Range Pick Up Brass

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Big_R

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This is my favorite time of year. Deer hunting's right around the corner and everyone has their rifles at the range, and leaves their brass laying on the ground for me to pick up. About every other day, I come home with half a grocery bag full of mixed rifle brass. Friday I piced up 121 pieces 30-06, 67 pieces 303 Brit, 53 pieces 30 SAUM, and 125 pieces 30-30. The week before, I picked up over 100 pieces of 300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem Mag. Someone even left me 51 pieces of 22 hornet. I've got almost a 5 gallon pail of mixed range pick up brass. Keeps me busy on those cold Minnesota nights. Anyone else enjoy range pick up brass?

Ryan
 
Every range I frequent strongly warns against being a range rat. The brass on the ground is THEIRS unless you shot it yourself. When you pick up somebody elses brass, from the perspective of the range you are stealing. If they catch you doing this repetitively, you may just not be welcomed back.

I'm sure that they resell this brass; that's OK with me if it helps keep 'em in business.
 
I used to pick up brass occasionally until I asked a guy that was leaving some in the brass bucket if he didn`t want them could I have `em and had him reply, "they`re old, I`ve loaded them at least dozen times".
I haven`t done it since.
Our range has 5 gal buckets for used brass on line. it`s mostly 22 and handgun (blazer) stuff but a lot of centerfire shooters that don`t load dump theirs in there too. It`s taken for scrap when they get enough to make it worth the trip.
 
With a little practice and the skill of observation. Knowing what to look for in range brass, one can pick out the once fired brass. The first thing is that handloaders seldom use the factory box after reloading (We don't want our "artistic endeaver" to be unprotected in flimsy cardboard boxes:D ). Reloaded brass can show marks of the die (Look near the head of the case). Primers may sometimes differ between reloaders and factory. Once fired cases tend to be clean and bright inside and especially the inside of the case head. Look for triming indicators at the mouth of the case (chamfering and in some cases removal of the factory crimp). Because brass is relatively cheap, if in doubt...Toss it...In the scrap bucket of course....;)
 
At our range You could pick all you wanted that is left laying around. we had to make a rule that the person who shot before you has the duty to pick up his own and throw it away or take it home, if he does not he would be the one ask not to come back.
 
Free range brass

(That's like free range chickens, right? :) )

Bushmaster has it right. The ranges I frequent have rules abt. not taking any but yr own brass, and yet, I very seldom get hassled about a few selected pick-ups. Something else abt. handloaders is they very seldom discard brass at the range, even if it is no good, because they generally have a scrap brass collection of their own at home, and the no-good brass goes there and is worth so much a pound to them.

There is another good sign of once-fired factory brass: Flattened primers in the absence of die marks or trimming/chamfering. This means the case was SAAMI spec when it went into the gun's chamber, and was stretched on firing. The first thing that happens in that instance is the primer backs out a couple thousandths; the next is that the case stretches to fill the rifle's chamber and therefore flattens the primer. This all happens before the bullet starts to move, I believe. Anyhow, when you find such, Voila! Once-fired case!

I scrounged .30-'06 brass until I had more than I could possibly use. I did the same for friends who shoot .308Win. Next was .357 Magnum. Almost nobody leaves decent .243Win cases on the ground. I recently became the proud owner of a 1911A1, so I grab all the .45ACP I see.

I also grab a few belted magnum cases, with the intent of cleaning and selling them, but have yet to manage a sale as of yet.

Since many people @ my ranges just leave their brass, and since I put the brass I pick up that I DON'T want, in the brass can, mebbe I'm performing a service for the range even if I take some of "their" brass.
 
At my gun club if brass is left on the ground anyone can pick it up. So I always come home with more brass than I shot. Saturday two weeks ago was the day as the club was open to the public for a deer rifle sight in day.
Just about everyone that showed up was firing brand new factory ammo. So once fired brass in just about any rifle caliber you would want was on the ground.
 
Just remember to wash your hands with cold water...I wasn't doing that for a while and my lead level has been on the rise...:uhoh:
 
VARifleman...You need to look for another source of that lead. I doubt that the main reason for that elevated lead count is from fired (once or otherwise) cases....:rolleyes:

Cold water??? Now, that's a new one on me...Mother aways said warm water and soap...'Course I can't varify that as she has long been a resident of Heaven...:D
 
I pick up brass at our range also. The policy here is that it is OK. We are a "members" range & do not sell it. I have bought .308 brass because there is not near enough here to go around. Our guys reload. .300 WSM also. Every shooter here reloads them. I have never bought a piece of pistol brass. My mom thinks it is fun to pick up too. She shoots too. (wish there was a thumbs up icon)
 
Wash your hands!

Bushmaster--As it has been explained to me, you wash in cold water so as not to open the pores of the skin of the hands while the lead residue is being sluiced away. It makes sense to me so I do it. It may make no difference to my blood lead level; it's one of those "Can't hurt, might help" kind of things.

Warm water, especially softened water, helps the soap lather. The hand soap supplied at the indoor range I frequent, lathers nicely in cold tapwater. The lather is what dissolves the greases and oils in the dirt on yr hands, and of course warmth makes those greases and oils easier to dissolve. So yr Mom was right, for ordinary applications.

What form the lead styphnate from the primers takes, on one's hands, I don't know. (Chemistry is not my long suit.) But after firing 100 rds or so from my pistols, my hands don't feel greasy nor oily. But there IS grayish "stuff" on 'em, which does wash away in the cold water and hand soap.
 
Cold water? I'd say not; at least for most cases.

More than likely, the pores were open and lead and other toxins that hit the skin went into the pores. Washing with cold water closes those pores before the soap and water have a chance to rinse them away.

Even if the pores were closed, washing with warm water opens them up so oils and contaminants that seeped in through normal and regular expansion/contraction of the skin tissue can be floated and rinsed away.

Wash in water that is hot as you can stand.
 
The Bushmaster said:
VARifleman...You need to look for another source of that lead. I doubt that the main reason for that elevated lead count is from fired (once or otherwise) cases....:rolleyes:

Cold water??? Now, that's a new one on me...Mother aways said warm water and soap...'Course I can't varify that as she has long been a resident of Heaven...:D
Click to expand...
The ones posted afterward explained about the cold water, and gave reasons to use hot water instead, but to say that it's not from handleing once fired brass is ignorant. The primer consists of lead styphite, which breaks down when burned into a very fine lead dust. This is breathed in and absorbed in your pores. Since I was not shooting a whole lot at the time but was handling my brass collection, the rise had to be from the lead dust on the cases.


Edit...HEHE...my post count is 308...:D
 
A good time to ask this one...

I have been told that if the primers are brass colored, more than likely they are once fired. I only have used Rem 1 1/2 SPP and CCI 200 LRP and they are both "in the white". Can anyone help me confirm this?
 
The Winchester primers that I reload with are brass colored. Federal Hydroshocks use silver colored primers from the factory.

I don't think that the color of the primer would be a reliable indicator of once fired brass.

My .02
 
JA said:
At my gun club if brass is left on the ground anyone can pick it up. So I always come home with more brass than I shot. Saturday two weeks ago was the day as the club was open to the public for a deer rifle sight in day.
Just about everyone that showed up was firing brand new factory ammo. So once fired brass in just about any rifle caliber you would want was on the ground.
Click to expand...


+1 here at my range. What bothers me is that one of the club employees always hassles me and a few others about picking up brass but no one bothers the trap or skeet shooters.

WARNING: RANT
A few weeks ago, I went to the range and, after expending quite a few rounds and picking up what I could find of my brass, I went in to tell her the range was clear. Snidely, she asked if I policed by brass and targets. I told her "Of course" and then asked why she never gets on the trap/skeet shooters @#$! about policing their hulls. She mumbled something and wandered off. I think I'll bring this up at a members meeting.​
END OF RANT

Berek
 
Back in the day before mid 1999 when Winchester stopped nickel plating the primer cups of primers sold to reloaders. You could go by the saying "if the primer is brass it is factory loaded and if shiny it is a reload". But now days the above saying no longer applies.
 
I have been guilty of going to the range just to mine brass that I could find there, I usualy shoot some also but the reason I went was for the brass I could mine.
 
The only time I ever had problems with rifle handloads was with some range pick-up brass a friend wanted to use. I put my standard .270 load in them (well under max) but they flattened primers and the bolt handle was VERY hard to lift. Had him buy a box of new Win brass. Broke down the prev loads and loaded the new brass. NO PROBLEMS. Personally I WILL NOT USE brass in my rifle handloads that I did not buy new and NEVER allow my ammo to be fired in another person's rifle. Three or four boxes of brass for each rifle last for many years. Have had no problems with pick-up pistol brass for .45 ACP loads, probably due to the much lower pressure used, but my rules for .44 Mag brass are the same as for rifle ammo (NO pick-ups or firing in other people's guns).

Good shooting and be safe.
LB
 
I pick up whatever I can find...

Currently have about 4000 9mm cases. It's nice to be able to pick the brass up off the ground, and then go to the trash barrel and usually get the boxes for it...

9mm, .380, .45, .32, .223, 30-30, .243, 30'06, .270, 300 win mag, 300 weatherby mag, 7mm mag, .308, 7.62x25, .30 carbine, bags of 12 gauge and 20 gauge
 
i only reload for 4 calibers, 9mm, 223, 22-250, and 38/357. i never find any 22-250 but im fairly confident that 9mm is almost always okay to pick up, as is 223. 38/357 is also so common its usually safe to pick up too (esp 38)

i would love to find more 45acp because thats the next cal i tend to reload, but everyone by me seems to horde it, or just not shoot it.
 
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