Large lot of brass options to maximize $$$

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jeeptim

jeeptim

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Hey Fellas...
So here's my deal .. Everytime I go shooting I pick up all the brass I can and more. Sort tumble for a hour pick out what I want rest in a bucket I have 9 5gallon buckets full. My local scrap yard was paying just over $2.00 a lb thought I would hang on for a while called yesterday $1.30lb this is all very good reloadable brass with all burden and damaged cases pulled.
The price of selling sorted is very low.
I cant scrap it for a buck 30 a lb.
Anybody know of a place that will buy I'm thinking 800lb of brass cases to either sort and sell or reload and sell.
It makes no sense to me to sell it to the scrap yard so they can melt it down and sell it to a case maker so he can melt it down and make cases..
What a quagmire
 
WELL you COULD sell it here in the all things reloading area. BUT you will need to sort it by like case if you want to realize max profit. It seems to depend on what you feel it's worth to do---or not? Scrap is not worth much right now.
 
Hey Frog ur right scrap is scrap right now. And sorting is a massive job.
Thinking a reloading company may want it.
 
There are brass sorters which could help; https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012981319?pid=847836

Depends a lot on what you have. Sorted and sold by flat rate shipping boxes and you could do alright on it. If you have more $$ cases it is worth it, less desirable stuff and I may just scrap it.

I have seen reloading companies at shows buying brass but that was only once and in PA so not much help to you. There are online places like this one that will give you credit for it; https://www.defenderammunition.com/pages/brass-exchange However, their rates are not favorable in my mind.

Do you have a rough idea of what you have? Mostly 5.56 and 9mm?
 
Go to the post office and get a few FREE medium and large flat rate boxes. Fold and tape the bottoms. Use a marker on the inside of flap to mark them, 223 for example. Set them in front of a chair in an semi circle. Take one bucket for a base, set the next on top in front of your chair. Grab a handfull and toss into appropriate box. Soon you will have an empty bucket and valuable sorted brass. Rinse and repeat as needed. I have done this several times and once you get going it goes fast. You do need good light to see headstamps however as 9MM and 380 sorting suck otherwise.;)

This is one of those times when children or grandchildren come in handy.:thumbup:
 
FROGO207 said:
Go to the post office and get a few FREE medium and large flat rate boxes. Fold and tape the bottoms. Use a marker on the inside of flap to mark them, 223 for example. Set them in front of a chair in an semi circle. Take one bucket for a base, set the next on top in front of your chair. Grab a handfull and toss into appropriate box. Soon you will have an empty bucket and valuable sorted brass. Rinse and repeat as needed. I have done this several times and once you get going it goes fast. You do need good light to see headstamps however as 9MM and 380 sorting suck otherwise.;)

This is one of those times when children or grandchildren come in handy.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Kids are great for this!!! Mine are doing about a 5gal today with me while we watch shows (anime fans, sorry) and get ready to load a few hundred later (just got a deal on pills for our .380's!)
 
A set of shell-sorter baskets will cut your sort time by 80%. Selling by Medium FRBs will maximize profit.

ETA: Get the .380 insert plate too. It's worth it.
 
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Ohen Cepel said:
There are brass sorters which could help; https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012981319?pid=847836

Depends a lot on what you have. Sorted and sold by flat rate shipping boxes and you could do alright on it. If you have more $$ cases it is worth it, less desirable stuff and I may just scrap it.

I have seen reloading companies at shows buying brass but that was only once and in PA so not much help to you. There are online places like this one that will give you credit for it; https://www.defenderammunition.com/pages/brass-exchange However, their rates are not favorable in my mind.

Do you have a rough idea of what you have? Mostly 5.56 and 9mm?
Click to expand...

Why not go to the source?

https://www.shellsorter.com/index.html

The 380 plate is necessary IMHO, so is the 38 Super plate.
 
Sorting seem so overwhelming.
I guess if brass prices dont go up this winter I'll stare sorting.
 
I have 10 5 gal buckets full, not all sorted, but the shell Sorter w/plate is a must, it speeds things up tremendously. I am in the same boat. I don't know if I want to go thru the hassle and separate everything or just wait until recycle prices go up?. I have sorted and posted brass on this forum before as I know people are looking for specific brass. All my 10mm and .357Sig brass is gone.

leftytsgc
 
I have loaned out my homemade sorter over the years to a couple of folks that started doing what you are thinking about. Takes about 15 min to sort a 5 gallon bucket.



380 is smaller diameter than 9mm so it falls into the .223/380 bin. There are other methods of sorting cases by length though, for the ones that have do not have different diameters.

Like a collator full of them feeding into this device, one could sort 357 Sig from .40 S&W.



For that matter, it’s also possible to sort by primer pocket diameter as well, without relying on your hands and eyes.

 
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At $1.30/#, that's still $1040 compared to $1600. Either wait for the price to go up or cut your "losses" and just "bite the bullet".
How much did you pay for the brass to begin with?
How much is your time worth? Are you willing to spend dozens of hours or hundreds of $ to try to eek out the additional money? If so, go for it.

Going forward, if you really want to make a profit, sort your brass after each scrounge session. It's a lot easier and you'll get top dollar.
 
I usually wait until I get a three gallon bucket full before I sort it. Then I have enough to deprime it and get it wet tumbled . All my scrounged brass looks like new seperated and ready to go when I decide to part with it.
 
A lot of calibers are worth much more than the scrap value. If you sort the brass, the larger or more expensive calibers may make the sort time worthwhile. Stuff like 9mm isn't worth a whole lot more than scrap value, so may not even be worth your time separating the 380 from it. Pick out the easy to separate stuff, scrap the 9mm, and you might maximize your labor costs.
 
I guess I may be different but I rather enjoy sorting stuff. Brass, wheelweights, ect. Being retired helps!

The Castboolit site has a sister site, ABT or Ammo Brass Traders thats worth looking into. Its a trade site, not a sale site.

I would sort it by caliber, research prices and post it for sale on the forums that I visit. Prices vary a lot by caliber. 9mm, 40 S&W and 223 are pretty cheap. For some reason you can't hardly give 270 away! Other calibers like 10mm, 38 Super, 41 Magnum, 44 magnum and 45 Colt sell for more and faster.

The USPS flat rate boxes are your friend for stuff like this. Save old boxes to cut up for reinforcement, buy a bunch of tape and go for it! Digital scales that can count are getting to be pretty cheap. Or you could just sell it by the box.
 
rsrocket1 said:
Going forward, if you really want to make a profit, sort your brass after each scrounge session. It's a lot easier and you'll get top dollar.
Click to expand...

Profit, dunno.......But I try to sort every time when I get home. A little "chore" seems easier than a large chore...
Profit of time?

And the engineer jmorris definitely has a handle on time, as he will build something to save time. Love the tools he has built!
 
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