Saving shell casings?

[45223]

How much are shell casings worth?

Say like a pound of brass, vs steel and aluminum. I've been saving my brass since I realized awhile ago there's some value in it. Buy should I bother with steel and aluminum shell cases?

 

[rcmodel]

Google scrap metal prices in your area.

Then look at the prices for once-fired brass on line.

Google is your friend.
You too can learn to use it, free!!!

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=fired+brass+scrap+price

rc

 

[ku4hx]

rc is correct on all counts. I pick up all brass ... true brass casings that are reloadable. These have personal value to me both functionally and monetarily.

The rest, steel and Aluminum, are not worth squatting down for. They do have value in terms of scrap, but the amount I'd have to collect to make it worth my time and effort is far more than I'd want to even try and pick up.

 

[45223]

Thanks. I figured it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Sav .250]

I don`t fire that many rounds to make it worth my while. I pick them up but the range has a container for spent cases so that`s where they end up.

 

[Salmoneye]

I don`t fire that many rounds to make it worth my while. I pick them up but the range has a container for spent cases so that`s where they end up.

And many of us want to thank you for that...

If I don't reload the calibers I find, I wait till I have enough to trade for the ones that I want/need...

 

[TomJ]

Freedommunitions will give you credit towards your ammunition purchase if you send them your brass.

http://www.freedommunitions.com/Brass-Credit-Program-s/48072.htm

 

[Thermactor]

Ever consider that ammunition will eventually be licensed, regulated, and serialized?
Considering the uncertain nature of future regulations,
shell casings may eventually be worth a lot more.
they can be reloaded after all.
Heck, even primers can be reformed, and remanufactured.

 

[Mainsail]

We cleaned this mess up at an outdoor area in the National Forest where we shoot. I don't reload any of the rifle calibers but took them home anyway- good for trades or just pay-it-forward.

 

[GBExpat]

... should I bother with steel and aluminum shell cases?

I don't know what the metal salvage value is on the steel & AL cases, but I cannot bring myself to leave any on the ground (o'course I shoot on my own land, not at ranges). It just seems wrong, somehow ... I have no doubt it is, primarily, a result of the Reloader Training that my Dad started me on.

Heck, even if they are worth nothing, lying on the ground in places other than ranges they are FOD that could cause harm to machinery or the people operating same.

 

[swopjan]

I pick up any rifle brass, .223 brass is about four and a half cents once fired and any other caliber is worth more.

Most pistol brass is worth picking up too. I don't pick up 9mm or .40 at some ranges. Those calibers are $23 per 1,000 plus shipping usually, I'll just buy more.

If I'm shooting a .22 LR revolver I'll drop the empties into a coffee can with my other brass. Some people swage them into .223 bullets and it's no effort at all for me to save them to sell or give away. My .22 semi-auto I don't chase them.

 

[MErl]

As mainsail and others put it, clean up after yourself. Pick them up even if just tossing them in the trash.
Since I consider putting any metal in a landfill wasteful I give them to the local eco-cycle when recycling some other metal. (The ones I don't reload at least)

 

[Lex Luthier]

Scrap value for #1 clean brass has hovered around 2.00/ lb in my area. I scrap as a sideline and usually the only recyclable brass I turn in are household items, drum cymbals, misc. parts. Spent casings are obviously worth more down the re-use stream.

 

[Sunray]

Scrap metal prices in your area will likely show it's not worth the gas to take 'em. Takes a great deal of weight to be worth while.
Picking up after a rectal orifice who thinks his mommy follows him around is just one if the things we who take responsibility for our actions just do.
"...pick up any rifle brass..." That you have no idea what has been done to it. Lot of ranges really dislike it too.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Scrap metal prices in your area will likely show it's not worth the gas to take 'em. Takes a great deal of weight to be worth while.

This. I used to bother saving aluminum cans and every 6mos or so would take them to the recycler and end up with a whopping... $6-$8, so at best I was netting a few bucks after paying for gas, and probably lost out if I value my time at all.

 

[tyeo098]

Your best bet would be to melt down the aluminum yourself, alloy it until its close to 7075, and machine it into an AR receiver.

 

[Twiki357]

I scrape up any that hits the ground that another shooter leaves behind. Rifle, pistol; brass, aluminum or steel. It just gets sorted out between what I reload, scrap (damaged) brass, etc.

 

[45223]

Freedommunitions will give you credit towards your ammunition purchase if you send them your brass.

http://www.freedommunitions.com/Bras...am-s/48072.htm

Thanks very much. I'll definitely give that a go!

 

[jim in Anchorage]

This. I used to bother saving aluminum cans and every 6mos or so would take them to the recycler and end up with a whopping... $6-$8, so at best I was netting a few bucks after paying for gas, and probably lost out if I value my time at all.

I solved that problem by vastly upping my beer consumption.

 

[chris in va]

Your best bet would be to melt down the aluminum yourself, alloy it until its close to 7075, and machine it into an AR receiver.

I thought turning 22lr into 223's was the ultimate of recycling, this takes it.

 

[joem1945]

I pick up free range brass and reload most of it. When the brass is no longer fit to reload it goes in my scrap bucket. I promised myself before it gets full I will take it to the scrap yard. Last time it weighed 50# and I had to carry it up stairs and lug it to the car.

 

[Wildbillz]

I pickup all the brass cases I can find. If there in a caliber that I reload, I keep em. If its not one that I reload I save em up till I have enough to trade or sell in that caliber. If there berdan primed or damaged I toss em in a 5 gal bucket till I get it most of the way full than sell them for scrap weight.

WB

 

[swopjan]

"...pick up any rifle brass..." That you have no idea what has been done to it. Lot of ranges really dislike it too.

Any rifle brass that I've shot. I shoot stuff like 7.5 French, not picking up the brass is like leaving a pile of quarters on the ground

 

[REB]

Scrap value for #1 clean brass has hovered around 2.00/ lb in my area. I scrap as a sideline and usually the only recyclable brass I turn in are household items, drum cymbals, misc. parts. Spent casings are obviously worth more down the re-use stream.

I get about the same for clean brass but shell brass is about $1.70 / Lb with the spent primers still in place.

I reload so most of my brass gets re-purposed and what calibers I don't use get traded or sold. With large containers of brass, I sometimes by range brass by the five gallon bucket, I do get quite a bit that is just scrap. It goes in a bucket and when I have enough along with other scrap I stop by the local scrap yard.

As to aluminum and steel casings the steel goes in the trash and the aluminum goes in the scrap bucket.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Quote:

This. I used to bother saving aluminum cans and every 6mos or so would take them to the recycler and end up with a whopping... $6-$8, so at best I was netting a few bucks after paying for gas, and probably lost out if I value my time at all.

I solved that problem by vastly upping my beer consumption.

LOL, I like the way you think. But alas, even with the couple of us drinking beer, it never was a good investment to save the cans.