Start with the bullets: Good stuff. Loaded in full standard-ball loads, no sign of nasty copper fouling. In fact, the bore looks very bright and clean; notably cleaner than after cast bullets, even with a gas check. Accuracy seemed identical to ball, at least from what I can tell at this range. All in all I'd recommend them.
Now to the brass catcher:
The improved version works better than Version 1, and is a lot more stable; that stiffer wire makes a big difference.
Here's another shot of it in place
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Here's the whole unit off the rifle
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What goes over the ends to hold them in place and protect the stock is a strip of 2" wide velcro. The two straps that hold it in place are 6" long pieces of 1" velcro; the two sides are overlapped about 2", which leaves plenty of length to go around and strap it down.
Here's what it looks like with the wire(mostly) bare.
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The netting is the plastic that came over a turkey breast; very light, and has no problem stopping the cases.
I'm thinking that you could make it a bit more rigid with a longer piece of wire: have both ends extend from the bend all the way to the start of the open box. Be that as it may, the thing stayed in place during firing, from a rest and from standing offhand position.
Due to the ejection angles mentioned in the original test, it doesn't actually catch many of them; most hit the net and bounce back, falling to the ground near your feet. Which is fine for me; long as they don't go flying downrange where I can't get to them(or find them as the case may be). I did lose two cases that managed to skim just past the front edge and continue forward; I could see them, but with other people on the range no way to get to them. That's a LOT better than the usual loss number.
I'm wondering if some kind of nylon or light cloth mesh that only attaches to the front and top would work better; it would be looser, and might better trap the cases and let them fall down. And it wouldn't be a bag, so it'd be easier to make and put on. Easy enough to try, so that'll be done in the future.
Don't know, but I doubt such a setup would work well on a Garand: much heavier case ejecting with much more energy. With a heavier frame it might; may have to try that one of these days.
2 comments:
You've got a Picatinny rail on the rifle; might it be feasible to use a very low 45 degree offset mount on it to hold the catcher, or perhaps just a mesh deflector (I'm thinking a piece of plastic colander or similar)?
It's a Ultimak optics mount, which has worked very well.
Don't know, it's something to think on.
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