Tumbling large quantities of brass

[Ickisrulz]

I say keep it. Warehouse it. Visit in on the weekends!

But I'm a brass hoarder, so take my advice for what it's worth.

I know you are just kidding, but imagine having to store twenty-six 55 gallon drums of brass. This is just a year's worth.

Now imagine having the additional income of selling the same amount of brass.

[M-Tecs]

I say keep it. Warehouse it. Visit in on the weekends!

But I'm a brass hoarder, so take my advice for what it's worth.

26 55 gallon barrels in a year is a lot to store. In five years that's 130 55 gallon barrels. That is an impressive store facility. And I thought I had two much brass.

Most ranges sell it to the scrape yard. Sorting that volume is close to a full time job but it is a problem I wish I had.

[mjkonopka]

I'm not sure if I could part ways with brass, I don't usually like to sell things once I get them. I have never sold a firearm once I bought one. I do all my sorting and cleaning right now in a 25'x75' storage shop that I rent. I did rent it to store other things, like an old willys and some misc stuff that I don't have room for at the house anymore. But the brass is quickly taking over the more I get. I went from keeping it all in 5 gallon buckets, to now dumping the buckets into 30 gallon galvanized steel garbage cans (that I keep on small furniture moving dollies).

[mjkonopka]

If I can build a sorting machine like jmorris built, except I can't afford the chromoly tubing, it would cut down on sorting time 10 fold. I was thinking about trying to build one like that but using angle iron instead of the rollers with a vibrator to help move the cases down the channel.

[mjkonopka]

Am I stupid for wanting to keep all that brass?

[Ickisrulz]

If I can build a sorting machine like jmorris built, except I can't afford the chromoly tubing, it would cut down on sorting time 10 fold. I was thinking about trying to build one like that but using angle iron instead of the rollers with a vibrator to help move the cases down the channel.

Maybe you could hire neighborhood teens or have other reloaders help out in exchange for some brass. Start small with plastic sorting trays and work up as you can put money back into the business.

There's more than one way to do things. I think the worst way of doing it would be storing the brass because you cannot part with it. Have you ever watched the show Hoarders?

[Ickisrulz]

Am I stupid for wanting to keep all that brass?

Some people might say you are misguided in renting a storage building for all your "stuff." Downsize!

[M-Tecs]

Am I stupid for wanting to keep all that brass?

Not stupid but if you can keep getting the brass on a long term bases it will become unrealistic.

[dverna]

I would be curious about the calibers you have.

Anyway, run the numbers on how much you shoot, number of reloads per case per caliber, % loss, add 50% as a safety factor. Figure you will shoot until you are 80. That will give a feel for how much you need. Sell the rest.

For example
if you shoot 300 rds of 9mm per week
get 10 loads per case
lose 10%
are currently 50
You need 330/10 x 52 x 30 = 85,800 cases

50% added safety factor = 128,700 cases

[TexasGrunt]

Am I stupid for wanting to keep all that brass?

Not stupid, but you might need professional help.

You're taking in 4-5X more brass every week than you're shooting. Even if you NEVER pick up a piece of brass you're going to run out of storage space.

http://www.ultimatesorter.com/

Get one of those. Sell the brass. Buy a boat. Go broke.

I wouldn't even bother to clean the brass you're going to sell. Just sort, box and sell. With the amount you're getting you can easily make an extra $1000 a month.

[dragon813gt]

The tumbling part is easy. Use the concrete mixer w/ fine crushed walnut blasting media. It will last a very long time. I built a rack out of wire mesh for initial separation. Just dump out of the mixer onto the rack. Brass stays on rack and media is directed into a large tub. I then used a typical media separator to process. This takes little time since it only requires a few spins.

Your biggest issue will be sorting the brass. You want to do this before tumbling. Otherwise you end up w/ a bunch of nested cases. I have the Shell Sorter. But it's a slow process. A five gallon bucket full of mixed brass takes over half an hour to sort if there is a lot of different cartridges. It's convenient but not the best method for bulk sorting.

On the storage end. If you have the space keep it. It's essentially money in the bank. Keep whatever amount you want for personal use. Keep the rest separated, by cartridge, to sell at your convenience. If you want to keep it all and have the space to do so then by all means do it. I know I'd keep it as a rainy day fund.

[bbogue1]

I only have a small amount of brass( about 800 cases split between 9mm and 38 Special). I use about 150 on a good week and police the range like a good boy scout when I am done). I am always looking for ways to inexpensively increase the brass count I have. If you look at the price of once shot brass, not deprimed, not cleaned you'll find there are only a few places selling it that way. This is a marketing opportunity for you, a nitch that's not being filled. When I look for brass I want it uncleaned and still primed to assure I am loading good cases that have no sign of age or overpressure. I don't shot competition so I don't care if the brass is of mixed manufacture. The best price for 1000 dirty brass I can find is 4-5 cents for pistol and about 8 - 15 cents for rifle. My situation represents your target market. Keep what you can load, maybe 8-10,000 cases the rest are the bankroll, sell them, sorted or not. Cleaned or not.

If you want a on the clouds feeling go to Helping Hands and give them away, you will not believe the feeling you will get when a newbie posts you back and profusely thanks you for the 500 dirty cases he thinks is so golden. Many people on this forum would love to have extra or even adequate brass. You have the ability to sell some, make a little money to pay postage and give some new guy who's just getting started a hand up. Won't cost you a dime and won't eat into the stock you have. In fact I am willing to bet you can't even give away what you receive each month, so, you'll still be busy an still increasing your stockpile.

PM me if you want the names of the cheap sellers. PM me if you want to explore this idea more.
Brad

[JimB..]

Am I stupid for wanting to keep all that brass?

i hate to say that anyone is stupid, but it does seem that you are making a series of poor decisions. If I had your problem I would contact one of the companies that remanufactures ammunition and ask what they would pay for mixed dirty (police?) brass by the pallet. You'll find it much more convenient to store the cash. If you're worried about not being able to get more some day, then clean a couple 5 gallon buckets of the calibers you shoot and put them aside for long term storage and setup a few thousand in rotation for your regular shooting.

oh, and giving them away to reloaders is a great idea, I'm helping another guy get started this week and it's a lot of fun.

[Drew P]

Oncefiredbrass.com is selling 223 for 12.50$/250 cases. This is a good deal I'd say. So, you're sitting on a gold mine bro! I'll take 2000 of fuel your hands.

[salpal48]

If your getting That amount of Brass. Conventional Tumblers will not Help you. there is machines out There on the commercial sector That will clean, Polish and separate media in One application.. it makes no difference what media you use. the machine will remove or Drain.
Commercial Co. Like Kramer Industries Or Raytech There not Cheap. . they are used also for Parts Deburring. they are not for the average reloader. Buy there out There.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I have 1 question and 1 suggestion. The question I have is where or what job do you have to reap that much brass cases? The suggestion I have for sorting is hire some high school kids to sort. I have heard that a desire to continually add to an already large amount of anything is called `hoarding`, nothing wrong with that - just thought it should be mentioned.Robert

[mold maker]

It wont take long for the novelty of excess free brass to overburden you. It does indeed reload over and over, and some of the operations are only done once to 1x brass. Storing the quantities of brass you speak of will quickly soon overtake the turbulence of having it.
Regardless, the first thing is to separate it by caliber. A turn in a cement mixer to remove dirt and spider webs is optional. When you consider the number of possible calibers and the volume over time, storage will become a real problem.
The suggestion to save a bucket of each you use or think you might is valid, but more than that is folly. Turn your windfall into cash and purchase another gun that you have had your eye on.
I wish I had your problem, at least for a while. I spent much of 3 years cleaning a LEO range but the abundance of 9 mm and 40 cal quickly overshadowed the value of the few odd additions.

[toallmy]

I have a friend that has just recently helped the widow of a long time friend of his sell over 30,000 pounds of range brass that he had saved from his shooting range . Trust me it was not a easy task , after a few years all the boxes that had been packed up really nice don't hold up . She still has that much more to go , but they are taking a break . Don't do that to your loved ones . By the way the scrap dealer tried to pay her under .50 a pound but with help she got 1.35 . It had to be packed in vats pallet sized heavy cardboard box that held 3500 lb . Don't be that guy in 20 years .

[308Jeff]

I know you are just kidding, but imagine having to store twenty-six 55 gallon drums of brass. This is just a year's worth.

Now imagine having the additional income of selling the same amount of brass.

Yeah I'm kidding. Kind of.

No, I'm kidding.

But... It is nice to stare at huge quantities of reloading components.

[Drew P]

I have a friend that has just recently helped the widow of a long time friend of his sell over 30,000 pounds of range brass that he had saved from his shooting range . Trust me it was not a easy task , after a few years all the boxes that had been packed up really nice don't hold up . She still has that much more to go , but they are taking a break . Don't do that to your loved ones . By the way the scrap dealer tried to pay her under .50 a pound but with help she got 1.35 . It had to be packed in vats pallet sized heavy cardboard box that held 3500 lb . Don't be that guy in 20 years .

id rather leave multiple tons of semi precious metals for my loved ones to deal with than a stack of old porno mags and a coffee cup collection. Your logic is a little off.

Maybe it wasn't fun for you, but she got 40$k out of it which is a nice car and a European vacation in my estimation.