A tidy workplace is important for safety and it is highly beneficial to keep the shooting area free from trip hazards. With this in mind a good stage crew will clear away spent cases as frequently as possible to ensure that every competitor stays safe and has an equal opportunity to perform at their best without running around on a growing sea of empty cases. The first person to shoot should have the same conditions as the last in a squad.
Human nature means that the simpler any given task can be made the more likely it is to be done and helpers are way more likely to clear away spent cases if this can be done easily.
The magnetic pickup stick has been a great asset for a long time, initially these were simple sticks with a magnet on the end, more recently several versions became available with sliding functionality to eject the cases into a bin. This avoids contact with residue on spent cases while making the job easier. The main shortcoming with many previous ejection sticks was that they worked by having a sliding sleeve which moved to detach the shells and while this works well it is prone to small magnetic debris getting in between the magnet and the sliding sleeve. This stops the mechanism from sliding freely but the new design from InnovaTAC in Finland has a fixed external tube with the sliding parts inside, safely isolated from debris.
You can order from selected retailers and direct from InnovaTAC – https://www.innovatac.fi/tuote/emp-ejecting-magnetic-picker/
We received a production version and have tested it successfully as you can see in the video. This is a great adaptation of an existing concept and we would highly recommend it to ROs and event organisers alike.
Add comment