Hoarding Brass

[Char-Gar]

Looking around the shop I see a huge amount of cartridge brass of all calibers and wonder how I got here. When I started reloading 50 plus years ago a hundred cases for a handgun (2 boxes of 50) and sixty cases (3 boxes of 20) for a rifle was considered to be an ample supply. We didn't polish the cases, so we loaded the same cases over and over gain until they hard turn a uniform dark brown color. We would anneal them from time to time to keep them from splitting and have at it again. Of course this was before the day of progressive loaders and the various action shooting games that consumed huge amounts of ammo.

To say I have a lifetime supply is an understatement and I have enough for five lifetimes as I still load them in small batches as I did many years ago. I have to face the reality that somewhere along the way, I started to hoard brass. Be that as it may, I am not going to get ride of it, but continue to enjoy living among the colorful boxes and containers of these magic things.

[btroj]

Hoarding? No, just a frugal man makng sure he takes care of his future needs.

I pick up any brass I find on the ground. Why? Because it seems wasteful not to. I use what I can and scrap the rest.

Lifetime supply? At 48 I'm not prepared to make that call yet. For some cartridges I'm sure I'm there, for others I'm not so sure. I suppose it will be up to my estate to determine how my supply stacks up as "lifetime ".

[claude]

I too have become aware of a certain "abundance of stuff" pertaining to reloading. I can't actually say I'm hoarding yet, but if I laid it all end to end, I'd be far from home............................................ and tired.

[bedbugbilly]

I find myself picking up brass as well . . . sort of like a crow or a packrat . . maybe because it's shiny?

I've been shooting for 50+years but haven't been reloading more than a few . . . and for some reason, when I have a chance to get brass at a decent price, I pick it up "just in case" . . don't ask me what "just in case" means as I don't really know myself! LOL I got in to reloading to save on cost of ammo and because I've cast for 50 years (shot BP). I din't think it would be additive but it's sure turned out that way. Now, I find myself getting brass for a couple of calibers I don't reload but "might" in the future. It's a sickness . . . just a sickness! Unfortunately, there's no vaccine for it! The nice thing though is that I have been able to help a couple of folks out who need some . . . sort of nice to be able to pass it on to them . . . sort of a "payback" for those that have helped me along the way. I figure that's what it's all about . . . sharing and helping others.

[pjames32]

I keep thinking the same, with brass and all of the equipment. I did get rid of my 10ga. loader. It went with the 10ga. to one of my nephews.
I just looked at a post WTB Win 300 mag dies. I've got them, but still have a 300 win mag in my safe. I've not shot it in 20 years so I guess I'd better keep the dies just in case.
Stumbled on 5-20rd boxes of new 307 win brass for my 300 BS Contender. I have 100 rds loaded so I probably don't need them.
How much is enough? I guess we will never know! If the money runs out in our retirement at least I might be able to sell some stuff for beer money.
PJ

[Digital Dan]

Yesterday I traded a dozen tangerines for 138 pieces of once fired .30-30 brass.

I don't feel guilty.

[MrWolf]

I keep every piece of brass I find (usable of course) and keep them in their respective containers. Who knows, someday I might have a corresponding firearm that needs reloading

[freebullet]

Metal of any kind isn't getting cheaper. If it's free I will pick up every piece I can find.

[Tatume]

I just purchased 1000 Starline 44 Rem Mag cases, and wish I could have afforded more. I'll use them until the mouths split, and expect a couple of years service from them.

[Love Life]

I have a bunch of brass. It's getting kind of ridiculous in my garage. I see a range sale in my future. I have a certain amount of Norma .243 NIB and I laugh every time I see it. I bought it for normal prices during the scare of 2013, but the quantity is ridiculous when I think about the 1st 100 pieces of brass from that lot lasted long enough to burn my barrel out.

[joesig]

I'd rather hear someone is "hoarding" it than they took it to the scrapper.
Just don't store it near ammonia and enjoy the stash!

[paul h]

It seems like hording until we get in times of shortage and you're happy for every piece you have. To me hording would be having more than I actually use, and I'm not there yet.

I seem to find spare time is harder and harder to come by, so when I do manage to get to the loading or casting bench I like to crank out batches in the 100's if not over 1000. So with 1000 or 2000 handgun cases on hand it makes sense if I load them once a year vs. having to reload 100 cases 10 times a year.

Just last weekend I found ~700 sized and primed 38 sp cases, sure made an easy job of loading up a batch of ammo.

[Iron Whittler]

You don't know for sure how much reloading stuff you have accumulated until you have to pack it all up to move. I have been reloading and casting since mid 60s. Now add bullet swaging and you get the picture. My stuff is in crates, boxes, and bags. In process of getting new "Man Cave" ready for the Big move in.

[stephen m weiss]

I hope to give away my stuff to kids and grandkids that show an interest. I bought a box of 500 308 brass and 500 223 and have cleaned up maybe half. I learned that making a bunch of bullets to sit in bags in a drawer sort of bugs me, because soon enough, I decide I shouldn't have made em that way and I pull em apart and make a much smaller batch the right way. I like the idea of having configurable brass, powder, and lead. I design and use the bullet to meet the needs I am seeing and anticipating. Designs that I really like I am now making up bags of about 60. By the time I burn thru them I usually want to make them different anyway.

[dragon813gt]

I'm storing most of my brass in five gallon buckets. One cartridge type per bucket. I have multiple buckets for certain common cartridges. One such bucket lead to building an AR because what's the use for all that brass if you don't have a rifle to use it in

Its a good thing I have a three story 1250 square foot garage to keep all my "stuff" in. One day I will stop paying for a storage unit and bring my GTI home to store it in the garage :laugh:

[Eddie2002]

I'll pick up just about anything at the range, even scooped some .22 cases which ended up in the scrap bucket. I get a real kick out of researching the odd stuff found at the range. The common calibers I'm not using get traded to shooting buddies once I have a good supply on hand. I always keep some 9mm and 5.56 brass just in case I get the chance to add another firearm to the collection.
I'm starting to run out of storage for loaded ammo, need to spend a few days at the range.

[paul edward]

The word "hoarding" may not be the best word to describe the accumulation and saving of brass we find or are given. Whenever I shoot, I pick up anything reloadable. Sometimes the brass bag (old claymore bag) contains interesting oddball cases. Those I don't need are cleaned, decapped, sorted and stored. If nothing else, they are trading material.

A couple dozen years ago a cousin gave me a 30/30. I didn't need to buy any brass as there was a good supply of range pickup brass on hand.

When I got a .380, I already had a coffee can full of brass that had been culled from range pickups.

I must admit, however, that I now have more 9mm and 45 Auto than I will ever need.

Some of us, who have been reloading for over 50 years, can remember when brass was scarce and expensive, so we just pick it up. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

[nagantguy]

I just turned down a trade with a member here not long ago, nothing was set in stone and there was no hard feelings but I just could not once it was sorted and cleaned bear to part with that much .44 brass, I felt like smog the dragon sitting atop his treasure. I remember a time when cash and a place to get brass was non existent for me. I also have buckets of stuff for calibers I don't load for yet and I've always said just in case, glad to see that so many times here makes me feel better. The 7 or so calibers I shoot the most I probably have a life time supply but remember when I had none. I thought for sure I had plenty of .38 and .357 until wife and daughter started shooting them by the gallon ziploc bag full. Same with .223 and since I'm on a rant here as much as weatherby brass costs why does it not last as long as other brands? I don't hot rod em they just seem to give up the ghost sooner, thought I had a life time supply of them.as well but down to under 100 for both. Ya never find those on the ground.

[Big Boomer]

I know I have more brass than I will ever be able to shoot up if I never reuse another case. Don't even know how many thousand .45 ACP pieces I have but if there is a loose one no one claims, I will. Same with .223/5.56. Large coffee cans stacked atop one another and don't even know how many a large coffee can will hold ... and all with the same headstamp. Picked it all up at the range after a police shoot. I know I have at least 1,000 pieces of .30-06 brass. A month ago I decided I would auction off a little under 300 mixed headstamp pieces for site benefit. That still leaves me with more than I will ever be able to use because I just keep using the same 150 or so that I've been using for I don't know how long. When I discovered the .45 Colt I got rid of my .41 Mags. and my .44 Mag. But I still have something like 2,000 pieces of .41 Mag. brass. All same headstamp. Likewise lots of .44 Mag. brass. I had absolutely no use for the .243 Browning A-Bolt an old friend put up for sale due to hard times. But the price was right and then I needed to acquire some brass despite the fact that over 100 rounds of ammo came with the rifle. Haven't fired a single round of the factory ammo but I really need to get some more .243 brass just in case. I used to think there was something wrong with the way I think, or the way I was raised or something amiss ... until I found the old Shooters site ... then I came here and found some of the same folk and determined they all have the same condition I have. Now I just call it normal ... for me, anyway. Big Boomer

[DrCaveman]

Here's a tip: the swappin and sellin section

I havent been accumulating components very long, compared to many of you

When my stack is getting too tall, and i see that it outpaces my consumption, i look around and say: what am i short on?

Then offers for trades commence. And everybody wins. A small shipping fee paid today, for the acquisition of otherwise spendy materials, is a better value to me than the stuff sitting on my shelf or garage floor.

Just a thought.