A few things we learned in the brass business

[wtr100]

1. 12 and 16 year olds even with glasses have amazing vision

2. There is a layer of dust at the bottom of a bucket of spent brass – there is a good fraction of gun powder in it – it’s much fun to put it in news paper roll, roll it tight then wrap in masking tape. Put the resulting wad in the burn pile and stay back!

3. It’s a little bit like mining. You get into ‘streaks’ of things. You’ll all of a sudden hit a vein of say small primer .45 brass, not so good, then you might hit boxer primed 7.62x39 , that’s like gold.

4. Buying walnut media from a local metal finish shop is cheaper and works better than stuff purpose packaged. Also they guy at the metal finish shop put in an order for .40 S&W brass once he knew what we wanted it for.

5. After a while they boys could tell by ear a lot of times when a case was tossed into the wrong bucket

6. Cheap rubber gloves don’t last long sorting, nitril (sp) ones last longer but really stink after a few uses.

7. The scrap man gives top $ for the stuff we scrap – rimfire cases, berdan cases etc because we’ve removed the steel ,aluminum, paper and other junk.

They’re having a good time with this – they actually put in audio books from the library and just sort an hour or two after school. Also saves the first national bank of Dad some money …

 

[jmorris]

Stay in it for a while and you'll find a brass sorting machine is worth the money.

 

[Arp32]

brass sorting machine is worth the money.

First time I read that I thought it said "brass sorting monkey." It was a good visual.

 

[wtr100]

Stay in it for a while and you'll find a brass sorting machine is worth the money.

They 'reinvested' some of their profit in a set of Dillon 'sifters' and #1 son is putting the finishing touches on a gizmo to shake the walnut media out of them

 

[jmorris]

I was talking about something like this. Click the photo to play.



That was the trial run, it now looks like this.

 

[Otto]

2. There is a layer of dust at the bottom of a bucket of spent brass – there is a good fraction of gun powder in it – it’s much fun to put it in news paper roll, roll it tight then wrap in masking tape. Put the resulting wad in the burn pile and stay back!

That dust is also contaminated with lead particulates.
Unless your children are donning respirators, gloves and hazmat suites I don't think it's a good idea to allow them sort spent brass. Lead is much more harmful to children than it is to adults.

 

[Captaingyro]

Lead is not plutonium. In order to do harm it must be ingested in fairly large quantities. If the kids aren't eating that dust, and are careful not to breathe in too much, they'll be fine.

If there's any doubt, they can be tested for lead levels.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

 

[45lcshooter]

Lead harmful in those quantities? I think not im sure your kids are old enough to know not to shove their hands in their mouth, until they wash.

Todays society is so germ concious, i remember riding bike with no helmet, drinking from garden hose, running throught the woods with out a flash light, "redneck sled" couch being pulled by truck on the road. And ive played with lead, im not a science project.

Your kids will be fine to work with it, the limited time they are around it. Just renforce washing hands.

 

[Drail]

I remember discovering how when a large pile of brass was dumped onto my bench for sorting that I could hear one case that was cracked and split making a different pitched sound as it rattled against the other cases. The cracked case is lower in pitch. Every time I heard it there would be a cracked case in the pile. Being a musician probably helps to hear this.

 

[mdi]

Amen! I also played with mercury! One time I ran with a pair of scissors, just to see if I would get stabbed. Didn't happen! A friend of mine had a son that would occationally eat dirt (when he was little).He's a fine young man, successful businessman today, didn't seem to poison him.

I agree many things are "poison/toxic/dangerous" today that I safely played with as a kid. Well, mebbe that's what's wrong with me; at 65 I still hike around the hills, shoot/reload/cast, and go to the gym 3 times a week. I should be doing more!

 

[bluetopper]

I don't know how many times on summer afternoons as a kid we used to run behind the mosquito spraying truck coming down our street in the early 70's so we could get enveloped in the fog..... it was steadily spraying out DDT. DDT is one of most helpful chemicals ever developed by man and yet outlawed by liberals.

 

[wtr100]

That dust is also contaminated with lead particulates.
Unless your children are donning respirators, gloves and hazmat suites I don't think it's a good idea to allow them sort spent brass. Lead is much more harmful to children than it is to adults.

I mean this in the kindest possible way but ARE YOU NUTS? They're 12 and 16.

Did you not read that rubber gloves used in sorting get really sweat stinky after a few days?

The biggest complaint, really only one, is they can't consume large quantities of Mt Dew while sorting.

Point about dust masks is well taken when they start to use the sort screens

 

[kelbro]

Some of you guys are about to get excommunicated from the nanny-state.

 

[jmorris]

Lead harmful in those quantities? I think not im sure your kids are old enough to know not to shove their hands in their mouth, until they wash.

Dust is the problem. Quit shooting indoors because of high lead levels and I didn't ingest any of it by mouth.

 

[rfwobbly]

Oh man, we couldn't wait until mom busted a thermometer on the kitchen floor. We were right there scooping it up. Rolling it around in our hands.

We all piled in the front seat of the '55 Chevy to go anywhere with no seat belts and a steel dash board !

I once fell out the back door of the family car going down the street. The doctor told my mom that my official Davy Crocket coon skin hat saved my life.

Those were the days, buddy!