Great Scott! Where did the brass go?

[armoredman]

Sportsman's Warehouse sold OUT of .223 brass....and there wasn't any to scrounge at the range. Dagabbit! Anyone have some once/twice fired brass for sale, cheap? Real cheap? Wanna trade a bunch for a desert digital camo chest pouch?

 

[Ndenway]

it went the way of the dodo,

once fired is in the neighborhood of $55+/k for unprocessed cases nowdays.

 

[IMtheNRA]

I suspect that people are stocking up as a hedge against rising metal prices. I'm slightly guilty of that myself, as of my last Midway order...

I noticed many people in my club are shooting less due to costs of ammo and components and they are also picking up their brass, even if they do not reload. That may help explain the relative scarcity of used brass.

 

[Walkalong]

I got lucky today. Picked up about 200 or so .223. Better than usual. Every little bit helps.

 

[556nato]

www.hi-techammo.com has once fired .223 brass, LC & FC, for about $55/1000. I've bought around 3000 from them. After tumbling, most are very nice cases, only had to reject a few that were too badly damaged. Overall really good cases.

 

[SilentArmy]

I always have it in stock. Several posts in the for sale area as well. Prices have risen steadily in the past six months and with notice of ammo and component prices rising again @10-15% at the first of the yr, I am shipping tens of thousands of pcs every week (pistol and rifle)! I am guilty of stockpiling bullets myself after the sept. price increase, I bought more stock than I have shot or loaded in the last 15 yrs! Our hobby is certainly getting expensive!

 

[evan price]

I have about 1760 .223's for sale in the trading section asking $120 plus S&H.

 

[jeepmor]

Thankfully, no one at my range has caught on just yet. I always leave with more 223 than I arrive with. Big cheesy smille......

 

[71Commander]

You can always shoot a few of the extra convicts where you work. I'm sure you have more than you need. Just police the empties.

 

[Zeke/PA]

I don't own a .223 but a co- worker does.
After a busy shooting weekend at our club recently I salvaged about 10 boxes of new commercial .223 brass which my friend appreciated.
Not long after that I picked up 400 rounds of new Federal .38 Special brass.
I guess when one does not reload, the brass commodity dosen't exist.
Zeke

 

[tasco 74]

i guess a guy should have just picked up the popular brass for the last several years.. it really doesn't take up much storage room and it could be traded for brass a guy has guns for and reloads for.. i've wished for years i lived closer to the public range closest to me.. i'd have been scavengeing brass from there for years.. last time i was there the brass was really scarce an i even went into the dumpster to find some..i'm wondering also if there are people hoarding brass .. i used to have alot of .38 spl brass and some .357 mag brass but i need more of it now..

 

[armoredman]

TennTucker, the funny thing is we do use AR-15s, and use brass cased ammo. Plus, that expended brass gets counted after qualification, and THROWN AWAY. When I asked if they could throw it away in my trunk, it was pointed out there is a goofy Dept regulation dating from many years ago that prevents that. It's legal to throw out, not legal to give away or sell.
Dagnabbit - that could be a few hundred ever couple of weeks...
I will see what I can squeeze out here soon - anyone want to trade some for some older/oddball 38Spl lead bullet molds?

 

[rcmodel]

1/2 of it went to Iraq as ammo.
3/4 of it went to China as raw copper.

The other 2/3 of it is horded in peoples basements!


rcmodel

 

[armoredman]

Ummm, 1/2 plus 3/4, ummm, minus 2/3...like the bulldog in that cartoon said, "It don't add up!"

 

[rcmodel]

There was an awful lot of .223 brass around at one time, so it just has to add up to more then 100%.


rcmodel

 

[armoredman]

Naturally, when I need some, it's gone....

 

[Walkalong]

The other 2/3 of it is horded in peoples basements!

I don't have very much. Honest I don't.

 

[nitesite]

At the outdoor public range I frequent, there are more and more shooters who tell me they're picking up their brass when they get done. When I try to strike up a conversation about what they reload, most of them say they "aren't reloading yet" but plan to. Plus a bunch say they've just recently begun to load their own.

Oddly, it's the .223 shooters who are telling me they are getting started in reloading. I can still find a lot of .45ACP and .38-Spl everywhere but it's virtually impossible to stumble across .223 brass.

 

[birdbustr]

Has anyone mentioned Midway? New Winchester in .223 brass is available for $15.99 per 100. Sportsman's Warehouse isn't much cheaper than that even with shipping taken into account. I know it's not free like the range, but you can get some if you need it bad enough.

 

[Luggernut]

I'll admit it.. I'll pick up anything that looks decent. Can't have too much the way prices are heading these days.