bed sheet .

Thank you for this suggestion, I shoot at a rock pit and the pea gravel always gets picked up in my 'nut picker-uper', so if I eliminate the rocks it will be much easier to pick up.