MilSurp brass sold for $8.00/lb. today.

[dbosman]

I had to pick a metaphorical jaw up off the floor today. The local scrap yards are paying $1.95 for brass.

I started watching the monthly auctions for empty military brass scrap, due to a comment on this site.
I played with the idea of purchasing a couple of tons of 9mm, 5.56, and 7.62 brass and boxing it up in flat rate boxes, for sale. I ran numbers and got pricing for shipping, as none of the sales are local, and calculated a price that would keep my 12 year old son gainfully employed for a couple of months. A price per pound that would return enough to make the investment worth the work and leave me a couple K of brass. That idea was blown away late last night - for auctions that closed at 5:00 PM today.

[TXGunNut]

Certainly food for thought. I know a guy who often sells range brass for scrap, pays better than selling for reloading.

[dakotashooter2]

The winner better hope for a quick resale or in 6 months he may be sitting on a pile of brass he may have to take a loss on to get rid of................................

[Blammer]

if you already have it you're set, if you don't it's too late to join the game.

[Wooly]

I have a source for $3 a pound. Hell,I thought that was high. The 200 pounds I bought yielded 15 gallons of rimfire(for my 224 swaging) & lots of cf brass. I have 6k of 9, 4k of 40,& about 4k of 45. I will put it in swap & sell as soon as I get 25 posts. PM me now if you want some.

[starbits]

It was actually worse than that for 5.56. Dollar amounts are price per pound with low, high, and average lot prices.

9mm...low $4.73...high $6.67.........average $5.53 at 118 cases per pound that is $0.05 each
40..........................only one lot..................$6.80 at 100 cases per pound that is $0.07 each
5.56....low $7.84...high $11.25.......average $8.63 at 73 cases per pound that is $0.12 each
7.62....low $2.09...high $8.88.........average $4.50 at 40 cases per pound that is $0.11 each
50.......low $1.69...high $2.96.........average $2.42 at 8.1 cases per pound that is $0.27 each

looks like the average Joe isn't the only one paying outrageous prices for components. The lot I was interested in, 1600 lbs of 5.56 in Yuma went for $18,000. That is $0.154 per casing not even counting the fact the 1600 pounds includes the 55 gal barrel and pallet.

Starbits

[Love Life]

7.62x51 brass is more stable and a safer buy. Once the market drops out of the 5.56/black rifle craze you will see 5.56 brass drop from it's highs of $125-$150 per 1,000 back to it's normal $75-$100 per thousand.

9mm is not worth anybody's time. I would take some milsurp 9mm for free (I'm currently working through 2 5 gallon buckets to last me the rest of my life), but I would not pay much for it if it was unprocessed.

50 cal is a niche market, and the volume really isn't there IME which is why I don't fool with it. I would need special tools to process it, so all I can really do to it is clean it.

7.62x51 has a stable price bracket, that if you stay within it during the ups and downs, you can usually make your money back and then some.

At $8.00 a lb for 1,000 lbs 7.62 you would need to sell it for a minimum of $211 per 1,000 to make your money back. Very doable in today's market, and if you are willing to prep it, it is doable in just about any market. Just food for thought.

People are charging super premiums right now, making money right now, but ultimately are taking a big fat dump where they eat. Price right, provide quality product and service, and you can make your money back.

[GRUMPA]

I've been watching them for the past couple of weeks now and for one in my own state they sold for $9.40 per pound.

http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6092613&convertTo=USD

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have been sorting lots of 38spl and 45ACP with the idea of Putting it up for sale on this site, After I read this thread I called the local recycler and they are only paying 1.20 per pound. I weighed a pound on my wife's kitchen scale and it took eighty 38spl cases to weigh a pound. Selling for scrap that comes out to 1.5 cent apiece. Of course when you figure the cost of mailing enough to fill a sfr box it does cut into what you receive per pound, not to mention the fact that you can sell it all at once.