Range Rats, how much brass is enough brass?

How much brass do you pick up at the range?

  • The stuff I know I just fired

    Votes: 25 11.6%

  • My own, and anything still shiny within easy reach

    Votes: 73 33.8%

  • I stop when my back hurts / the bucket is full

    Votes: 70 32.4%

  • I own a tactical rake with a flashlight....

    Votes: 48 22.2%
  • Total voters
    216
Status
Not open for further replies.
Was a time when I was picking up calibers of brass I didn't own to fuel the cartridges I did own. 45 brass sorted can go for up to $.07 each, get a few thousand and that picks up for bullets, primers, or powder. Now that ebay no longer allows firearms related sales, I may take the brass I have, sort it and post on a forum what I want for it or take it to auction arms and let the market pay me whatever it'll bear. I did sort out a bunch of 32 S&W long, like 500-1000 pieces and did not own anything to fire it. I picked up a model 31-2 for $200 just so I could use that brass. It's a fun little plinker. This was before California had it's asinine "safety" list. I have buckets and buckets of 223 brass that I do load for, but I'm debatng cleaning it up and selling it ready to load for like $65/k. Yes I do have some spare time to do all this.
 
Vic303 said:
Definite Brass Rat here! We even take our kidlets to the range to pick up spent cases for us. They're too little to differentiate brass from steel case consistently, but they have sharp eyes and willing hands!
Click to expand...

I hope you make 'em wash their hands really well before they eat or stick their fingers into their mouth! (lead).

I lucked out at a local indoor range a while ago, was there at closing time, and they told me to take what I wanted- I swept the entire place and got about a 5 gal bucket's worth.

I'm a medium-brass rat.
 
Yep, we do. Carry about 6Lof wash water & wipes for their hands.

Luckily, as it is an outdoor range, they're likely more at risk from the fireants than the brass.
 
i was looking at area clubs to join and found a good one . the membership was paid for after just a couple of trips . via the brass I gathered up.
 
I didn't check "I own a tactical rake with a flashlight...." but I took a long lunch today and went to the range. While I was picking up my brass and anything else I could find I thought, "If I had a metal detector I bet I could double the haul." (Sandy terrain, I know I step on some and mash them out of sight).

I bought my first AR when I came across 12 Colt mags in a trunk in my garage. Might as well get a rifle to go with them...........

I took a class two weekends ago and came home with a .50cal can full of .45ACP, at least that much 9mm, and 700 .40S&W, a caliber I've poo-pooed in the past. Now I'm thinking if I had been scarfing up .40S&W brass all these years instead of cursing it I could have reached critical mass and justified buying something to shoot the stuff out of.

"Till my back gives out.":D
 
This guy at last weeks USPSA shoot put on a plastic glove and probably filled his plastic bag with 1000 casings off the floor between stages. He did look a little nutty but no one said anything. Probably worth his time, but I have a little more pride than that.
 
I pick up everything centerfire then sort when I get home. I buy cat litter in plastic jugs (8# of Tidy Cat crystals). When empty, I fill them with clean, sorted brass. I currently have almost two of .45 and .40 and just started on my second jug of 9mm.

Out of curiousity, I weighed one of the jugs full of 9mm and it weighed 40.4 pounds. I then counted out the 9mm empties until I got to 1# of weight. It's 116 9mm/1#. The container weighs a little less than 1/2 lb empty.

That's over 4600 9mm empties in one container. I think this will take a while to shoot. Plus, I still have 500 primed and ready to load!

Oh yeah, I just picked up 16 pounds of mixed brass last Wednesday that I have to clean and sort. I think I need an assistant!
 
I find the hand of fate at work here. When I found a cache of .45 ACP, I knew God wanted me to have an M1911. When I found .45 Colt, I knew God wanted me to have a Ruger Blackhawk. When I found ,22 Hornet, I knew God wanted me to get that M82 Kimber.

When I found 9mm, I knew the Devil is a deceiver.:p
 
I shoot at a public range,I pick all my own stuff up and anything I can use that other have left behind. I carry a broom and dust pan along usually and a few trash bags for trash, everyone that uses it is suppose to help keep it clean but you know how that goes. I usually sweep up and take all the 22 brass with me to recycle and leave the bigger stuff I can't use in the brass bucket for others to look through.
 
Even though I voted that I only pick up what I shoot, the range master at my range is also a buddy. When the Army came out to test rifles, he scarfed up all that good LC brass (those boys love to shoot) and let me have about 1k pieces of it. Should keep me for a few years.
 
I only take the stuff I know I just spit out. But there always seems to be some guy wandering around grabbing up random brass.
 
Considering the brass prices nowadays i pick up just about everything except 22, 9mm and 40S&W.

I even take trips to the range JUST to pick up brass... Though.. Im not proud of it:D

BB John
 
I just joined an outdoor range near the house. The other day as we were walking around doing the safety briefing, I spotted some shiny nickel rifle cases calling me like moths to a flame. The range (long-range rifle) was cold and we were the only ones there. I scored about 20 7mm Rem Mag and 25 30-06 nickel cases (Remington headstamp). Reading this thread, I think I'll go to the range and shoot a few rounds, I mean scrounge for some brass! Is there any cure for this disease? :confused:
 
I dunno what the count per pound is on .45 brass, but I know the level-full bucket in my garage clocked in at just over 84 lbs.
 
In the past couple of weeks I've scrounged over 100 rounds of both .270 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield once fired nice and shiney brass, and A LOT of other stuff too, 7mm Rem. Mag., 300 Win. Mag., etc. A lot of hunters hitting the range that don't reload. I pick up everything! Most of it I can and do reload but some of it I'll just give away or recycle. Brass is way too expensive to just get tossed.
 
I come back from the range with so much brass my wife is begging me to join a 12 step program for brass rats.:what:

I have more brass than I can store under my 12', 5 shelf workbench.:rolleyes:

My great grandchildren will still be shooting reloads made from this brass.
 
"I have so much brass, Olin calls me for raw materials."
"I have so much brass, The Beastie Boys wrote a song about me."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

WestKentucky
  • Locked
Range Rat Score!!!
Replies
12
Views
1K
OilyPablo
OilyPablo
W
  • Locked
Brass Rat's Big Day Out
Replies
5
Views
566
The Bushmaster
The Bushmaster
Bayourambler
  • Locked
Random brass
Replies
7
Views
578
Bama Drifter
Bama Drifter
J
  • Locked
How much free brass is enough to share
2
Replies
36
Views
1K
jeepmor
J
AJC1
  • Locked
  • Poll
How much brass do you buy
2 3 4 5
Replies
104
Views
4K
GeoDudeFlorida
GeoDudeFlorida
Back
Top