Buying Unsorted Bulk Brass

Worth it, that kind of depends? Do you have lots of spare time and need a little extra money? Or do your kids/wife need a summer job? You might come out of this with a few pieces of nice equipment and a lifetime supply of brass, all paid for and showing a profit. The Obama scare/shortage is winding down and brass is more available now than in the past. Some things like 9mm and 40's are really cheap, even 223's. Bigger pistol cases still sell well. Is this military or civilian brass and rifle or pistol?

I'm retired and would probably consider doing this. But, do you have the time to sort, weigh, polish and package hundreds of pounds of brass? I would probably buy a cement mixer to tumble and a scale that would weigh and count. If you get tired of this you can watch the scrap prices and sell out when the prices are up. Just a few thoughts, for what its worth. Good Luck!

Id think it would all depend on the original source of the brass. It might be a great bargain even after cleaning sizing decrimping etc. Or if its been run over by tanks the reject rate could be high. But then you could at least recoup the salvage value. about 73 cases to the pound, ~15# to the thousand. Really sounds pretty good if you don't mind the work and theres no shipping involved. Midways price for grade 3 is about 50$ per 500-7.5#

Brass treated as scrap is best left scrap. Unless it was stored properly in dry conditions for a short period of time. Inspect whats at the bottom of a few barrels. Good luck. You may have hit on a "gold mine".

I would buy it. That is all......

Folks generally only pay about half the cost for new brass for once fired even if it's all cleaned. And less if it's not sorted by head stamp. You're in for a LOT of work for cleaning, de-priming and sorting for a rather minimal return. So I'd have to suggest that there's better ways of making a few bucks.

One way to make it pay is to buy a drum and fish out what YOU want. Then sell the rest at swap meets untreated but at a buck per lb more than the scrap price. Let the folks pick through it for themselves and take it away and process it themselves. But selling it off like this is going to be a long process. You'll be stuck with a lot of that drum as it slowly drops in level for likely a year or more. Probably more like two years. And that assumes that you take every opportunity to sell it off.

It's all up to you. I purchased a 55gal drum of brass from a new local indoor range back in 2012 for .80/1lb. It didn't have any steel cases, but did have about 4-5% aluminum. I pulled out all the 9mm, .40s&w, 38spl, and .223. The rest was sold off, which recovered some of the money I had tied up in the purchase. I definitely came out to the good.

This is all range brass, so the damage would be totally unknown. Like BCRider says, it'll be a lot of work. The Al cases are worthless. Even as scrap.
A 55 gallon drum will hold a hellacious amount of empties too.

Wow, how much does a 55 gallon container full of brass weight? What is the initial outlay of cash? I know I have 10K of 9mm, 10mm, and 40 S&W and it sure doesn't look like it would begin to fill up a 55 gallon drum!

One local range that dumps all their brass into 45 gal drums has the drum sitting on a pallet and a fork lift parked next to it.....

When full there isn't a person alive this side of a world class weight lifter that could even tip it over, let alone lift it.

There is also a very good chance that it has a goodly amount of rimfire cases which are only good for re-selling at scrap price.

Cwall, when I was shooting a lot and helping out at that range I asked to take home a cardboard case worth of 9mm brass. This was back when they were sorting it with the basin like shakers. I filled up a box that had held 1000 rounds of 9mm in boxes of 50. From reloading and working that box down I figure that there was around 3500 cases in that box. So that gives you some idea of what a drum will hold.

[QUOTEWhen full there isn't a person alive this side of a world class weight lifter that could even tip it over, let alone lift it.
][/QUOTE]
Right. I had my father n law pick it up with a flat bed, and bring it to my house. I was a little worried about putting it in the bed of my truck.

There is also a very good chance that it has a goodly amount of rimfire cases which are only good for re-selling at scrap price.

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There was some 22 in mine. I have sold off some 9mm, .40, and 45acp, but I still have 6-7 5gal buckets of 9mm, and four 5gal buckets of .223 left.

I would love to get in on a deal like that. I actually enjoy sorting brass, so it would be a great way to keep me occupied.

Olympus said:

If you're close to Missouri, shoot me a PM and maybe we can partner on it.

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Unfortunately I'm stuck in the people's Republic of Massachusetts, so all I can offer is moral support and jealousy. :/

Something less than 800 pounds, most likely. It really depends on how much crap is in it. If there is a bunch of .22 cases and Blazer junk in it, the weight will be different.

Depending on the price you give for it, I would be in for an unsorted MFRB or a LFRB full of the brass. Like I said, I enjoy sorting brass and it's something to do in the evenings.

Heck, I'm a dummy. I missed the 5 gallon bucket part! A 5 gallon bucket is somewhere around 70#.

I'd still be in for a MFRB or LFRB, depending on price.

this may help:

http://www.diamondkbrass.com/Bulk-Once-Fired-Brass_DKB.html

Best

When I purchased about 35 to 38 pounds of brass from an indoor range, it was the worst deal that I made. There was more dirt and 22s in there than I could imagine. Everything that hit the floor was sweep up, boxed then taped up. So when I bought it, I had no idea what was in there.

I bought a couple of 5 gal buckets for $1.00 a pound and there was approximately 70 pounds in each. I figure it was less than a penny a piece for the brass. I'd definitely take it.

My sorting machine lived at a place where they had endless supply's of 55 gallon drums of brass to sort.

It came back home a few months ago, signs "everything is OK" again. I wouldn't go much more than scrap brass price. Even less if you have to sort by hand and don't have a lot of free time.

I would love to come across a deal like this, granted I was in the secure financial position to allow my money to be tied up for the foreseeable future.

Although, if you're getting brass for the price that the Diamond K Brass is selling them for, I'd pass and wouldn't even second guess. Brass prices are down currently, so that must be a factor.

How many drums are we talking here? I have always been a fan of buying very large bulk amounts of brass, shooting, keeping, and giving/selling what I don't need. I have met some awesome guys this way who are people I still shoot with. Is there the opport to make some cash on the side? Sure! But make sure to know what you're buying and who you're trying to sell it to first. Forums won't give you top dollar, but GunBroker takes a cut from every sale.

Worthless $0.02 maybe, but figured I'd chime in!

Wow, how much does a 55 gallon container full of brass weight? What is the initial outlay of cash? I know I have 10K of 9mm, 10mm, and 40 S&W and it sure doesn't look like it would begin to fill up a 55 gallon drum!

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About 90k 9mm will fit into a 55 gal drum. About 60k 45ACP.

Not a direct pounds/gallon, but this may help:

Pounds per 1k
9mm - 8.5
38spl - 9.7
40s&w - 10
.357mag - 11.2
45acp - 12.8
.223 - 13.6
.44mag - 16.3