am I crazy for picking up spent brass

[kyotekilr]

I haven't started reloading yet but, I'm close enough to start collecting brass. I pick up my own and occasionally I see a tidy pile of .45 just lying there lonely and afraid, I can't help myself. I have heard that you shouldn't since you don't know how many times it may have been reloaded before but I am picky and what I get is nice and shinny and does not appear to be tumbled (if you can even tell something like that).


On a side note and possibly a more interesting question, why do manufactures stick with the same grain weights? for example, you typically see .45 in 185, 200, 230 and .357 in 158. Why not 160 or 155? Are their manufacturing process even that accurate?

 

[shibumiseeker]

You are well on your way to becoming a brass whore.

There is nothing wrong with it, a piece of brass on the ground is like money. If there were a bunch of dimes and quarters on the ground would you not pick them up?

As far as bullet weights go, good manufacturers can have pistol bullet weights with 1 grain or better consistency.

As to why you only see a few standard bullet weights for a given caliber, the ballistics and loading data get confusing when you start adding more different weights into the mix. Many calibers were designed around one or two principle loads and only over time have more loadings become available as needs and technology has changed.

 

[kyotekilr]

well that answers that. I go to the range on Tuesday morning on my way to work. Shoot 20 or so rounds and always keep an eye out for brass.

thanks for your help

 

[El Guero]

Brass whore lol, i pick up my own and others, even the hulls that i shot and reload them until the crimp don't work anymore.

 

[O'Shark]

I don't feel so bad for doing it now . I do feel like I am literally picking up change off the ground. I take it home and tumble it and sit it on a heater to be sure that it is nice and dry inside. Of the brass that I have found, it all appears to be once-fired factory brass.

 

[upchurch67]

As long as your not one of those jackwagons at Sugar Ridge who are only there picking up brass and getting in the way of other shooters, then no, you are not crazy. But welcome to the club.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I try to pick up my own and invariably wind up with a bunch of extra in calibers I don't shoot....I don't reload yet either but plan to and think it might be nice to have a bunch of brass.

 

[top hat 45]

I try to pick up my own and invariably wind up with a bunch of extra in calibers I don't shoot....I don't reload yet either but plan to and think it might be nice to have a bunch of brass.

coffee cans and nut cans work great for sorting and storing brass. if you end up with a lot of brass you'll never reload, post it in classifieds or give it to someone who has helped you out that can use it

 

[shooter1054]

I pick up as much as I can while no one else is around. I don't want to bother other people on the range. As far as not knowing how many times it has been fired, if it ain't broke, reload it. When it breaks, don't reload it.

 

[jtull01]

BRASS

Hi Folks,

I too am planning on reloading.
Trying to get a jump on collecting brass, I pick up calibers that I know I want to shoot. I also pick up cool looking brass for a planned display.

Is junk brass worth anything at the scrap yards? Will they even take it??

Picking up spent brass, I inspect it and sort it. Soon I’ll be cleaning it, nothing like good looks!

Do you folks clean (tumble or ultrasonic) with the primer in or out?

How big of a cleaner (tumbler or ultrasonic) do you use? I shoot 99% hand gun loads.

Thanks!

 

[msd]

Hi Folks,

I too am planning on reloading.
Trying to get a jump on collecting brass, I pick up calibers that I know I want to shoot. I also pick up cool looking brass for a planned display.

Is junk brass worth anything at the scrap yards? Will they even take it??

Picking up spent brass, I inspect it and sort it. Soon I’ll be cleaning it, nothing like good looks!

Do you folks clean (tumble or ultrasonic) with the primer in or out?

How big of a cleaner (tumbler or ultrasonic) do you use? I shoot 99% hand gun loads.

Thanks!

Some scrap yards wont take brass cases or spent primers for that matter. If you have other scrap metal like pipes to scrap out, you can hide it in them and scrap it out that way.

Depends on the cartridge you're reloading as to whether to tumble or not with primer in. Some people like to for example, size 223 brass then tumble to remove case lube off the cases. I myself, tumble, then resize on 223's. I use a mix of lanolin and isso heat, and by the time I'm ready to finish my loads they are dry and dont need the lube taken off.
On something like my 300 Win mag for example, if I'm just loading 100 or less, I'll wipe off after resizing with a rag.
Ultrasonic or tumbler is really a matter of preference. I tumlbe mine. To use an ultrasonic cleaner you then have to dry. too much trouble for me.

 

[rockhopper46038]

No, you're not crazy. Personally, I'd consider it bad form to pick up brass if you had no intentions of reloading it, as they are so many of us that would put that brass to better use than scrapping it, but that is only my opinion and we reloadeds don't have any more rights to it than any other range member.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I'm a brass whore elite. I have came away from the range with 500-600 pieces of .223 brass at times. I ask people before I take, if they don't want it I'll take it. Most people at the range shoot factory loads. People who reload are going to pick their brass up.

 

[kyotekilr]

Thanks for all ur help.. i just did want to be "that guy". If i end up with extra brass ill be sure to share it with my friends at INGO

 

[kenjb]

I pick up all the 9mm I can find.

How many 9mm casings fit in a 26oz coffee can? I've got one near full.

kb

 

[Darral27]

I have not yet started reloading but have started building a room to reload out in my detached garage. I pick up all my brass at the range and any other brass I can find. I have a pretty good size collection right now and plan on sorting it once I get started and whatever I know I will not use will be given to somebody who will use it. No point in just leaving the poor little guys laying there on the cold wet ground. That just seems cruel.

 

[85t5mcss]

I pick up all the 9mm I can find.

How many 9mm casings fit in a 26oz coffee can? I've got one near full.

kb

Approximately 1100. Folgers cans are 27.8 ounce and hold just over 1200. The bigger cans hold about 1500. I have a few. Guess what I plan on loading. After a class or 2 with Andrew, of course.

 

[Sylvain]

It depends what brass you pick up.I have seen some people picking up other people's brass while they were still shooting, without even asking them.
That's just rude and wrong.
Sure if someone left the range with his brass all over the place (which I think it's wrong too, I pick up my brass even if it's to throw it away in the range barrel) then there is nothing wrong about picking it up.

 

[mac45]

I've been a Brass Whore for years.
With prices the way they are these days, you're crazy NOT to pick up brass.

 

[mike8170]

Brass whore lol, i pick up my own and others, even the hulls that i shot and reload them until the crimp don't work anymore.

I pick up everything that I can, even shotgun hulls, which I don't reload, YET! I probably have 30 different calibers of brass in some amount that I don' even have a weapon for, let alone reload.