brass

[colt 357]

Well I been collecting brass for about 3years now. Its coming out my ears I got bags boxes and plastic jars full of different calibers that I shoot. There shorted by head stamp.
So how do you guys store this stuff for future use. Do you short by head stamp or mixed it and shoot it. Does it make that big of a diference.
What do you guys store them in. I was thinking of buying a few big plastic storage containers and dumping my 2 favorite headstamp in there and calling it good. the other headstamps I bag and save for shooting in the winter when I loose brass in the snow.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i just load and shoot but i'm not a bench rest shooter
most of my brass i just store in Tupperware loaded rounds too
or zip lock bags

[RP]

What I do is clean if needed then size and deprime the brass. Then I clean again to remove any lubes I have used to size them with. I was using the plastic size shoe boxes to store them in until need but they do not hold the weight well but do well if not stacked or full. Now I use ammo cans which will stack good. I just started with the ammo cans so I cant say how well they will do but I do not think I will have any problems.

[GL49]

I usually sort my brass by headstamp and # of times fired. For example, if I pick up 9mm or 45acp at the range, it gets sorted for:
1) once fired Remington
2) once fired Winchester
3) once fired mixed headstamp
4) the remainder goes in a fourth sort.
This way I can keep track of how many times my brass has been fired. I'll load all the Remington, then switch to start loading all the Winchester while I am cleaning and storing the Remington I am shooting. I always know the status of my brass. If I think I'm going to lose brass, it's always the unknown mixed headstamp that I shoot. My buddies look at me like I'm nuts, but it doesn't take any more time to do it this way except for the initial headstamp sort.
In the rifle calibers where I'm a little more picky about trim length, it sure makes life easier to keep track of when to trim.
Of course you can always continue to sort for nickel and brass, how many cannelures and their location on the cases, or no cannelure, whether its a WW Super or Winchester, etc. etc. etc.
I won't tell you whether I sort for that. :bigsmyl2: :holysheep

[herb101]

5 Gallon home depot buckets.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

mostly I used green Cat litter buckets with hinged lids, about the size of 5 gallons.
They are rectangular and stack nicely 3 or 4 tall.
there is a few in this photo, I took a few days ago.
I also re-use the USPS flat rate boxes.
Jon
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/presstable.jpg

[DIRT Farmer]

Gallon milk jugs, you can see what is inside, cut them open if they won't pour out.

[L1A1Rocker]

Sorting? I sort everything by headstamp except 45 ACP.

[Ed Barrett]

I sort by weight. Depending on how worn the stamping dies are worn on the day the brass was made will make headstamp sorting easy but meaningless. With digital scales it goes pretty fast.

[GRUMPA]

When I moved to the mountains I brought 13-15 5gal buckets of brass, all mixed. I found out real fast that we get some long cold winters here, what better time to sort brass right? Now that they're all sorted in bags and the bags are in the 5gal buckets, I wrote on the lid what's what and they stack up real neat too.

[ErikO]

We go through a lot of the larger jars of peanut butter, so I use those. Also, we get a lot of the mixed nuts from a few places that come in larger plastic jars which typically have flat sides. Either way, with the labels removed it is easy to see what's there.

[bobthenailer]

First i sort brass by caliber & headstamp and store in plastic 1 Qt or 1 gallon freezer bags ECT until needed. I use a certian brand of brass for each particular load i use ! that way i know what the powder charge is just by looking at the headstamp .
Im a accuracy buff even with handguns so for serious business i use the same lot # of brass and for normal shooting i only use one brand in every load in each caliber i load for .

[mold maker]

All are deprimed with pockets cleaned, ready to load
9s and .40s are cleaned, polished, and in 7 gal buckets. All the rest are cleaned, polished, and sorted into clear plastic containers according to volume.
All loaded rounds are in ammo boxes.

[gwpercle]

Use whatever container you can get free or cheaply. Cat litter buckets are free sturdy and have a good lid . Used to be able to get G. I. Ammo boxes, those are great. A lot of building products come in plastic buckets and contractors will give them to you, clean em and use em. Of course the Heavy duty plastic zip lock bags are great.

I tend to stay away from card board boxes because my storage area is in the garage .. vermin and dampness can play havoc with cardboard , Louisiana is famous for bugs , heat and humidity , so sealed plastic buckets or ammo boxes get the nod .

JonB_in_Glenco, I only wish my reloading set up was half as neat and tidy as yours. I must have a hoarding problem and a disorder complex. My reloading area looks like I need some kind of intervention. I will not post a photo.
It's not like I try to be disorderly , it just happens. I clean up, get all organized, put everything in it's place and in a few months it is a rats nest again with stuff all over the bench. I guess thats just my nature. But your's sure looks nice.
gary

[captaint]

When I started loading for 9mm (not long ago) I had no empty brass. Had 2 boxes of loaded J words. Went to the range & shot that & picked up some brass in the buckets that was left by others. I now, from repeating the same pick up deal, have about 1000 cases and I do sort it by headstamp. Now, with plenty of brass, I can afford to do that.
I like to use those clear plastic pretzel "bottles" with the metal lid. They hold like 3000 9mm cases and it's all easy to see. My .02. enjoy Mike

[FISH4BUGS]

Since I shoot machine guns, I have TONS of brass. Like Jon B I use the Cat Litter containers. Also have a bunch of green 5 gal buckets with lids. Also some 30 lb organic blended egg containers with lids. They hold a bunch of each caliber and stack well. I stocked up years ago on brass when it was cheap. I remember buying 10,000 9mm commercial shipped for $100. Man those days are gone.......
In the containers I have some 20,000 9mm, 5000 45 acp, 5000 380, 10,000 223, and 5000 308. Also there are 5000 357, 5000 38 and 3000 44's (gee,.....maybe I need more 44 mag). THEN I have a bucket for each that lists how many times fired. A 2x bucket for each caliber. That is particularly important for the rifle calibers, for trimming is important and case life is watched closely.
I lived in a condo building with 41 residential units. For many years, from the recycling area, I saved the kitty litter containers, coffee cans and whatever else looked good for containers. I am glad I did - now they live in the casting shed in the house we bought.
My GF has named me "container boy".......a title I wear proudly. Probably one of the few things that actually planned and worked out ...both the GF and the containers.

[Harter66]

I've an ammo can that's about 1 1/2 20mm cans and 2 20mm cans for, currently,most of my brass. The bigger can is full w/head stamp sorted rifle brass part of which is also weigh matched as I have 2 rifles that simply know the difference between 199.2gr and 200.8 gr brass.

I sort pistol brass by head stamp only, but then I've only 2 for the Colts, it didn't take me long to amass a couple 1000 WIN 9mm and half that many of all the others combined. Those get sorted and bagged into the other 2 ,20mm cans, I have a bunch of 30 Cal cans that the other "no home" brass gets cartridge sorted into loose for later use,trade,PIF,etc.

[**oneshot**]

New brass stays in the bag it came in stuffed in a mini tote.
Once I put brass into use it gets stored in ammo boxes keeping track of firings and or trimming, etc

I always have one "lot" in the shoot and reload, with another "lot" loaded and ready to go. When the current lot starts showing fatigue it gets pulled and replaced and the process starts all over.

[trooperdan]

I use the plastic coffee containers. I go through a lot of coffee being ex-military! :)

[smoked turkey]

Plastic coffee containers here too with caliber written on top and handle side with a black sharpie. I deprime using universal depriming die. I then clean with my vibrator cleaner. I usually try to size, flare and prime lots of the particular caliber where they are stored in another container ready for loading. I load out of the primed brass until I've gone through it and start all over again.