I'm trying to get a brass catcher to work with my Kimber .45. I got a catcher from CTK Precision and no matter how I position it the ejected shells just bounce off. It appears that the shells go almost straight up with a lot of force. Am I missing something, or is it a lost cause?

Not familiar with this one. Why not have someone watch you shoot without the catcher to see where the ejected brass is going, then position the catcher. I suspect that the brass may be bouncing off the netting perhaps. Are you shooting off a rest, off hand or what?
Peter.

Sometimes you can 'tune ' a 1911 for better ejection by by tweeking the ejector ,extractor and by lowering the ejection port [1/8" below the original 1911 ].

My semi-autos all shoot brass in different directions. My Officer's Model goes straight up (often lands on the top of my head and sometimes in front of the bench). None eject to the left, but some go rearward, some strongly to the right, some can't make up their mind.

I've been trying to make a homemade brass catcher for years and am frustrated to the extent that I am ready to try this:

Get one of the cardboard boxes they ship refrigerators in. Cut a hole in the front and a door in the back. Face it toward the targets, get inside the box. Shoot all you want. You are probably taller than the box, so propping it up a little taller will probably be necessary, but all your brass should be right at your feet. Spread a small tarp and you are set.

Lost Sheep

I did my practicing when I shot bullseye competitively at a covered range. I got real tired of searching for 45 brass. I took a couple of dowls and 6 feet of fibre glass screening stretched between them.
I stood on the shooting bench scewed a couple of eye bolts into the roof joist and put one of the dowls between them. the brass hit the screening and dropped to the ground into a nice cluster.

Jim

Refrigerator box: now there's a great idea!

You can get a brass catcher that fits over the hand/wrist. I have seen it in use and may be a bit more portable than a refrigerator box. Having said that it is dependent on ejecting brass to the right. I have an EAA 10mm that flings them over my head.
Peter.

I have built several out of coat-hangar wire and t-shirt material, but they had to be custom-bent to fit the ejection characteristics of the particular gun and also the ejection characteristics of the particular load.

Pain in the neck. Hence the refrigerator box idea.

I have seen plans for a desk-top (shooting-bench-top) unit made of PVC piping and netting, too, as well as floor-standing ones.

100% recovery is still a distant dream. Until then, I shoot more revolver rounds than semi-auto.

Good luck.

Lost Sheep

quote:

100% recovery is still a distant dream

Yup! I have tried the PVC idea for IPSC practice (not moving). Did not work! Then I tied the PVC tarp idea. Didn't work either!
Peter.

Fabric laundry baskets. Inexpensive, big mouth put it where the brass falls.