Illustration courtesy of Caldwell Shooting Supplies, Inc.

When we received a Caldwell Brass Retriever (Item #125789) last year for review, we believed that it was overpriced, so we put it on the back burner. When the new year rolled around and we took another look, Caldwell had lowered the price. Therefore, we are putting our notes from last year into this mini review.

If you are a reloader who collects brass every time you go to the range (some ranges require shooters to collect their brass), and especially if you have a bad back, the Caldwell Brass Retriever is just what the doctor ordered. The Brass Retriever will save you a lot of time, effort and pain from bending over to pick up spent brass. As the Caldwell website (http://www.btibrands.com/brands/caldwell/) says, "To pick up spent brass, it is just as easy as pushing a mop."

Illustration courtesy of Caldwell Shooting Supplies, Inc.

Features

• Designed to make picking up brass extremely easy
• Reduces time and saves your back
• Telescoping handle to customize the length
• Simply push down and roll the Brass Retriever over the brass
• End caps open to easily empty the Brass Retriever

With an aluminum handle that extends from 28 inches to 57 inches, the Brass Retriever can be used almost effortlessly by anyone. You just push the Brass Retriever so the metal cage rolls along the ground, over the spent cartridge cases. It works well on grass, dirt, gravel and concrete, but not so well on loose sand. (Not much does.)

It comes with a roll-cage separator that allows one to easily dump the brass into a bucket. We found it was not really necessary, as we simply spread the bars of the cage by hand and the brass dropped out. If you have captured a lot of brass, you can open either one of the end caps to empty the cage into a container.

The head/cage of the Brass Retriever can be removed from the handle for storage, or to fit in most range bags for transport. All in all, this is a really handy and useful tool for the range.

Although the 2017 MSRP is $59.99, you can find the Brass Retriever priced online at Amazon and MidwayUSA in the mid-$40 range. That makes it a better deal and a range accessory to seriously consider.

Once again, if you need to collect a lot of brass, we recommend you spend the money for the Caldwell Brass Retriever. Your back will thank you.