How much brass do you buy

I've gotten plenty for free at work over the years, but some calibers (.45-70, .38 Super and .41 Mag) I've purchased over the years.

I feel for a lot of you. I have never bought brass, I find enough at the ranges I have shot at and I pick up every single piece of brass I can find. What I don’t need, I trade for what I do need or sell to buy powder or primers. 2 years of scrounging brass got me 10k primers and 8# of powder, lead I was getting for free, so quite a few rounds were free. I pick up .22 also and have a sizable scrap bucket going. In the last year I have sold 10k 9mm, 8k 38spl, 6k 45, and 2k 357 that were extra. I still have enough to shoot till I die and the kids will be setup to take over.

I did buy some purty Starline 357 Mag brass for some Hornady 140g FTX projectiles.
Nothing is too good for my Henry.

AJC1 said:

I have never bought a single piece from the store.. Curious if our community buys a lot. The only brass I have paid for was from this board.

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I too have never purchased new brass. When I first started reloading 9mm I bought 500 from a forum member and then when I started loading 45acp once again I purchased 500 from the same member. I now work at an outdoor range and I get all the brass I could ask for and because I am working it I can tell the once fired from the stuff that comes out of plastic baggies. Also all those that reload are pretty good at collecting their brass plus more.

I just brought home a 5gal bucket of 223 brass that was all shot over 3 days last week; Weds, Thur, Fri.. Also have another 5gal bucket that was going to be shipped to a member friend in Texas until he found out what shipping was going to be. Anyone in the SE Wis. area that needs some free 223 brass?

I like to keep a full five gallon buckets of 9mm, 40 and 223 brass. Honestly I am pretty sure that I have a lifetime supply at this point. I found some and bought some. I have bought lots as large as 5000 at a time from a range. I pickup any brass I find. I have traded a lot of 45's for 9 and 40. I used to go to a range that border patrol used. They never picked up anything. I got a lot of their for free. I picked up so much of their brass that the next day my legs and back would ache.

Never purchased brass…I attend a machinegun shoot couple times a year and no one reloads…I get all the brass I can pick up during target resets. Last time I came home with (3) 5 gallon buckets full of 9mm, 45, 223/5.56, 308, 30-06 and a host of other stuff.

I didn't vote because there was not a choice that really described my habits.

I buy new brass, usually Lapua, for my varmint rifles and for my rifles with custom barrels. Usually in lots of 500. I use range brass for most of my handguns and factory rifles. For calibers like 38 Super or 41 Magnum where you seldom find fired brass I usually buy new brass. Usually from Starline and usually in lots of 1000.

Brass that I didn’t get from my brother or get at the range. In this order:

8mm Rem Mag (necked it down to 7mm)
45/70 (I load these too hott$)
.460 mag (most fun with one hand shooting)
.458 Socom ($.85 each)
.50 BW (cheaper than .458)
5.7x28 (impossible to fund)
7.7 Japanese (Expensive)

Haven't bought brass. When I first started shooting I recovered all my brass and everyones else's that left it, even though I did not reload, but I knew that eventually I would so through the years I collected brass by the 5 gallon buckets, even brass for calibers I did not have firearms for, just in case I ever did.

First, picked up some mixed-year LC Milsurp 5.56. After a couple years now they are getting a bit "worn down" so I vested in 1k Starline 223.

In true ~brass-junky~ fashion, upon arrival, unpackaging, I just stared at them,,, with a big stupid smile on my face!

I've bought new brass, once fired, picked up a ton from the gravel pits I used to frequent, and even bought ammo just for brass when the stuff was on Sunday 3 o'clock clearance at the gun shows.....
I have a few bags laying around from when I first started pulling the handle on the rock chucker 30 yrs ago......I laugh when I look at the price tags....$10.99 for 50 300 Winchester cases.....the good days

Klaatu Barada Nikto said:

I did buy some purty Starline 357 Mag brass for some Hornady 140g FTX projectiles.
Nothing is too good for my Henry.

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I forgot about the 500 pcs. of 357 mag. Starline I bought a couple years ago. Good brass. When I make the move to go with 6.5 Grendel, Starline will get another order from me.

The only brass I've ever bought were some .41 Long Colt from Starline about 10 years ago. Still have them somewhere

All my brass comes from the gun club (a good number of members do not reload), leaving Starline .32-20 & PPU .303 Brit as the only cases that get purchased.

Before I started reloading I saved all my brass to give me a good start. All my guns that I shoot and load for regularly are 5.56 and 9mm. I’m not really interested in a gun in another caliber that throws brass. I’ll get a bolt gun one day. I have a couple boxes of brass cased 7.62x39 but I’ve never seen a brass case at the range in that caliber.
The only brass I’ve bought was 500 new LC brass I bought 2 years ago that I have yet to get into. 5.56 brass is easy and plentiful to get at the outdoor ranges and matches. 9mm gets lost in the grass but my indoor range will let me get all I need.

I use range pickup for all the common calibers. With others, I'll either start off with a case of factory ammo and save the brass to reload or (if that option is too pricey) I just order fresh Starline, such as for 6.5 Grendel and .357 Mag.

When I was shooting a lot of Bullseye a buddy and I split 20,000 once fired TZZ cases.
No crimped primers.
I have been through by 10,0000 three times and am part way through the 4th time.

I have never bought brass. If I ever start loading for extreme accuracy then I will start.

When I first started out with 357 mag and 9mm, I'd by the white box ammo from Winchester real cheap and then reload those cases.

But after I branched out to 45 Colt, and others, the ammo got a lot more expensive. So I started buying brass from Starline in lots of 500 - 4,000. Several of my revolvers have never seen a factory round: 41 Spl/Mag, 44 Spl/Mag, 45 Colt, and 480 Ruger.

I buy bulk, but I will also pick up obviously new brass. It is kinda amazing what folks will leave laying on the ground. Somedays you get lucky and find a bunch, but even so, that’s not enough to keep me and family stoked.

GE-Mini-Gun said:

Never purchased brass…I attend a machinegun shoot couple times a year and no one reloads…I get all the brass I can pick up during target resets. Last time I came home with (3) 5 gallon buckets full of 9mm, 45, 223/5.56, 308, 30-06 and a host of other stuff.

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I have not seen spent brass from a machine gun, is it beat up any more than from a semi auto/ bolt gun...?

This yr I've purchased 1,000 pcs of once fired brass.
And that's gonna be it for 2020 & 2021!

I almost never buy new.

It's difficult to scrounge 240wby, 30-40 Krag, 7.62x38r and 260 rem.
Oddly enough these are my primary shooters. So I have to buy brass.
223, 38spl, 357 are far too common to buy.

I don't get any range brass anymore, used to get a good bit from a friends range after another friend used it and didn't reload. He is no longer with us and my friend sold his place with the range on it. I have saved all of the brass from factory ammo I ever bought. All of my old .223 brass is now loaded and stored so I bought a 500 ct Starline box to have some more to load. I have 2 custom rifles that I have to make ammo for so I bought (over 20 years ago) 1000 .284 Winchester Super Speed cases for my 6/284 and 15 years ago 500 Remington .270 WSM cases for my .257WSM built on a M70 Winchester action. Also bought a 500 ct batch of .38 Special factory blemished brass several months ago when I started shooting my old Ruger DA revolver. On my to buy list is now .44Mag. I'm good on all of the other brass except maybe 7MM Mauser for my Ruger #1 Single Shot. Haven't fired it more than 15 times since I bought it back in the 70's.