How much is an adequate amount of brass????

[1Shirt]

Btroj and I had a discussion about brass, and what is an adequate amount. We agreed that there is no such thing as to much brass, which to me is an obvious. That said, I guess it would be an individual choice as to adequate amounts of brass per cartridge that you load for. It would also be a factor of being a plinker, or a big game hunter, or a match shooter, or a bench rester, or a cowboy action type, or a p-dog shooter ect or whatever your fetish happens to be. As a paper punching, p-dog shooter, who hunts deer and does postal matches, thought I would list what I would consider my minimums(not that I have been able to fully assemble my minimums at present).
22LR-1000 rds
17HMR-500 rds
22 Hornet-500 rds
22 K Hornet 500 rds
222 Rem-1000 rds
223-2000 rds
380-500 rds
9mm Luger-2000rds
38S-1000rds
357-1000rds
44S-500rds
44M-500rds
45Colt-500rds
243-1000 rds
22-250-1000rds
308/06/7.5x55/303Brit/7.62x54-500rds
375 H&H-250rds
45-70-200rds.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[btroj]

No such thing as too much.

I have 4K or more of 38 specials, about 4 K 45 ACP, and 1500 9 mm. I want more 9 mm as they seem to get lost a fair bit at the range. Dang auto loader......

For rifles I like at least 200 for anything. Less than that seems to lead to wanting empty brass to try a load and all mine is loaded. Hate that.

I should just bite the bullet and buy a bunch of brass for the 9 mm but I seem to be typical of our members and am a cheap SOB.

[Bad Water Bill]

If you do not have at least 1K for each firearm you better start collecting others left behind stuff.

But then I started a loooong time ago.:grin:

[lancem]

For a bolt rifle I'm looking at at least 500, semi auto at least 1000, handgun, thousands, never enough. I might (though unlikely) to pass a penny on the ground, but never a piece of brass...

[Trey45]

By some definitions I am a hoarder and am directly responsible for the ammo shortage, especially the 22LR shortage.

[Dean D.]

No such thing as too much.


My sentiments also.

[jonas302]

I would say at least minimum 3 times the amount that you normally shoot in that caliber

[472x1B/A]

If you do not have at least 1K for each firearm you better start collecting others left behind stuff.

But then I started a loooong time ago.:grin:

I whole heartedly agree with this philosophy. Work, work, work to hoard, hoard, hoard.

[shdwlkr]

My rule is if the kids and I both shoot that caliber then the least to have is 5k as they can sure go through a lot in a short time. They don't even live with me because of a divorce, I have no idea if they were with dad all the time how much would be enough, maybe 10k.

The amount to have is such a personal thing, I have at least 400 pieces of brass for most of my collection but that is more due to current lack of availability than anything else.

I read once that you need at least 1k loaded for each firearm you have and at least another 1k to be loaded at all times.

Just my ideas on the subject

[garym1a2]

I say a supply that will last the rest of your life plus extras to share with family and freinds is a good number to start with. You can always sell it when you retire from shooting and get a better return on your money than SSI.

[country gent]

For cartridges used in mactch shooting I wanted 2000 loaded and ready to go at the start of the season all loaded in one set-up so they were all as close to the same as possible. These calibers were 308,243, and 223. Handgun rounds depends on what I do with them. I have an abundance of 9mm on hand as years ago most wouldnt load it due to low prices of mil surpluss ammo available. I saved it over the years and no have boxes full of it. I have an 6" bench vise box stacked full of 9mm. 380 is another I dont pass up when I find it. Several friends pick it up/save it for me also. 38s and 357s are another Ive accumulated alot of over the years. I normally want 200-500 min for a rifle or handgun. Again depending on usage.

[youngda9]

just a little bit more.

[John Allen]

Hoarding brass is my second favorite pastime, right below hoarding lead.

[dragon813gt]

Is the question brass or loaded ammo? Because the OP listed 22lr. My rules are 22lr by the pallet. Handguns in 5k increments. And rifles in 1k increments. I'm shooting a lot more centerfire handguns compared to 22 lately so I will probably be increasing that minimum to 10k increments.

[schutzen]

Are you talking brass or loaded rounds? Your numbers look close to my ammo locker with a few notable exceptions.
1- I try to keep 5K .22lr on hand. As soon as I open the last case, I start looking for another full case. This worked out very well this winter.
2- .223, I try to keep 4K hunting rounds loaded. These are primarily for prairie dogs. If one of my sons is suddenly free to join in on a PD hunt, I'm ready.
3- It looks like your HD pistol is a 9MM, mine is a .40 S&W. As a side note, it really likes the Lee 170 gr truncated cone cast hard. I too try to keep 2K on hand for a SD/HD pistol.
4- I try to keep 1K .44 Mag and 1K .45 LC on hand because I shoot both in revolvers and rifles. Plus my sons help shoot these.
5- Unusual calibers, I try to keep a minimum of 250 for each caliber (.32-20, .41 Mag, .38-55. 300 Blackout (trying to find a cast boolit I like for this one).

For just plain brass, I never turndown free brass and very rarely do I pass on cheap brass. For just plain brass, I try to keep not less than 500 cases above what I have loaded. I'm not there with all calibers, but I'm close.

I buy powder and primers in bulk. I try to stay at least 1 year ahead of my anticipated usage of each. I also try to have a bullet mold for each caliber.

All this being said, I am basically the family reloader. I'm retired and the sons/son-in-law work so Dad reloads for all. This has worked out well for us, the boys chip in on large powder/primer/bullet buys and we all shoot cheaper.

[EdZ KG6UTS]

Btroj and I had a discussion about brass, and what is an adequate amount. We agreed that there is no such thing as to much brass, which to me is an obvious.....

Ideally?? Lets see..
5.56: several thousands if possible The little black rifle has a voracious appetite.
.45, 9mm, 38spl/.357: ditto, darn pistols are like the little black rifle
30.06, 6.5X55: 1K each, just picked up another 300 rnds of 6.5 Lapua brass
.22 as many as you can find because its fun and easy to burn through, at least several bricks
.45-70 and .43 Spanish BPCR: 500 each
12/16/20ga at least a case of each load you shoot for each caliber for sporting/field ammo, several boxes in each of loads for "social" situations

EdZ KG6UTS

[Love Life]

For pistols I want to have no less than 2,000 on hand for each caliber. 1,000 being constantly reloaded and shot, with the other 1,000 on standby. Once I start getting split brass or such I'll scrap the currently shot lot and use the back up. At that point I buy another 1,000 for that cartridge.

For my semi-auto rifles I want no less than 5,000.

For my bolt guns I want no less than 1,000 per, and I usually shoot 200 piece lots until they start to give up the ghost.

[williamwaco]

All of it!

[BRobertson]

I use mostly .44 mag,

I like to keep approx. 3,000 new cases,

I have approx. 2,000 once fired (I use once fired for my hunting loads)

I have approx. 4,000 multi fired cases for general use, some of which have been fired as many as a couple of dozen times.

Also I have approx. 3,000 loaded rounds

[CGT80]

38 spl. I have 3-4 big folgers coffee cans
44 mag 1 coffee can (I don't have a 44, but my grandfather does).
357 1 coffee can (I don't have one yet but grandpa does)
30 carbine I only have 200-300 but would like more
30-06 3-4 big coffee cans
243 1 big coffee can
25 acp less than a small coffee can (grandpa has this gun)
30-30 2-3 coffee cans
45 colt 1 large coffee can
460 S&W Mag 200 minus a few that have become damaged or cracked

223 just over a single 5 gallon bucket of clean brass. I have at least one 5 gallon bucket of dirty brass.
45 a single 5 gallon bucket
40 S&W a single 5 gallon bucket
9mm 4-5 5 gallon buckets

22 LR 16+ bricks on hand

12 ga birdshot around 1250 rounds on hand
00 buck 30-40 rounds for 3 gun competition
slugs 30-40 for 3 gun

Powder, lots and lots. I like 8 and 16 pound cans.
Primers, 10's of thousands

Bullets, my shelf makes the local Turner's store look pathetic
Boolits enough that I only have to cast every few months

Lead, less than a thousand pounds AFAIK, but not nearly enough :grin:

My bedroom has a shelving unit for ammo and bullets, my closet has more gun stuff than clothes, and my living room has an 8' bench with a dozen filing cabinet size drawers and a dillon 550 and 1050 mounted to it. Does it surprise anyone that my girlfriend was made in Italy and that she is slender and very fast, and her name is Benelli Super Sport? I don't have a shooting problem!

I wish I could find quality women around here as easily as I seem to collect quality guns.

[dtknowles]

If you do not have at least 1K for each firearm you better start collecting others left behind stuff
But then I started a loooong time ago.:grin:

This is not always sensible, I don't think I will ever buy even 100 pieces of brass for my 450 BPE Double Rifle, I might fire it maybe 100 times in the next few years, I have 40 pieces of 450 NitroExpress brass that I load for it. Cost a pretty penny and I don't think I will wear them out.

Tim

[Freischütz]

It's adequate when you look at what you have, consider the average number of times you reload a case, and realize you have more than you can use in a lifetime.

Caution - rifle cases are much bigger than pistol cases. It takes an big pile of them to satisfy a lifetime's need.

[Bad Water Bill]

If you intend on taking them with you remember only so many can fit in that pine box.

Do not horde more than can fit in the box as the rest of us will have a BIG hastle over what will not fit inside.:bigsmyl2:

[oneokie]

I should just bite the bullet and buy a bunch of brass for the 9 mm but I seem to be typical of our members and am a cheap SOB.

You should get out to the range more often.

[bhn22]

It looks like some of you are off to a good start. I'm sure you'll be able to add more soon.

[Iowa Fox]

Brass is just like scrap lead, wheel weights and other alloy materials. You can never have to much. My kids are heavy shooters and the grandkids are shooting and looks like in a few years will enter heavy volume also so I know where its headed when I croak.

[btroj]

You should get out to the range more often.

My range has too many reloaders! I do have about 1500 9 mm cases, all range pickups, which isn't bad since I didn't have a 9 mm until last fall. Many of those cases sat in my basement for a decade or more.

I wish I could find brass as easily as I do lead. I have better than a ton of range scrap in 2 years, now I need 500 pounds of brass!

[HATCH]

It's adequate when you look at what you have, consider the average number of times you reload a case, and realize you have more than you can use in a lifetime.

This exact discussion came up recently.

Rimmed revolver brass unless loaded hot will last between 5 and 8 loadings.
Automatic pistol brass has the same amount of loadings but the problem is the range loss rate. I have found that I lose 10% when I shoot a auto. On 9mm, 40 and even 45 it isn't so bad as those are still popular calibers and getting replacement brass (once fired) isn't so bad. Now when you get into odd balls like 9x18 (makarov) or 22TCM then it hurts when you lose brass.

Also you have to factor in trashed cased in the loading process. Right now we seem to trash 1 case out of 100 when we load 22 hornet (just the way it is) and trash 1 case per 500 of the 44/40. I have found a solution on both items to reduce the trash rate but thats just the way it was last time we loaded (we as in my brother Ray and I).

And lastly, this has to deal with neck cases (rifle and 22tcm). 22 TCM factory brass will only give you about 3 or 4 loadings before the neck splits. This is because the brass isn't annealed. I suppose I could anneal the brass and get more life out of it but in the case of 22 TCM I suspect that I will lose the case before I can load it 3 or 4 times (LOL)

But to answer your question, what is enough brass....

5K of each pistol is a start.
2K of each rifle.

In the case of rifles that hold more then 10 rounds then you need to have 4K rounds as you will shoot more of those each range trip. (example, you might only shoot 5 rounds of 45/70 out of your lever gun but you will surely shoot at least 30rds out of your AR15)

[daniel lawecki]

I reload once or twice a year brass count in the 20,000. I wont reload any caliber untill I have at least 1,000 for say caliber. Just hate changing setups.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

when you start counting it by the 5 gallon pails full, you got too much ;)

I got my first rifle in 358win last fall. Only have 100 rds of brass, feel kinda bad. BUT, it's tough to locate any with the correct HS. I guess I'll just have to start forming some from 7.62 or 308

[762 shooter]

Brass like other reloading components has a shelf life of more than one life time. If you like to shoot, reload, or cast, you should have enough of each on hand to shoot as long as you want for the rest of your life.

Something to work toward. Unused commodities never will lose their value. Live free.

762

[MrWolf]

I agree with the comment of needing all of it. I confess I am a brass horder - if I find it I keep it even in calibers I don't shoot. Figure someday I might :wink:

[FISH4BUGS]

I shoot machine guns in 380, 9mm 223 ,308 and 45 auto. I have probably 3000 380, 15,000 9mm, 5000 223, 3000 308, and 5000 45 auto brass. I still don't think I have enough.
Back in the days when 9mm was $10/1000 shipped, i bought lots. Same relatively cheap price for all the others. Brass USED TO BE cheap. Fortunately i bought lots of brass when it was available and cheap.
38's? Maybe 5000. 357? Maybe 3000. 44 mag? Maybe 1500 (I am a bit light on those.) I still don't have enough.
I am a hoarder of all things reloading. I pick up all my own brass (even the machine gun fired brass) and I pick the buckets at the range and take only the calibers I use. If you don't think it is worthwhile, consider this: I just traded 1000 cast 158 gr swc (H&G 51) 38's with my mechanic for some diesel work. I will load and trade 5 boxes 44 mag 240gr JHP in the spring for the chimney sweep for the spring cleaning. I trade 9mm for vegetable seedlings from the organic farmer down the road. All this hoarding is starting to pay off.
I used to live in downtown Portsmouth NH and there was a bagel shop next door. They had 30lb plastic containers of blended organic eggs that they made all their egg dishes from. The containers had snap lids and were about 12x12x24. They threw them out with the trash, and I asked if they could save them for me. After about 50 of them I said STOP! They make perfect bulk brass containers. A lifetime supply.
My condo building (before we bought the farm house) had 41 residential units, and I used to go through the recycling bins weekly and take all the metal and plastic coffee cans with lids. After about 2 years I had probably 100 large coffee cans with lids. A lifetime supply.
What was best of all was the scrounging of lead. This is now about 10 years ago when it was still around. I scrounged probably in excess of a ton of wheel weights. A friend sold his tire shop and he told me to come and take all I wanted before Friday at 5, because that was the closing date. Right there was probably 1000 lbs of wheel weights alone. Plus I got buckets of lead from another tire shop in trade for a case of beer. Got a bucket every month with that deal until lead got too valuable.
I stored all this treasure at my girlfriend's house. I lived in a 600 square foot condo downton with virtually NO storage space. When the farm house became available to buy, we bought it so I wouldn't have to move all this stuff. Well...that is only partially true.
There is no shame in hoarding. Believe me, it will come in handy soon.

[David2011]

when you start counting it by the 5 gallon pails full, you got too much ;)


Uh-oh. Five gallons of .38, over 10 gallons of .45ACP, over 5 gallons of .223 (thatsa lotta brass), 5 gallons of 9mm, 7-8 gallons of .40 S&W. Less of other calibers.

I shoot some of the above in steel plate and USPSA so there's a lot of attrition. Funny, the serious hunting calibers seem to accumulate at a much lower rate than plinking and match brass. My primary hunting calibers are 6.5x55 and .22-250 and I probably have fewer than 300 of each.

David

[MTtimberline]

Are we counting the ones we don't have guns for too?

[Bzcraig]

All that the bank account allows but 2k per gun is my goal

[stephenj]

You fellows have deeper pockets then i do
Right now i am using exactly ..
250 .45colts .... i limit range sessions to a max of 200 so i have a few on hand if needed
65 6mm remington
90 30-06
97 .41 swiss ( formed from 8mm lebel)
75 8mm
45 577-.450
200 45/70
20 7.62 - 54r
0 rimfire
31 .303 british

Not a real big horde ... the only one i domt need more of is 45/70
The others i would like to have more of but a person has to make realistic chouces on where to spend his money

[shooter2]

I think I would be happy with a lifetime supply for every gun.

[bobthenailer]

I would say at least 1000 rounds loaded for any handgun caliber as for rifle 50 rounds as i rarely shoot them .
What i do is use a certian brand of brass in a particular caliber and use all of that brand of brass for a specfic load combo ! . example i just loaded almost 800, midway 357 mag brass with 4.5 gr of TG with a saeco #342 158gr swc .
I also have about 7 other brands of 357 mag brass all each loaded with there own particular load combo. thats how i do it for every handgun caliber i reload for.

[6bg6ga]

Probably not too good an idea to post quantities . You never know who is reading this. If they have their way they will make laws that say you can only have a maximum of say 100 rounds per house hold.

[captaint]

For me, when I don't have to think about "do I have enough this and that?".
223 - 2000
45ACP - 1500
9mm - 1500
38 spl bout 800. All the rest I generally have a couple hundred, and that IS enough for me. Mike

[762 shooter]

Probably not too good an idea to post quantities . You never know who is reading this. If they have their way they will make laws that say you can only have a maximum of say 100 rounds per house hold.

Some one from the UK should be able to comment on that.^^^^^^^^^^^^^

762

[ravelode]

I have enough brass to "wear out" most of the guns I still own. I did shoot out a Win M70 30-06 barrel once, it took 4500 "J" word bullets. The group size increased to 2.5" no matter what load I used, so I had it re-barreled with a pull off 670 barrel. I'm always scrounging brass and selling what I don't use or need.

[smokeywolf]

If you want your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and on and on, to be able to exercise their Constitutional rights and their rights as human beings, how could you define "enough" brass and lead?

[joelitespeed]

isnt the formula the same for the number of guns ? N+1 where N =your current number..

[dtknowles]

isnt the formula the same for the number of guns ? N+1 where N =your current number..

Doesn't work for me or the other who sell brass. Sometimes enough is actually too much.

Tim

[Bad Water Bill]

Probably not too good an idea to post quantities . You never know who is reading this. If they have their way they will make laws that say you can only have a maximum of say 100 rounds per house hold.

If they come looking for STUFF I will answer.

"ARE RELOADERS ALL LIARS OR DO ONLY LIARS RELOAD".:bigsmyl2:

[bhn22]

Probably not too good an idea to post quantities . You never know who is reading this. If they have their way they will make laws that say you can only have a maximum of say 100 rounds per house hold.

Good advice. This goes hand-in-hand with not being open about food storage, primers, ammunition, or many other items. We know that everything that goes through the internet is monitored and recorded for future use.

[mold maker]

Hoarding brass is my second favorite pastime, right below hoarding lead.

You've got the right idea. There's no such thing as too much of either.
Too not pick up what ever comes along, would be like throwing money, to watch it bounce.

[338RemUltraMag]

Probably not too good an idea to post quantities . You never know who is reading this. If they have their way they will make laws that say you can only have a maximum of say 100 rounds per house hold.

They have to figure a way to find all of mine first, I do not know actual quantities but I fill one 5 gallon bucket per caliber I own.

[WilliamDahl]

Even when I was shooting .22LR, I never shot more than 1000 rounds in a day, so for the most part, I keep 1000-2000 pieces of brass for each caliber that I reload for. Except for .45-70 which is probably only 200 pieces of brass and .300 Win Mag which is probably only 50 pieces of brass. I also keep a couple thousand loaded rounds on hand for various calibers, just in case the government decides that they don't like my religion, haircut, or whatever and wants to exterminate me like they did the Branch Davidians in Waco.

[Jammersix]

I dunno how much I have, but it's a garbage can and a half.

[fatelk]

It looks like most of you all reload and shoot a lot more than I do. I wish I could shoot more but at this point in my life I just don't have the time for it.

For me personally, a couple hundred pieces of anything would be plenty. Not that I don't already have a heck of a lot more than that, but at this point it just sits there unused.


No such thing as too much.

There is if you end up having to move twice in one year. I've gotten rid of a LOT of stuff in the last year or so.

[Black Powder Bill]

My hands hurt to much to count out anything much past 200 pcs. I just weigh them out now unless I get em pre-bagged.
I'd have to hermit up for a weekend to get a good count on what I have available.

[tengaugetx]

I like to keep a thousand or so for each pistol caliber and .223 besides what ammo I have loaded. A hundred or so for my other centerfire rifles is fine with me.
However, I will not stop picking up brass at the range until I am unable. Bought myself a new Kimber stainless target, complete AR upper and a $1,000 bracelet for the wife last year from selling range pick ups. It also pays my gun club dues and for all my shooting supplies and accessories. Shooting has basically turned into a profitable situation for me. It take a little of my time but belonging to the gun club is a plus for my disposable recreational income.

[OBIII]

I'm with Bill. They won't be happy when they come for mine. As to quantity, if you can count it and keep track of it, you are sorely deficient. :)

Remember, at some point in the future it may be all you have.

OB

[tomme boy]

If you have to ask, it is not enough.

[762 shooter]

I'm with Bill. They won't be happy when they come for mine. As to quantity, if you can count it and keep track of it, you are sorely deficient. :)

Remember, at some point in the future it may be all you have.

OB

Well said sir.

762

[shdwlkr]

If the immigration bill gets signed it is the beginning of the end for freedom loving Americans. The socialist/communists will have enough votes to get anything they want passed into law. We will be a dictatorship, the Constitution and Bill of Rights will only be pieces of paper on display of what once was.

So how much brass enough to keep you maybe around and then again maybe it won't matter as you may not have anything to use it in anyways.

[Jammersix]

Well, since you brought politics into a non-political discussion, (were you trolling?) I'll say that I approve, whole heartedly, of the immigration bill.

[Bad Water Bill]

Well, since you brought politics into a non-political discussion, (were you trolling?) I'll say that I approve, whole heartedly, of the immigration bill.

Send everyone of the CRIMINALS back where they crawled out from.

When my wife wanted to come here (she was the first female to go thru the coal research courses in Germany and there were only 4 folks with comparable credentials in the U S.)she had to wait 3 years and find someone that would take financial responsibility till she could support herself.

Stand on her own 2 feet ,find a job and housing while learning our language were some of the things she HAD to do.

We did not give her free housing,medical,education and food. It was sink or swim just as it had been for everyone that came here from the beginning.

Now YOU want to give my hard earned dollars to someone that is a known criminal and can not read or speak my language and makes no attempt to do so.

I think not sir.

Get in line with a clean criminal record and a good reason we should want you here then we can decide.

[DRNurse1]

No such thing as too much.

I have 4K or more of 38 specials, about 4 K 45 ACP, and 1500 9 mm. I want more 9 mm as they seem to get lost a fair bit at the range. Dang auto loader......

For rifles I like at least 200 for anything. Less than that seems to lead to wanting empty brass to try a load and all mine is loaded. Hate that.

I should just bite the bullet and buy a bunch of brass for the 9 mm but I seem to be typical of our members and am a cheap SOB.

"Just a little more" seems the best response t the OP. Btroj, if you PM an address, I will add to your 9MM stash from my findings.

[DRNurse1]

isnt the formula the same for the number of guns ? N+1 where N =your current number..


That may be a valid firearm, reloading press, or mould formula to use, but it does not work so well for lead, alloy, lube and brass. I like

x
( N * P )

N= Brass, lead or alloy in pounds; lube or components in ounces

P= calibers owned

x= your age (the wisdom exponent)

Just sayin'. ----:drinks:----:wink:

[Jammersix]

Get in line with a clean criminal record and a good reason we should want you here then we can decide.
Funny, that's not what it says on the statue...

People are the ultimate resource. Every time an immigrant crosses the border, we get stronger.

[smokeywolf]

Send everyone of the CRIMINALS back where they crawled out from.

When my wife wanted to come here (she was the first female to go thru the coal research courses in Germany and there were only 4 folks with comparable credentials in the U S.)she had to wait 3 years and find someone that would take financial responsibility till she could support herself.

Stand on her own 2 feet ,find a job and housing while learning our language were some of the things she HAD to do.

We did not give her free housing,medical,education and food. It was sink or swim just as it had been for everyone that came here from the beginning.

Now YOU want to give my hard earned dollars to someone that is a known criminal and can not read or speak my language and makes no attempt to do so.

I think not sir.

Get in line with a clean criminal record and a good reason we should want you here then we can decide.

Couldn't agree more Bill.

My wife came from Japan legally, stayed legally, learned to speak, read and write English. Earned her undergrad degree. We payed all the doc and filing fees that INS levied for her green card and she has never cost the taxpayers a single penny.

I don't see an advantage to American taxpayers in rewarding a foreigner or anyone else for committing a Federal crime and subsequently demanding taxpayers pay for the delivery, feeding, education and medical costs of their babies/children.

smokeywolf

[FISH4BUGS]

Good advice. This goes hand-in-hand with not being open about food storage, primers, ammunition, or many other items. We know that everything that goes through the internet is monitored and recorded for future use.

OK...that's it. I just scrapped all my brass. I took down to the recycler and took the money and bought gardening equipment.
Who wants all that junk laying around anyway?

[Bad Water Bill]

That is good as long as you are willing to sell everything you now own and everything you will ever earn to support and pay with your own money for the possible 30 MILLION CRIMINALS already here.

May I also remind you that the statue is the first thing that LEGAL immigrants see.

They ARE criminals no matter what you think as they violated OUR immigration laws by not complying.

But this is a discussion that belongs in the POLITICAL section where it has already been discussed.

[dragon813gt]

OK...that's it. I just scrapped all my brass. I took down to the recycler and took the money and bought gardening equipment.
Who wants all that junk laying around anyway?

Mine was all lost in a tragic boating accident along w/ all my firearms and reloading supplies :(

[Bad Water Bill]

Mine was all lost in a tragic boating accident along w/ all my firearms and reloading supplies :(

You were lucky.

I live near Chiraq.

26 0f the ENTITLED folks paid me a SOCIAL visit and convinced me that they deserved everything including my fishing and boating gear.

Who can argue with 26 rappers?

By the way they said they were taking my stash over by Barrys pad.

[Jammersix]

But this is a discussion that belongs in the POLITICAL section where it has already been discussed.

That was exactly my point. There was no point in bringing it into a non-political discussion about brass.

You brought it here, Bill. Bringing politics into a non-political discussion is extremely bad manners. I'm surprised at you.

Take it to political, please.

If I'm not there in ten minutes, start without me.

[DRNurse1]

No brass cases here. I made a delightful brass bust of my favorite government hero and placed it in the front yard. -- :wink:

Local propane sales nearly doubled during that process. No comments from the neighbors yet. I can hardly wait for them. -- [smilie=l:

[smokeywolf]

That was exactly my point. There was no point in bringing it into a non-political discussion about brass.

You brought it here, Bill. Bringing politics into a non-political discussion is extremely bad manners. I'm surprised at you.

Take it to political, please.

If I'm not there in ten minutes, start without me.

You seem to be unaware or forgetful of the progression of events. Bad Water Bill did not lead this thread into a political discussion. It was post #59 and 60; neither of which Bill authored.

smokeywolf

[Jammersix]

I stand corrected, and I apologize, Bill.

Shdwalker is the one with the bad manners.

[shdwlkr]

Sir I don't troll
Just stated my opinion on a bill that will change America for very long time

[Jammersix]

All the people who want to talk about American politics are in the political section, waiting to discuss it with you.

Out here, it's rude to talk about politics.

[Juan Jose]

I think it depends on several factors, like how much time you want to spend reloading ammo between shooting and how hard your guns are on brass.
.45acp brass seems to be immortal (if it isn't lost) while full power loads in .357 mag brass has a definitely limited life expectancy. Most of my shooting was done with .22LR but now that .22LR have vanished I've gone back to handloading---my cache of handgun brass represents close to 40 years of collecting and I have no idea how much I have----but there's a lot of it and I'll still pick up abandoned brass at the range if it's in a caliber I can use, or shoot an occasional box of factory "range" ammo for the brass (if it's cheap enough---not likely these days though!) I'm more conservative with rifle calibers as I don't own any semi auto rifles---120 brass rifle cases is an abundance, anything over that, for me borders on the ridiculous(but if I had an AR-15-oid, then no, it wouldn't be nearly enough!)

[richhodg66]

I pick it up when I can and buy when good deals present themselves. Some things like .35 Remington or .250 Savage are a little harder to find than others so I look for it even though I'm not shooting either very often.

One thing is, I just hate to see something useful and money saving thrown in the trash. If it's laying there at a range, I'll usually pick it up. If someone else needs it, I'll give it to them. A while back a guy I'd never met who didn't reload was shooting a 6mm he inherited and asked if anybody reloaded for 6mm (it happens that I do). He gave me the box of once fired brass and we talked a while. Turned out pretty soon afterwards a guy here bought a new to him rifle and was trying to get set up to shoot it, so that brass went to him as I had enough to last me for a while at the rate I shoot mine. I think a lot of us on this forum do this.

FWIW, I seem to accumulate a lot of stuff that I think I might need someday so this mentality seems to spill over from reloading into other areas of life for me.

[375supermag]

I guess it all depends...

I have thousands of cases for 9mm, .357Mag, .38Spl and .45ACP.
I probably have a minimum of 500 cases each of .44Spl, .44Mag, .41Mag, .45Colt and .45AutoRim. I would like to increase those numbers to a minimum of 1K per caliber, but I haven't seen new brass anywhere locally in so long I can't remember when it was last available.
At some point, I am going to have to place an order with an online shop for some large quantities of brass. I just hate to make such a large expenditure for something like brass, especially when I can often find it in the trash can at the gun club.
A few weeks ago, I opened a large plastic tub in the reloading room that had about 800 once-fired .38Spl cases in it that a friend gave me. I should spend more time poking around down there, no telling what might be stashed away that I forgot about.

I have about 300 cases for .375SuperMag.

I have hundreds of cases for things like .40S&W, but have never owned a firearm in that caliber(range pick-ups, just in case).

I have hundreds and hundreds of cases in .30/06, .25/06, 7mm Mag, 7x57 Mauser and .303Brit.

I'm sure there are some hundreds of cases stored away that I scrounged just in case I ever acquired a firearm in that caliber. I can't see letting good brass go to waste. Even if I never use it, I may be able to trade it for something I do use.

[6bg6ga]

Couldn't agree more Bill.

My wife came from Japan legally, stayed legally, learned to speak, read and write English. Earned her undergrad degree. We payed all the doc and filing fees that INS levied for her green card and she has never cost the taxpayers a single penny.

I don't see an advantage to American taxpayers in rewarding a foreigner or anyone else for committing a Federal crime and subsequently demanding taxpayers pay for the delivery, feeding, education and medical costs of their babies/children.

smokeywolf

I'm sorry but I do not think that giving law breakers legality is the answer.

smokeywolf's wife is proof that people going thru legal channels works. If you simply give these rights to people that are unwilling to go thru the channels you are slapping the faces of people who went the legal way.

I have some friends from Bosnia and these are great people and they earned their citizenship and are proud of what they accomplished. I personally kept my friend Slobadan busy repairing electronics when I was unable to keep up with the repair work. He had owned and ran a very sucessful repair business in Bosnia. I helped him study when he was taking his semi schooling. He has been a great friend for the last 14 years and never took a dime from the government.

Maybe our government should just sell citizenship rights for $100 a head and run them thru like cattle. A least they would make some money this way instead of it costing us.

[LuckySavage]

Send everyone of the CRIMINALS back where they crawled out from.

When my wife wanted to come here (she was the first female to go thru the coal research courses in Germany and there were only 4 folks with comparable credentials in the U S.)she had to wait 3 years and find someone that would take financial responsibility till she could support herself.

Stand on her own 2 feet ,find a job and housing while learning our language were some of the things she HAD to do.

We did not give her free housing,medical,education and food. It was sink or swim just as it had been for everyone that came here from the beginning.

Now YOU want to give my hard earned dollars to someone that is a known criminal and can not read or speak my language and makes no attempt to do so.

I think not sir.

Get in line with a clean criminal record and a good reason we should want you here then we can decide.

+1, and a huge plus one! Hunt 'em down and send 'em back.

[Jammersix]

+1, and a huge plus one! Hunt 'em down and send 'em back.
We tried that. Didn't work. After we were done with that effort, we decided to just hunt them down and kill them where they stood. We had several advantages on modern America-- it was extremely easy to tell the difference between us and them in those days. None of them looked like us, spoke our languages at all, and in the beginning, none of them could even survive through the winter without our help. We ended up on reservations.

We were (and are) fractured into different tribes, but you're fractured into different states, and you can't even decide whether a given gun is legal from state to state. The only institutions you have that are capable of "sending them back" are federal, and they're busy. Really busy. It's not as easy as it sounds to get all the people in North America headed in the same direction. Everyone has a better idea.

That whole "send them back" idea takes enormous firepower, time, money, blood and tactical intelligence that is beyond the capacity of any modern army. You're fighting another set of wars on other continents. You don't have the resources to get involved here. Besides, as happened to us, if you push them hard enough, they'll get all ramped up and start shooting back, then things will go to hell in a bucket.

A better idea is to be friends with them, learn from them, and live with them, since they're here to stay.

Otherwise, let us know, and we'll teach you what reservation life is like.

[smokeywolf]

All the people who want to talk about American politics are in the political section, waiting to discuss it with you.

Out here, it's rude to talk about politics.

When you don't practice what you preach, you lose all credibility.

smokeywolf

[Bad Water Bill]

We tried that. Didn't work. After we were done with that effort, we decided to just hunt them down and kill them where they stood. We had several advantages on modern America-- it was extremely easy to tell the difference between us and them in those days. None of them looked like us, spoke our languages at all, and in the beginning, none of them could even survive through the winter without our help. We ended up on reservations.

We were (and are) fractured into different tribes, but you're fractured into different states, and you can't even decide whether a given gun is legal from state to state. The only institutions you have that are capable of "sending them back" are federal, and they're busy. Really busy. It's not as easy as it sounds to get all the people in North America headed in the same direction. Everyone has a better idea.

That whole "send them back" idea takes enormous firepower, time, money, blood and tactical intelligence that is beyond the capacity of any modern army. You're fighting another set of wars on other continents. You don't have the resources to get involved here. Besides, as happened to us, if you push them hard enough, they'll get all ramped up and start shooting back, then things will go to hell in a bucket.

A better idea is to be friends with them, learn from them, and live with them, since they're here to stay.

Otherwise, let us know, and we'll teach you what reservation life is like.

If you persist in trying to preach your beliefs to us from your home on the reservation I just might send Girty over there.

[jaystuw]

I would say a few words in support of illegal Immigrants, but then I will get hit up for trolling!. So I will stick to brass.

I picked up large amounts of somewhat hard to find brass (7mm,8mm,300savage) back when it was ok to have it on E-bay. I would bid cheap and win hundreds or a thousand at a time! I never expected brass to get so expensive or hard to find in the future. Its was just pure luck. Seeing brass going for so little, I could not resist bidding myself! jay

[Blacksmith]

I'm like Barney Fife I only have one, I am hoping to get one in every caliber and type for my collection even if I don't have a firearm in that caliber. Of course I only have one old gun also. Sheriff Andy did say I could temporarily have more than one if I was planning to trade it for something else so some times I pick up some on the range if I beat the brass scroungers.

[Bad Water Bill]

I melted all of my brass down and now am the proud owner of a 5# brass hammer.[smilie=1:

[gray wolf]

I lost it when my boat sunk
OH yea that will work--in a pigs eye it will.
What a sad day, people in America ( A free republic ) have to worry about how many tooth picks they have up on a shelf.