AR-15 shell catchers are important shooting accessories even if they aren’t exciting. Many brass catchers, like Caldwell AR-15 brass catchers, attach to the forend of the rifle via hook and loop webbing and covers the ejection port to catch spent brass. These feature a zipper at the bottom of the bag to empty the brass cartridges.
But, though these brass catchers work for some shooters, they’re what some would call perfect. Here are some problems associated with some brass catchers like these that can be solved with a different design.
Mesh Bag Melting
Though they’re called heat-resistant mesh bags, it’s not all that uncommon for the mesh to melt in contact with hot brass, especially during intense firing sessions and if the bag is allowed to become full of hot brass, then emptied and filled up again. All that heat has to go somewhere and occasionally the bags melt.
Sometimes, hot brass makes tiny holes melt through the webbing, which can prevent shells from laying nicely in the bag, causing them to stack up and adversely affect capacity. If the holes are too big, the catcher will start to drop brass.
Mesh Bag Catching Fire Instead of Shells
Here’s an unfortunate circumstance, although it occurs less frequently than the issue mentioned above.
Occasionally brass catchers catch more than just brass. Sometimes they catch fire. The causative factor is the same. Brass can get hot, especially coming out of a hot chamber. Intense firing sessions sometimes shed white-hot brass (not really, but close) that, if allowed to sit in a mesh bag brass catcher for too long, will cause it to catch fire.
AR-15 Shell Catchers Jamming
Depending on how the brass catcher corrals and contains the brass, it’s possible for the spent shell to become wedged between the ejection port and the brass catcher itself, sort of like a stovepipe jam.
It’s also for the shells to stack up at weird angles within some catchers, which, even if it doesn’t make them jam, can cause them to lose advertised capacity. That’s annoying at the range and can cost you points in a competition.
Shell Catcher Taking up Rail Space/Obstructing Sight Picture
Some shell catchers mount to your rifle’s rail, either on the handguard or over the receiver. Understandably, this can cause two separate issues.
One is gobbling up rail space that you need for other attachments. Notably, if you mount them over the receiver, you’ll have no room for optics.
That’s another thing. Certain types of brass catchers also get in the way of the sight picture, which some shooters find distracting, and which can hinder target acquisition.
Mesh Bag Is Difficult to Clean
One final, potential annoyance is that mesh bag brass catchers can be difficult to clean, particularly since they have a lot of surface area and can absorb grime, oils, and fouling.
Unlike a rifles bolt carrier group and barrel, you don’t need to keep these squeaky clean, but the ability to do so if you wanted to would be nice. That’s hardly a thing with mesh bag brass catchers.
Solution: the Brass Goat AR-15 Shell Catcher
Solve these problems in one fell swoop with the Brass Goat AR-15 shell catcher. Made from molded ABS resin, it can tolerate high heat and will not melt or catch fire. Its rigid design also prevents jamming and is extremely durable.
It does not mount to rail space. Instead, it mounts directly to mil-spec magwells and requires no tools. Its slim profile keeps it out of the sight picture and does not interfere with the mounting of other accessories.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, but if you need more information you can visit BrassGoat.com.
