My deflected brass.

[Rebel2345]

I'm looking to get into hand loading .223 for my AR and had a quick question.

I normally shoot right handed, but I'm left eye dominant. Trying to make one hole groups forced me to switch sides, and I started shooting left handed as its just easier to focus that way. But being that my DPMS Lo Pro didn't have a deflector, brass was hitting me, so I had to buy a weaver mounted deflector. Well this deflector is oriented in a way that the casing smacks it, and dents the neck. Does this effectively make these casing trash, or is it possible to reuse them still?

 

[dawico]

If they aren't creased they should be fine. They may end up with a shorter life span though. As long as your expander ball will still go through the mouth of the case, they should be reloadable.

 

[joustin]

Most dents can be taken out with the sizing die. Creases can cause issues, dents, not so much.

 

[Rebel2345]

Thats good. They aren't dented very bad at all, just wasn't sure if there might be any issues with weakening or anything like that.

 

[Fractal X]

I don't know if it's practical for you, but have you considered using a brass catcher? I use this one because I don't like chasing my brass all over the place but I think that it would allow you to remove the deflector and avoid the dents in the first place.

 

[TonyAngel]

I use the same brass catcher. At $10, I got a few of them. If you're going to reload anyway, you could kill two birds with one stone by getting one, or two.

 

[MetalHead]

I know it's a bit of work but shortening the ejector spring half a coil will help, brass will be throw forward instead of back at you. I take a bit more than one coil off mine and it throws them at 2 o clock in a nice pile. I recommended less as I don't expect you to have a spare spring handy. I have now idea how a softer ejection would work with the various brass catchers out there.

 

[Hondo 60]

I tried those mesh brass catchers & IMHO they're not worth anything.

http://www.elmfg.com/pics/103.jpg
Here's the one that works for me. It's a solid plastic catcher. Works great & I can empty 3 - 20 rd magazines into it w/o having to take it off to dump it.

 

[rcmodel]

weaver mounted deflector

Any chance you could stick a piece of rubber sheeting, old bicycle inner-tube, or leather to the deflector with double-back tape?

Might be soft enough to still deflect the brass without damaging it.

rc

 

[TonyAngel]

Ok, this is a DPMS, right? What ammo are you shooting? Where does the brass land relative to the rifle? 1:00, 3:00, 5:00? If it's tossing brass so far back that it's hitting you, you may not have enough gas getting through the system.

I looked at those hard plastic brass catchers and would have preferred that, but no way to put it on a flat top with a scope.

 

[rcmodel]

My homemade Brass catcher that mounts on magazine & fits any AR-15:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=5052356&postcount=4

rc

 

[l3uster]

I tried those mesh brass catchers & IMHO they're not worth anything.

http://www.elmfg.com/pics/103.jpg
Here's the one that works for me. It's a solid plastic catcher. Works great & I can empty 3 - 20 rd magazines into it w/o having to take it off to dump it.

Good luck using that thing shooting left handed

 

[Rebel2345]

Not a big fan of catchers, my rifle already weighs a 10 pounds. Anymore and I will probably have a hard time shooting off hand.

Any chance you could stick a piece of rubber sheeting, old bicycle inner-tube, or leather to the deflector with double-back tape?

Might be soft enough to still deflect the brass without damaging it.

rc

Thats a good idea. I have some stick on rubber strips, I didn't even think about that.

Ok, this is a DPMS, right? What ammo are you shooting? Where does the brass land relative to the rifle? 1:00, 3:00, 5:00? If it's tossing brass so far back that it's hitting you, you may not have enough gas getting through the system.

I looked at those hard plastic brass catchers and would have preferred that, but no way to put it on a flat top with a scope.

This is a smooth side DPMS upper, no built in deflector. So without it, the shells were landing between 4 and 5 oclock.

Its throwing the shells just the same as seen here. But you can see how the deflector is making the shells bounce out instead of letting them fly back.