Some brass catchers are made of nylon mesh bags often feature Picatinny rail mounts that affix to some portion of your rail and are held erect with a wire frame which can be manipulated, either to cover the ejection port or to swing out of the way to allow the rifle to spit brass freely.
These same brass catchers are also typified by a capacious bag, often made of nylon mesh, that has a zipper at the bottom of the bag which allows for easy access and emptying, without the need to detach the attachment from the firearm.
These accessories – often marketed as AR-15 brass catchers – are easy to attach and generally work, most of the time. That is to say, when used properly, they usually don’t cause hang-ups and will catch spent casings with relative ease.
Many of them exhibit some serious shortcomings, and one of these stands out from the rest. They are often also marketed as brass traps with so-called “heat resistant mesh.” Now, in case you were wondering, rifle barrels are not – ever, we think – marketed as heat resistant. The reason they are not advertised as heat resistant is because it makes no sense. They’re rifle barrels. They have to be heat resistant. It’s like specifying that smokeless powder is useful as a propellant.
The reason these Pic rail brass catchers are overtly marketed as featuring materials like “heat-resistant nylon” is because experienced shooters know better that two of their biggest drawbacks have to do with heat. These accessories have literally one purpose, and it is to catch spent brass. Spent brass casings are hot, and this deficiency is glaring.
While these mesh bag brass catchers will work most of the time, during extremely intense sessions of range therapy or competition, they have been known to melt. In some instances, shooters have had issues with similar brass catchers actually igniting. While these problems are rare and extreme, they are nonetheless inexcusable in an accessory that should exhibit the exact opposite traits.
In short, this propensity to melt or even burn is why the best brass catcher is not made of a mesh material. In fact, the best brass catcher is not made of a mesh or a flexible bag at all. It is a brass catcher with a unique mounting system that is made of durable, high-impact, molded ABS resin that solves the problems mentioned in this article, as well as countless others faced by other similar brass catcher.
This is the Brass Goat by Magwell Mounts, and it is the best brass catcher currently available to shooters of many popular sporting rifle platforms. It is designed to mount to an AR-15’s lower receiver magwell, without the need for tools. It snaps on easily in mere seconds – but for a loss of compatible firearms and cartridges, visit their website, BrassGoat.com.
Since it is made from a solid, highly durable resin material, it is all but impervious to heat – at least the heat generated by hot brass. It will not melt and it certainly will not catch fire, and on top of that, it is extremely tough and reliable.
The manner in which it mounts also keeps your top rail free for the mounting of other accessories like scope mounts and optics, and it also frees your sight picture. It is light, slim, reliable and tough as nails.
To learn more about the Brass Goat, compatible cartridges, platforms and other advantages of its design, visit BrassGoat.com or contact their customer service department directly by phone or email. They can be reached at admin@magwellmounts.com or at 1-833-MAGWELL.
