How Do Folks Get Their Brass?

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otisrush

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The context of my question: 9mm. Plinking. I don't compete or anything. I'm not in strong need of brass now, but the question occurred to me and I'd be interested to hear what others do.

So how do you acquire your brass? Buy factory ammo and save the brass? Scrounge at the range? Buy new brass? Buy fired brass?

It's that last scenario that is most intriguing to me. It seems that "once fired" brass can be had pretty inexpensively. Am I correct in that "once fired" does not necessarily mean "one firing"? I think I have pieced that understanding together from what I've read.

I'm wondering what the reject rate is for once fired brass. Do you get a lot where it's clear "Wow! That's been through a sizing die a time or twenty!".

Thanks.

OR
 
I have a shooting range near my house. 15min drive. I go most weekends and will find a good amount. I keep some and sell the rest.
 
Over time, between finding more than my brass, people giving me their brass, etc. It accumulates. Right now in my area, there are a few that hunt daily for brass. Plus more people are reloading. As the prices of ammo (centerfire) prices settle down, less people will feel compelled to reload. That is when you will find more than your fair share of range brass. IMO. :)

Some that keep track of their brass per reload, claim in the teens or so.

Unless you use a progressive set-up, you'll usually be able to tell at the priming or the bullet seating when the brass is done for. Or after tumbling and you catch the neck split.
 
I used cases from factory ammo and bought some to start out.
Range pickups have increased my supply to a comfortable level. >2000 9mm.

I use mine till the pockets get loose (easy to feel when hand priming) or the case necks split.
Even though I mark the bottom of mine with a sharpie so I can tell my brass from others I don't count reloadings on the pistol cases.
(marking the base is a great help with .223 brass, that way I know I have removed the crimp, would apply to 9mm now to since there seems to be more crimped 9mm around :banghead: :cuss:)

The crimped 9mm are a major PITA in the progresive if I don't catch them first.
 
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For my 9mm I use the brass I bring to the range, I usually end up with 10-25% more than I went with. Since my wife only fires 28 9mm rounds at the range now that I bought the 44 mag, I have a ton of 9mm brass. A jug half full, waiting to be sized and deprimed and two trays with already sized and deprimed. One tray 18.94 to 19.04 and the other 19.04 to 19.15. Not sure I really even need to sort that. When the primer goes in really easy, I color the bottom red so I won't use that one anymore.
 
I've been able to get some range pickup stuff. And when I happen to go with a couple of buddies they always give me their brass. (One day I really hit the jackpot: A dad and his kid were blasting away with their AR. They were picking it up and about to put it in the brass bucket and they gave it all to me.)

Through another thread I've learned/concluded some 9mm just don't like being sized. So I've started putting every case through a gauge after I size them. I've ended up tossing a few percent. I'm not yet sure if my acquisition rate is greater than my throw away rate. If it's not I'm thinking about buying 1,000 "once fired" and seeing what I get.

Thanks all.

OR
 
I have so much 9mm and 40 S&W brass I don’t even bother picking all of my own up off the range floor any more. Got more than 5000 each. Now 45ACP is more rare at my range and I will scrounge for that. Only got 2000 of them. 38/357 and 44spl/mag don’t hit the floor and only get tossed when the pockets are loose or they crack. Got more than 3000 each of those. I buy new Starline brass for all full power loads. You know the hot stuff.
 
For calibers like 9MM, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, and .223 Rem, since I don't buy factory loads, I get my brass by watching a few dealers on the net for once fired brass and buy it by 1000 round lots. I always buy brass that is all one manufacturer rather than mixed brass. I very carefully inspect all once fired brass I buy and typically scrap from 5 to 25 cases out of 1000 (sometimes more). I prefer Winchester 9MM and 40 S&W pistol brass, Remington 45 ACP, and LC military once fired for .223 Remington cases. You pay a little more for same brand cases but I prefer it. I don't go to the local range much any more but used to find a few good cases left by other shooters plus I do occasionally get some brass from non-reloading friends or family. I carry a metal detector when shooting in grassy areas and most often find every case I shoot to reload again.
 
When ammo was cheap and lots of folks shooting I would take up a position next to someone shooting whatever brass I needed. Asked , Hi, you save your brass, No . Can I pick it up? Sure and so the brass stooping instead of sea shell stooping began.

I still can not shake it and have to pick up every piece of brass I see. I am getting help now through a 12 step program but it's tough!:)
 
I sell brass at gunshows.

I have three types of brass that I sell

1) Range brass, I tell people most is once fired, BUT, I cant guarantee it
2) Once fired brass, this I can guarantee is truly once fired
3) New, which is, well NEW

When people ask about the range brass, especially the auto stuff ( 9MM, 40, 45acp, 380 ) and ask how many firings, I simply tell them I cant guarantee the number of firings, BUT, realistically, they will lose it long before they actually wear it out from firing. Most guys, will nod their heads in agreement and buy a bag or three.

I typically buy my brass online in larger quantities and package it for resale.
 
My brass is a mix.... bought some starline new, picked up good condition at range, and kept some from loaded ammo that I bought and shot. No issues so far.
 
I was able to pick up indoor range brass for years and I am stocked up on 38, 357, 9 mm,40 and 45 acp. I recently bought a 3 screw Ruger in 41 mag. I had to buy brass for the first time in 30 years. I ordered the 41 mag brass from Starline,it is great looking stuff, couldn't be happier.
 
I've been buying small primer .45 acp brass from the sales areas on the forums and picking it up at the range.
 
For me the whole point of having handguns is to use them for various competitions. It's where the fun is.

Oh sure. The first while perforating paper is fine. But standing and poking holes got old pretty quickly. I soon moved on to cowboy action, IPSC, IDPA and some other local rule handgun shooting events.

Generally when you stay behind and help clean up at the end of the day it's easy to take home enough brass to make up for what you shot yourself along with one or two times as much again.

I've probably got around 4000 to 5000 9mm cases sitting here that will end up being fed through my progressive reloading press in due time. I didn't buy any of it as just brass. Some came from ammo I bought when we were able to find it on sale at a price which didn't justify reloading myself. But the lion's share is range pickup from staying behind and grubbing around in the sand and gravel after the day's shooting was done. Some of it was mine that I shot during the events and the rest is from those folks that didn't stick around or that don't reload so they just leave it behind.
 
Depending on the culture of the club where you shoot, collecting brass can be very easy.

A friend that I just got into reloading had always just left his brass or given it away. Once he figured he needed a stash of brass, he stayed behind after a match to help tear down the stages.

This club has a culture of members not picking up their brass. They don't mind if you do, as long as you don't hold up the next shooter. My friend picked up brass off just one stage after the last match and came home with 1700+ 9mm rounds (his goal was 2000, but he had a bunch of .40 and .45 brass mixed in)...much of it was factory new.

I'd highly recommend starting to compete in action pistol matches if you want to build up your brass supply
 
Usually it's given to me by those who don't reload. And also my DIL gives me a bunch of it. She's a brass hound, and since she and my son don't shoot 9mm, they give me all the stuff the scrounge at the range.

There's a lot o brass that I buy, but 9mm isn't one.

So if you don't have a range to scrounge brass from, you can always buy it on line real cheap. Try Brassman, I think I've seen 9mm brass on his site. And if he doesn't have any, check some of the other sites, there's always someone selling it real cheap.

GS
 
As said above I use all listed sources to acquire brass. When I first started reloading many years ago I purchased once fired brass to add to the brass I had saved when shooting to get to a decent amount. Then I purchased a couple firearms that NEVER have brass laying around on the ground or advertised for sale in OF condition (25-20 Single Shot for one). Those I purchased new brass for. Now when I go shooting I scrounge all the brass I can find to save or to use as barter for what I can use from others. For 9MM I presently have three 5 GAL buckets of mostly OF brass after 30+ years reloading. I agree that for pistol brass you will likely loose it before it gets bad in most cases while rifle or revolver will go bad after a while unless I am shooting one of my Mini 14's as they send the brass over my shoulder an into low earth orbit never to be seen again.:p I have a 500 or so lot (started as 750) of 38 SPL brass that I have shot so much the headstamps are almost not there and the plating is all worn off most of them. I tend to shoot them until the necks split. I have helped several reloaders learn the craft and started most on their way with a bit of fired brass and/or bullets to get them up and running. This has not even put a noticeable dent in the piles of brass I find.:cool:

If you have been on the forum long enough you can access the trade/buy/sell area and there are always others selling brass. I have purchased from some of them with great results FYI.
 
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Rule3 said:
I still can not shake it and have to pick up every piece of brass I see. I am getting help now through a 12 step program but it's tough!:)
Click to expand...
Does that mean you pick up all brass that you can reach within 12 steps? :D

rg1 said:
For calibers like 9MM, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, and .223 Rem, since I don't buy factory loads, I get my brass by watching a few dealers on the net for once fired brass and buy it by 1000 round lots. I always buy brass that is all one manufacturer rather than mixed brass. I very carefully inspect all once fired brass I buy and typically scrap from 5 to 25 cases out of 1000 (sometimes more).
Click to expand...
That's pretty much what I do, but only for 9mm and .223. All of my .308 brass is from factory ammo that I or my son fired.
 
My hunting ammo and the ammo that I used to compete with came from factory ammo that I bought new. My pistol ammo is partly from new factory ammo and range brass found laying around. I buy new brass (usually Lapua) when I compete nowdays. The longer you are in the game the more it builds up. Range brass in common calibers has gotten fairly cheap lately and would be a good place for a newby to start off at. After you are in the game awhile you will develope a network of non-reloaders that will save their brass for you and it just slowly builds up.
 
How Do Folks Get Their Brass?

Easy, I go to the brass store and just buy a pound of this and that, just like a delicatessen but for brass. :)

Seriously, when I see a good price on loaded ammunition I buy it, sometimes I will buy just brass when the price is right. Recently got a little over 500 cases of 7.62 once fired cleaned and deprimed military from one member here who sells it. I seldom pickup discarded range brass unless I see the stuff being shot. Lately I haven't been very brass hungry simply because I have so much of the stuff. Spent the winter cleaning brass I had stashed in 5 gallon buckets.

Ron
 
I have saved the brass from factory ammo that I bought and shot. I have picked up range brass. I have bought new brass and I have bought range brass.

I have had very few pieces of range brass come to me with splits or other failure faults. Maybe I simply don't shoot where Mr. Daily Shooter does, or I've been lucky, but my reject rate for range brass has been very, very low. I've only found a few split or dmaged cases, and I'm not overly concerned about range brass.
I always clean and inspect it before loading. With pistol brass, I don't keep track of number of firings. I have enough brass that any one piece gets fired only occasionally, so will last for years.

Rifle brass is different, of course. I track the number of times that each batch has been fired. I have found several pieces of rifle brass at ranges with split necks, blown heads or pierced primers, so I am always skeptical of it. I prefer using my own once-fired or new rifle brass.
 
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