extra brass?

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trigga

trigga

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what do you guys do with extra brass that you guys will probably never load? i started reloading just over a year ago and throughout my time collecting brass at the range i've accumulated a good number of brass that I will probably never reload. instead of throwing it away what do you guys do with it? i was just going to hold on to them and perhaps trade it at a gun show or something... i have about 50-75 pc of 270, a couple dozen of 7mm mag, 243 win, 6.8 scp, 45-70, 30-30, various revolver magnum... at the range i go to people put their casings in a bucket and i just empty the thing so i get whatever is in it plus friends give me their brass. after 15+ years of hunting, i regret passing by the 1000s of brass i've encountered throughout the years. i even find myself buying them from time to time...

i am loading 308 win and 30-06... i know you can resize some of the brass to make other brass but is it a good idea?
 
save it

I save all kinds of brass for calibers I don't [yet] load. Store them in bags in my reloading bench. I've given some to buddies who do load those calibers a few times. I have plans for future rifles that will make use of a few others (444 Marlin for starters).
 
interesting, good to know that people are helping each other out on the forums.
 
Now days there are a lot of online supplier's & LGS's that will trade.

I have an LGS I go to that will trade me pound for pound of almost anything.

And online I've run into a couple that offer a trade value by the pound for just about any brass, then they give you store credit.

GS
 
I keep a brass recycle bucket for worn out bad brass or odds and ends that I know I will never reload. Maybe someday when I accumulate enough it will get converted to cash at the scrap yard. If I run across a caliber that I don't currently have but could conceivably acquire in the future, I just segregate them in plastic ziploc bags and throw them on the shelf.
 
I keep all brass, ones that are cracked or otherwise "broke" I take to scrap yard when I get enough along with spent primers.
Ones that are good, I either trade for what I need or just sell to buy other components.
It's almost like "Reloaders Currency"....:D

I even had at one time a 5 gallon bucket and a half of one I scrapped out for primers and powder...about 2+ years ago when 22's were more abundant.

My LGShop will trade me brass if we have what each of us needs.

You CAN'T go wrong with extra brass.

TxDoN
 
If you buy Xtreme bullets, they will credit you $2.10 a pound for brass that they resell. Details on their site. Good way to lower your bullet costs a bit.
 
TexasDon said:
I keep all brass, ones that are cracked or otherwise "broke" I take to scrap yard when I get enough along with spent primers.
Click to expand...

You can recycle primers as scrap brass? Learn something everyday.
 
Tony k said:
You can recycle primers as scrap brass? Learn something everyday.
Click to expand...
sure can, I have a gallon of spent primers saved up as well as a bunch of junked brass. Last time I took about 15 pounds of junk brass and primers to the scrap yard, I walked out with 25 pounds of lead.

OP- whenever im out pickin range brass, ill leave behind any common stuff that I dont shoot but I do pick up any oddball magnum or large caliber handgun or rifle brass. Once I have decent amount, Ill put it all up as a package locally for trade. Recently I turned a hundred pieces of 45 colt 44 mag, 308, 50AE etc into 400 large pistol primers. my next 400 rounds of 45 will only cost me a penny a piece(powder).
 
I give anything I don't load or need to my neighbors that reload and shoot them. 5 gal bucket at the end of my bench goes to the scrap yard when full.
 
I will collect all brass I see. If I can't use it then I will trade, sell, or gift it as deemed necessary. I always figured if I needed to buy say, an inexpensive car I could sell my brass and lead as scrap and purchase one. I might have too much of these metals hanging around but this is what I did (actually) about two years ago with the scrap that I had been collecting for years. Don't tell me that a bunch of 5 gallon buckets full of .22 brass is worthless.;)
 
I certainly don't horde brass but I keep a lot. Even calibers I don't currently load. If it's something I don't plan to use myself it goes to my friends or to the pay it forward page. I keep some that I'm interested in but not currently loading (I have a coffee can of 223, a ziplock of about 40 45-70, and a pencil box of 380). Anything that I'm currently loading I keep every piece of until I have a 5 gallon bucket then start selling the surplus. I only have 5 gallons of 357 and 38spl combined, and am building up the others.

What I do like and want to get to though, is a standard sized crate (Tupperware storage box?) that is squared and stackable so that I can have more volume with a smaller footprint. If I can fenagle one for each caliber I will be set, but that's still a fair chunk of change. I need one for .270, 30-30, 7-30, 44 mag, 44 spl, 357 mag, 256 win mag, 38 spl, 32 swl, 32 sw, 32 acp, 9mm, and anything else I acquire (10mm, 22tcm, 223, 6.5 grendel, 458 socom, 327 fed, 357 max, and 45-70 are on the short list, 50 cal family of AE, 500sw, 50bmg, beowulf, and 41 mag, 357 sig, 204 ruger, 32 H&r mag, 35 rem, 32-20, 22-250, and 30-06 are on the long list). Basically I need a 750 Sq ft or larger gun room with a corner for archery and a corner for angling supplies and it's own craft table (I make lures and tie flies too)
 
I do what any self respecting gunner would do..go out and buy a gun in those calibers!
 
FROGO207
I might have too much of these metals hanging around but this is what I did (actually) about two years ago with the scrap that I had been collecting for years. Don't tell me that a bunch of 5 gallon buckets full of .22 brass is worthless.
__________________
Click to expand...
I agree....

My neighbor told me I was crazy for spending several minutes picking up 22 brass after we were shooting for a while. He said I'd have to have a "ton" of it to get any money worth my time..!!
Well my time is my time, after collecting all the 22 brass for some time, I don't remember exactly how much it was now....but I seem to remember $55????
Not too bad for bending over several minutes every time we were target shooting on my back property.....:)

My scrap yard guy likes me to keep the spent primers in a separate container
so he can easily run his "Magnet" he keeps on a chain around his neck through it.
I made the mistake of mixing some spent 209 primers in the same bucket by accident once, and he won't forget that..!!!
No big deal.
If I felt like taking the time, I could seperate the brass primer from the steel carrier on the 209 primers but it's too much trouble to do all the time. So I just keep the spent 209's for some day that I'm needing something crazy to do....:eek:

TxDon
 
Potatohead

I do what any self respecting gunner would do..go out and buy a gun in those calibers!
Click to expand...

I use to do that too...But then I had to buy dies and caliber specific items also.
Soon I had a "bunch of stuff" left over when I sold that gun.
Oh well...it works both ways. :cool:

TxD
 
WestKentucky Do you know anyone that has cats? The square cat litter containers are just what you are looking for. They almost hold five gallons and stack 4 high well when full. And you will be recycling the buckets as well.:D
 
Emptying the range bucket of calibers you don't even shoot? Most ranges sell that brass to make some money. At the indoor range, I take my own brass, period. I have accepted brass from other shooters who have picked up their own brass and insisted I have it. But I don't even solicit strangers for their brass. That's the range's brass, AFAIC. Asking strangers for brass at a commercial shooting range is nothing but poaching. If you want what's in the bucket, make a deal with the owner.

Heck, some ranges don't even allow you to pick up your own brass. I rather pick up my own, and ONLY my own, if that prevents the need for such draconian policies at my range.

At an outdoor range, I might pick up brass out of the dirt. That's more akin to cleaning up than stealing.

If the bucket is, indeed, left out as a free-for-all for customers, by all means take what you need. Taking calibers you don't shoot for scrap or trade value ruins the deal for other reloaders who visit that range. You might as well be the guy that goes around collecting tin cans. If he came to your range, daily, to take the entire bucket to sell for scrap, how would you like that?
 
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I frequently shoot on BLM land. They have even installed a sign reading "Shooters please pick up your expended shells" so whenever I find brass on the ground I'm just helping them out. Basically I'm a vacuum cleaner for brass. :D
 
a lot of brass i've acquired are given to me. for example the other day my dad gave me over 1k of spent casing. over half are steel case, and the 7mm mag, 6.8 spc my friend shoots. i don't know what to do with it other than throw it out. don't get me wrong, i would love to own a 7mm mag but i just can't justify buying and investing in another caliber that my 30-06 can already do, that is take out white tail. perhaps recycle them. i only empty the bucket at the range because it is a public range and it's hard to sort through them when you're there. too bad i don't know many reloaders in my area but hope to trade them when i have a decent amount. i'll look around my lgs for possible trades...
 
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