Junk Yard Giant Bin Full Of Brass

[jonp]

I stopped by the junk yard today and picked up 80lbs of lead sheet/pipe etc. It was still .65/lb. As I was loading it into a bucket I saw a big, maybe 4ft square an 4ft deep plastic tote in a wire cage. Kinda like what plastic pellets would be shipped in. I saw it had brass colored stuff in it and was about half full so I walked over to look in and my jaw dropped. It was full of casings. 22lr, pistol, 308, 30-06. Even some 257 Roberts and that was just the few handfuls I scooped up. I asked the guy how much they would sell some for as I would pick it over and take the ones I wanted and he said he would have to ask his boss. Some guy was bringing it in regular to sell to them but no-one had ever asked to buy it.

Any idea what I should consider a good price for brass like that? Of course, it was dirty but not actual dirt clods just fired and picked up type of stuff.

[historicfirearms]

Be careful, it may be in the junk yard for a good reason. I sold some junk casings this past summer at our local scrap yard and think I got around $2 per pound.

[jsizemore]

My buddy buys from the surplus auction winners for $2/lb. He has to clean, polish, sort and bag. Then his price goes to current market rate or just under. Current high demand brass brings a little more.

[turtlezx]

so if they were paying $2 per lb there not going to sell for that

[JWFilips]

Be carful with that brass: Many times smart folks (like us) get rid of their brass because of impending case head separation, Case neck cracking, wrong headspace etc Being frugal, folks like us, sell it for scrap and it goes into the "large brass barrel" at the junk yard...you really don't want to go thru that; or worse, yet try to sell that to someone else!

[jonp]

idk, seems to me that the guy at the junk yard said the same guy was bringing it by which indicates to me that it is range brass pick ups from somewhere. The few I looked at were not cracked, ringed or whatever. Looked like once fired stuff to me

[Rockydog]

Be carful with that brass: Many times smart folks (like us) get rid of their brass because of impending case head separation, Case neck cracking, wrong headspace etc Being frugal, folks like us, sell it for scrap and it goes into the "large brass barrel" at the junk yard...you really don't want to go thru that; or worse, yet try to sell that to someone else!

I'm no saint, but any brass I have in those conditions gets the body crimped with a pliers or flattened with a hammer before it goes to the scrapper. It's always a onsey/twosey at a time when I inspect as I size. Takes little effort and keeps other reloaders safe. I buy some once fired brass here and there and hope that someone would do the same for me. RD

[RogerDat]

Spot price currently for brass in the box/bin would be about $2 scrap prices are down. You may have to pay a premium per pound to sort through it. At $2.25 it works ok (google cases per pound) but around $2.50 it starts to get a little dubious. Takes premium priced calibers or new cases to make the higher price work out well.

The warning about watch the cases is worth paying attention to. I make it a point to squish my bad cases with pliers before tossing in the scrap can but have seen some in scrap that were worn beyond use but not until after purchase. Not saving any money if very many are unusable. Primers that are silver probably means it has been reloaded at least once.

Some folks buy remanufactured ammo so silver primer not conclusive that it has been reloaded to the point of failing. Some folks will only reload cases one time since they don't anneal case necks. Some indoor ranges don't allow brass pickup. Silver aftermarket primer just an indicator to take a closer look at the brass condition.

All that said I found several buckets at a scrap yard from a range and am set for life on 38 special with once fired Federal after sorting though it... In pretty good shape on a couple of other calibers too. I found having a tray to spread handfuls out to pick through helps speed sorting and some buckets or containers to sort "keepers" and dump scrap into is useful. When I was done with those buckets I had learned to hate 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP with a passion. Must have been 70% of what I was digging through and I don't load it and at the brass price it was not worth taking for sale in S&S forum.

I also found it was smart to consider what can go into the polishing vibrator together without sticking onto each other when sorting from the tray. Saves handling a second time if I didn't throw 38's in with the 45 colt or 44 mag in the same container. I also found if dealing with bulk amounts washing with a couple of spoons of citric acid in half bucket of water saves a lot of time in vibrator and helps a lot with some of the more heavily tarnished brass.

[pretzelxx]

I suppose the 22lr might be the best buy in that bucket. All of that brass could have major issues.

[JWFilips]

jonp,
Yes It is very possible much of it is once shot range brass. We have a lot of "Pickers" before hours on our range So if anything it is a mix. As to crushing bad cases.... yes that is a good thing to do ....But I doubt many out there are as A nal as we are!:bigsmyl2: (I crush bad cases too)

[bangerjim]

MOST scrap yard brass should stay there! You have absolutely ZERO idea of what it has been thru and how many times loaded. It ends up there for a good reason.

Some comes from mil ranges and is crimped......that is pretty much guaranteed once fired. I bought 30# of brand new-shiny 223 brass sometime back at a yard.....crimped primers.......once fired and bright & shiny. That was good brass!

But be careful what you are buying. Buyer beware. Buyer be smart.

banger

[tomme boy]

Brass prices are WAY down right now. If you have to buy it, I would not pay over $1.50/lb They payed a lot less than that for it.

[John Boy]

Any idea what I should consider a good price for brass like that?
Simple ... Ask the 'boss' for the selling prices at the yard? Then post up the price and let us all know!

[Hardcast416taylor]

Before I junk and send down the road any cases I first crush the neck and shoulder to let a buyer know that this isn`t loadable.Robert

[pls1911]

Smelt the brass... clean it up... it makes great casting material if you cast sculpture.

[rockrat]

Used to go to our "junk yard" and they would have the same, except about 4 crates of it. It was all once fired brass, came from a range that only allowed new ammo and the people that shot there, lets say, couldn't be bothered to pick it up, someone else was paid to pick it up.

[USMC87]

There are a few different scrap yards around here that will sell brass, One charges 3 dollars a pound and the other 1.50 a pound. I have picked through some of it and have got some really good once fired brass but there are plenty of junk to go through as well.

[RogerDat]

Yep it varies, one scrap yard I know of won't take it because a city or maybe it is county ordinance requires them to smash every case, any still in usable condition can lead to an expensive fine. I think it is city, some crazy anti-gun folks decided they would make the world safer by removing that spent brass from being used for ammo. Or it could be they just wanted to appeal to the voting base that was stupid enough to think that made a difference.

The stuff that has crimped primer is a good bet to be once fired. Exactly how your going to know for certain if that pocket has been swaged without close inspection of each case I have no idea. Can sure tell once you get it on the bench but if you are trying to sort 1000 cases of .223 out of a big bin you will find close inspection too slow I think. Military requires the annealed case necks be left unpolished so that one can visually confirm the annealing, that can be another indicator since most reloaders will polish the brass and remove the discoloration from annealing. Not a perfect indicator since commercial may well not show the annealing discoloration.

You does your digging and you takes your chances. It does tend to be in the bin in "pockets" or "clumps" as buckets or boxes come in from a single source and get dumped in. I got lucky that one time and showed up when almost three buckets from LEO target practice had arrived but not yet been dumped in. Was much easier than digging it out of the bin to sort through. Rescued a lot of 38, 223, and a little 357 from the massive amount of 9mm and 40 cal. Still was enough to make the time spent worth my while. I hope you find the some good luck in your attempts.

[jonp]

Simple ... Ask the 'boss' for the selling prices at the yard? Then post up the price and let us all know!

I sure ain't lettin everyone know :bigsmyl2:

[jonp]

I was more thinking of the 30-06 and 308 brass. Since I can pick through it myself I can eliminate all of the cracked and dented stuff. If the price is right and I can get a couple of loadings out of it then I figure I've done alright

[45workhorse]

I'm no saint, but any brass I have in those conditions gets the body crimped with a pliers or flattened with a hammer before it goes to the scrapper. It's always a onsey/twosey at a time when I inspect as I size. Takes little effort and keeps other reloaders safe. I buy some once fired brass here and there and hope that someone would do the same for me. RD
Pop the primers out, squeeze in the middle enough so it can't go in a die, but still able to see through it. It will bring a higher price when sold for scrap.

[dpoe001]

I have bought scrap brass at my local scrap yard,(my nephew calls me when it comes in) they hold it to the side for me to go thru..They dont mind me sitting to the side of the sort room,then i pay a little over scrap price.both the owner and i make out on the deal!