More Scroungable 9mm Brass These Days?

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otisrush

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I've been struck at how there seems to be so much more 9mm brass on the ground at the club where I shoot.

For reloaders that are currently buying 9mm ammo due to current low prices, do you pick up your brass or do you not bother? That's one thought I've had. Or maybe the non-reloaders are just shooting more since ammo is so cheap. And certainly they're going to leave their brass on the ground. (Our club doesn't have brass buckets and doesn't make a big deal about leaving stuff on the ground.)

I started loading 4-5 years ago, when the last shortage was going strong. I remember not being able to find ANYTHING then, components OR scroungable brass. (I was at a different club then.) Consequently a 9mm case on the ground still looks like a gold nugget to me. The last 5-6 range trips I've told myself "Don't grab brass. You've already got more than enough." And what do I do each time? Pick up more. Today I think I shot 180 rnds and came home with probably 600 cases. And I still left a ton on the ground.

It seems like just within the last few months the volume available on the ground has really gone up significantly.

OR
 
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i do pick up my 9 mm brass and others that are left behind in my immediate area but not too anal about looking for every single one.

i was shooting today next to some guys shooting 9 mm and 223. i asked them if they will be picking up their 9 mm brass. they said no and they started putting them in a box for me. Great guys, I told them I could pick it up myself from the ground. i shot only about 160 rds of 9 mm and left with quite a bit more 9 mm.

after they left, i was eyeing the pile of 223s that the range officers were sweeping into a big pile and just wondering what the brass situation would be like in a year when the range officer asked me if I wanted it, even offered me a bag. they know i reload the common calibers. I of course said yes and picked up more than 200 223s that had been shot by the same group of guys.
 
I agree. There usually is a lot of 9mm brass left on the ground at my range. 223/556 sometimes too. It gets slim on other cartridge brass, though I did pick up 100 or so of 40 S&W brass recently.
I also pick up much more than I shoot at times. Somewhere down the line it will get used. Or I figure there may be times I won't be able to retrieve my brass. And this will serve as a buffer in supplies. At least that is what I tell myself. :)
 
Some days there is a ton of all kinds of brass, and then there's the days the brass rats get there before me. Last time I picked up the 9mm and 5.56mm, and then found ten 300 WinMag. Don't even load it yet, but not easy to find, so in the bag it went! I try to grab all of my brass at the very least - one time I missed some because a brass rat was going after it WHILE I was shooting. When I said something she just glared at me and kept doing the range chicken thing. I shrugged and switched to a revolver.
 
i find a ton of 9mm. i have stopped picking it up due to the fact i have multiple 5 gallon buckets of it and am running out of storage space in the garage.

i will still pick up nickel for some reason. Shiny ?
 
Unfortunately, very rarely do I find any brass left at the range I go to. I shoot mainly during the week and it must get cleaned up pretty good on Sunday or Monday. I’ve actually had to buy 9mm brass this year, wish I could walk up on it everywhere.
 
Yep, more brass on the ground at the range, all from ammo being plentiful and at a good price again. I have so much 9MM range brass I am being picky about what I pick up.
 
When I have time, I usually pick up ALL brass I can find on the range. A favor to the range, and good for my scrap bucket. I generally run a summers worth of "beverage" cans and scrap brass and copper from work and odd jobs for Christmas money. I have been practicing a heavy sort on 9mm brass, discarding any that isn't near perfect. My club has a lot of Federal reps that shoot factory second ammo, so I am working on a large lot of single headstamp FC brass. Some of the more eclectic calibers I find get tumbled, sorted and re-sold at a healthy profit. Came into 40 rounds of Norma 7.7 Jap this spring, those were like gold nuggets. Somebody has recently been shooting A LOT of IMI 5.56, so my stash for that caliber is well stocked for the next few decades LOL.
 
In recent times I don't think I've seen a single person picking up 9mm brass. Accordingly, you can get once-fired range pickup for super cheap, around two cents each or less. I pickup what I can, regardless of caliber.
 
I shoot at an indoor range, so I have to get there before the RO sweeps the brass past the firing line. I’ve never seen anyone pick up their brass.
 
I shoot at a private club. The pistol bays are normally littered with 9mm brass. I pick up as much as I can. I'll be starting my second 5 gallon bucket soon.

There's also been a lot of .45 ACP lately. Yesterday before our match I picked up over 200 pieces of .45 ACP. What I'm not seeing is much if any .40 S&W brass.
 
Agree with the above posts. I can't help myself and normally leave the range with more brass than what I arrived with, even 9mm. I'm finding more 40 S&W lately so I just take that home too and give it away later. When I shot at an indoor range the first thing I did on the line is sweep my area. When I was done shooting, I picked up all the brass in my area, I figgered it was mine. If I wasn't allowed to keep my brass, I found another range...
 
I don't shoot at indoor ranges. Whenever I go to the gun club, whatever I see on the ground, if it's brass I pick it up.

I have most of a 5 gallon bucket of 9mm. I rarely shoot 9mm, but I'm not giving up the brass.
 
I shoot at a gravrl pit on Federsl land designated as a shooting spot.
I always pick up brass that has been left there. I have a five gallons plus of 223, three gallons plus of 9mm, smaller quanities of the other calibers.
About a month ago i picked up twenty-two pounds of brass.
Occasionally I will get some rifle brass.
Once there was a guy shooting a 308 AR10. When he left i picked up his brass. 356 pieces with boxer primers and around eighty pieced with beridian primers.

I knock the primers out with a lee universal decapping pin then wet tumble it. Then store it. I reliad ! Couple hundered rounds to shoot and reuse the same cases. When the cases start to fail I crush the bad case and throw it in the scrap bucket and grab a new one to replace it.

We have a over abundance of tweeker brass whores that scavenge the shooting pits for brass and sell it to the scrap yards for 90 cents a pound.
The scrape yard sells it for $1.20 a pound.
I have often thought about buying some 5 gallon buckets ofhthe scrap yard brass to play with.
 
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Texas10mm said:
I shoot at a private club. The pistol bays are normally littered with 9mm brass. I pick up as much as I can. I'll be starting my second 5 gallon bucket soon.

There's also been a lot of .45 ACP lately. Yesterday before our match I picked up over 200 pieces of .45 ACP. What I'm not seeing is much if any .40 S&W brass.
Click to expand...

I wish I was at your range, I never see .45 ACP except my own, but I do see a ton of .40 S&W. Unfortunately, I don't shoot any .40 S&W. Lots of 9mm brass everywhere though.
 
.223 and 9mm are what I get the most of at the range-I don't currently have a 9mm, but I have lots of brass for when I get one, as well as a bunch of .40. I rarely find. 45 ACP, and I suspect the ones i find are mine from the last time that I didn't find.
 
Varies, My hometown outdoor range has 'brass o plenty', but I've been to some outdoor ranges where they were picked clean of everything but 22.
I feel like I have 9 and 45 covered. Revolver brass is a little harder to come by, but persistence pays.

My hometown range sweeps up and sells the brass, but don't give you any grief if you get it first.

I've gotten so much ~free~ brass from hometown range that I have no problem bringing back all my worn, cracked, junk brass*. The Range gets the same for it as they do 'good' brass.

Have I found brass that someone else reloaded and then discarded because it was 'worn out?? Yep, all the time. Got excited once when I found about 50 Starline 357. Upon closer inspection, it was 'done', and I ended up leaving it there.

(* I put my junk brass in their brass buckets, not on the 'crete)
 
entropy said:
.223 and 9mm are what I get the most of at the range-I don't currently have a 9mm, but I have lots of brass for when I get one, as well as a bunch of .40. I rarely find. 45 ACP, and I suspect the ones i find are mine from the last time that I didn't find.
Click to expand...
I have had that happen with 380s. I mark most of my brass on the headstamps for special loads or what not. I have found some of my marked headstamps the next time I returned to the range. :)
 
Zendude said:
I shoot at an indoor range, so I have to get there before the RO sweeps the brass past the firing line. I’ve never seen anyone pick up their brass.
Click to expand...
Similar situation, I shoot a public indoor range, have never seen anyone pick up brass of any kind. I was alerted to a powerful cartridge by the sound a couple of booths down, turned out it was a .50AE. Shooter walked away and left about 100 cases on the floor. That stuff sells for $30-40 a box of 20!

I pick up my own cases in what I reload for, .357 and .38-40, but 9mm? At $6.50 steel, $8+ brass, not worth the effort.
 
Speedo66 said:
Similar situation, I shoot a public indoor range, have never seen anyone pick up brass of any kind. I was alerted to a powerful cartridge by the sound a couple of booths down, turned out it was a .50AE. Shooter walked away and left about 100 cases on the floor. That stuff sells for $30-40 a box of 20!

I pick up my own cases in what I reload for, .357 and .38-40, but 9mm? At $6.50 steel, $8+ brass, not worth the effort.
Click to expand...
.50 AE cases also make excellent .50 BP powder measures. two level full AE cases is my hunting load with Pyrodex.
 
I am the guy with multiple 5 gal buckets of 9MM, 40, and 223/5.56 brass. I sort it to keep the headstamps I want then sell or scrap what is left. I will pick up all brass even .22 as it all recycles and I get cash to buy more stuff to reload with. I even have even given several PIF lots here when things were not available this past shortage. It is all about treating others as you want to be treated.
 
do you pick up your brass or do you not bother?
Click to expand...

I did when I lived in another town and the only place to shoot was an indoor range, so it was easy. Now in a different location, I shoot at an outdoor range where the brass disappears into the grass and when it is 98 with a heat index of 106, I'm not spending any more time in that than absolutely necessary. I still have ~5K pieces anyway for when the time comes that they stop internet sales.
 
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