Brass Catcher from CTK Precision
By Michael Zimmers
Semi-automatic guns, whether pistols, rifles or shotguns, are fun and easy to shoot. So fun and easy to shoot, in fact, that one can easily find himself expending multiple boxes of ammunition in a single session. Once the firing is over, though, many of us will want to pick up our spent cases. This is, shall we say, not so fun – ejected brass has an amazing knack for finding its way into the hardest-to-reach areas possible. Picking it up usually involves a lot of bending over, crawling around and reaching into dark, dirty corners of the shooting area. Plus, if you’re sharing a shooting area with other people, there’s always the hassle of your brass getting mixed in with theirs, stepped on, or otherwise hazarded.
Fortunately, a company called CTK Precision offers a brass catcher that is well-designed, sturdy and portable. I had the opportunity to test it with both a rifle and a pistol, and I came away very favorably impressed.
Features of the CTK Brass Catcher
The CTK brass catcher, unlike many other models, is of a stand-alone design. There’s no need to strap it to your wrist or somehow attach it to the gun. This alone makes the CTK catcher more convenient and usable than most others.
The first thing you notice about the CTK brass catcher is its generous opening, which offers over 225 square inches of catching space. While this might not seem like a big deal, consider that the larger the catching area is, the further from your gun you can place the catcher and still have it perform effectively. This is a brass catcher that won’t get in your way while you’re shooting.
And yes, that is a left-handed AR-15 in the picture. The brass catcher works from either side!
The CTK brass catcher was designed for versatility. It can be used for shooting in a firing lane, from a table-top or even in the field performing off-hand shooting.
If space is at a premium on a shooting table, the base of the catcher can be filled with lead shot or sand (as shown in this picture). Doing so allows the catcher to stand without benefit of its support leg, so it can be positioned at the edge of the shooting surface.
Further enhancing the usability of the brass catcher is that the base is drilled and tapped for a standard camera tripod, enabling the catcher to be used for off-hand shooting, at or away from the range.
This photo also shows the quality of construction put into the CTK brass catcher. The rim is made of heavy aluminum tubing, the base is thick steel with solid welding and a durable finish, and the net is made of a thick nylon webbing. This product is built to last.
Even when working in relatively close quarters, such as the lane in this photograph, the CTK brass catcher does its job with a minimum of intrusion. There was plenty of room on the bench for the catcher, a rest, my pistol, magazines and loose ammunition.
Every gun ejects brass a little differently, so it may take a few shots to learn the optimal placement of the catcher. Once this is done, though, the catcher performs wonderfully – it successfully caught 49 of the 50 cases ejected from this handgun test.
Summary
I suppose that a brass catcher isn’t truly a necessity, but having one can greatly reduce the hassle factor in a range session and make the overall experience more pleasant. And if you’re going to have one, you might as well have a good one. The CTK unit is the finest I’ve found, and I plan to enjoy it for a long time.
CTK Precision
E5861 Herzberg Road
Marion, WI 54950
(715) 754-2891
www.ctkprecision.com
Original Review: ArmsVault