am I crazy for picking up spent brass

[dingodog]

I too pick up brass. I shoot 45 mostly and reloading saves a fortune. As someone else already stated....it's like money laying there.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I have 2 1/2 dry boxes full of .223 cases, and a 1/2 of dry box full of 9mm cases.

 

[kyotekilr]

What about the small primers on the .45. I have been leaving them lay. There is enough large primer to fill my coffee cans.

I just got some bullets from midway today. Im almost reloading.

My work schedule is great. I can hit the range in the mornings. There is nothing better than a whole range to yourself

 

[Wolfe28]

No, your not crazy.

I started picking up brass before I got my press. Now, I scrounge all the brass I can, without being "that guy" at the range.

As others have said, it's found money.

 

[WyldeShot]

Nothing wrong with it. I pickup all of my brass and when I'm at the range I collect any that I can find.

 

[hooky]

I guess I'm a brass whore in training. I've been picking up everything I can. What I can use goes home, what I can't use goes in the bucket provided by the range.

 

[strongcrow]

coffee cans?? I use them to transfer brass out of my 5 gallon buckets !!

 

[kyotekilr]

coffee cans?? I use them to transfer brass out of my 5 gallon buckets !!

Ill get there soon enough. I need a press before i can get to serious

 

[billybob44]

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.

You're on the right track. Andrew will treat you right+if you listen close enough to Him, He will have you loading in no time.
If you don't already, get yourself a GOOD tumbler, crushed walnut shells, corn cob, and have them all cleaned+ready to load.
Start trolling E-Bay+price a good clean RCBS RockChucker press...That's what Andrew will start you on+IMO is probably one of the best ever made. I have a close to 40 year old RockChucker on the right side, and a 25+ year old Dillon RL550 on the left side of my bench if that tells you anything..Bill.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

It's always a good day when you come back with more brass than you shot. I bet this week I picked up an extra 100 pcs of .45 brass. Sometimes I'm really lucky and the guy using the lane before me will have shot a few boxes full of brand new range ammo and just left the brass to be picked up!

 

[1911Shooter]

I have been doing this for years. I actually have a 55 gallon drum full and I am working on my second. I reload and its nice to not have to buy. It is easier to just buy it but I am already at the range and I might as well come home with something.

 

[Mephitical]

I've gone to my range after hours just to pick up brass...of course now it's dark after hours. Yeah, I'm a brass whore!

I found 100+ .223 cases yesterday and felt like I won the lottery.

 

[sturge]

I'm also thinking of starting to reload so I pick up my own and anything else within my area that someone else has left behind. My thoughts for this is I would like to take a reloading class before starting to reload and figured i could take some of the brass for calibers I will not use and see if the class would like to use them.

 

[gunman41mag]

Your cleaning the environment from the ejected brass

 

[NinnJinn]

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.

Although it isn't at Sugar Ridge, The range I shoot at, there is a man in his 70's that is usually OCing but never shoots, that must live close to the range, because 9 times out of 10 within 10-15mins of me shooting, he pulls up in his truck.

One day he actually had a net, catching my rounds as I was shooting. I have told him numerous times, I keep my brass. but he doesn't listen very well.

Out of roughly 900rds shot, I have 389 pieces of once fired brass.
the last 3 times I have went, I have an old blanket that I put down and that seems to have caused him to leave my brass alone unless it tumbles off the blanket then he is over there picking it up.

 

[Wolfe28]

I found 100+ .223 cases yesterday and felt like I won the lottery.

Yep, that's me too. I lucked into a .223 barrel on my TC Encore, and picked up all I could easily get on Saturday. I came home with ~150 pieces of brass, and most of it was Lake City.

 

[SMHurt]

I've been reloading about twenty years and pick up brass every time I can. I have also found if you invest in a "casepro" you will be able to shoot any type of handgun brass found on the ground. A casepro rolls the brass back to factory specs. This was one of my first reloading investments. Glock does not have a supported barrel so the bottom of the casings coming from a Glock are all out of whack! My casepro rolls this brass back to factory specs. Brass shot from Glocks, Smith's, XD’s , ...... doesn't matter and doesn't need to be separated if you use a casepro. Just my two cents. Congrats on getting into reloading and good luck!

 

[Cerberus]

I have to make myself spend more time shooting and less time picking brass. I make sure anyone else shooting keeps their's before I keep it. There are times I just take the AKs so I'll just shoot and not pick brass. I usually reserve the guns that I reload for when I go to my friends farm so no one else snags my brass or hulls.

I got over 500 .30-06 casings alone, and no rifle for them anymore. Same with .40 S&W.

 

[sailinon]

I am (to coin a phrase used here) a "Brass Whore" for sure. Jtull01 I clean in a light acid bath, then tumble ALWAYS with the primer IN because the media can get caught inside the primer pocket. I couldn't afford to shoot if I didn't reload. I use a Dillon tumbler that I've been using for 18 years, it uses corn cob or walnut dry media. I don't know how big it is but it easily cleans up 200 .45ACP brass in an hour.

 

[kyotekilr]

I've been reloading about twenty years and pick up brass every time I can. I have also found if you invest in a "casepro" you will be able to shoot any type of handgun brass found on the ground. A casepro rolls the brass back to factory specs. This was one of my first reloading investments. Glock does not have a supported barrel so the bottom of the casings coming from a Glock are all out of whack! My casepro rolls this brass back to factory specs. Brass shot from Glocks, Smith's, XD’s , ...... doesn't matter and doesn't need to be separated if you use a casepro. Just my two cents. Congrats on getting into reloading and good luck!

I have never heard of a casepro. I thought one of the stages always resized the brass. I do have a gen2 g23 and have noticed how deformed the brass is after shooting. it is almost creased. maybe if i start reloading 40 i will check into it.

Thanks