Brass Attitude

[6622729]

It's interesting the difference in attitude regarding brass between being a non-reloader and a reloader. When I'm shooting my reloads, I want my brass back. I'll search quite a while to find that lost case. They've been cleaned, inspected, sized, loaded and form fired in my gun.
I recently joined a local gun club and have been surprised and excited by all of the brass I've been picking up for free. Once fired 223 and 9mm mostly, both of which I use, just laying there on the ground. I see those cases on the ground and see gold! The guy who shot them just sees trash and he can't even be bothered to pick up after himself. Thank you!

[Don Fischer]

Isn't that the truth! The only time I allow brass to hit the ground at all is when I'm firing one of my 9mm's. I wouldn't own an auto load rifle or a pump just because I couldn't stop the brass from hitting the ground. The only reason I have my 9mm's is for carry guns. Both give more firepower than my pet DA revolver's. shoot, I even have a Ithica mod 37 I've never shot because the case's would hit the ground. In my SxS's, I've removed the ejector's, MTY with extractor's by hand, no shell need hit the ground.

[rockrat]

At our club, finding good usable brass at the range is a rarity

[Spector]

When my range used to have a gravel surface I'd pick up more 45 ACP brass than I'd go through and that was just WCC brass which is all I shoot for the most part. Some other brands and calibers I would save, but most I would sell and that would more than pay my club dues.

I'd make it a point to come in after police departments, the FBI, Conservation Officers and security companies who used the range for organized shooting sessions. Perfect looking once fired brass. When they shot from the grassy areas in front of the range canopy it was great fun finding brass. I learned to wear thin soled tennis shoes when the grass was a little tall and I would feel them under my feet no matter how tarnished they'd become. I often left with well over 1000 cases.

Then they tore down the old canopy, poured a longer, wider concrete shooting line and built a new canopy to cover it all. It soon became apparent to them that larger caliber brass on concrete could be a danger if you stepped on enough of them and they were lined up properly. Sort of a roller bearing effect.

Now the club rule is you pick up all the brass you've shot at least on the concrete surface. They even provide brooms and dust pans to aid in this.

I still find some brass in the fine gravel between the concrete and grass, but not too much. The days are gone now when I could pay my dues from my brass finds.

I had gotten to the point that I enjoyed searching for free brass almost as much as shooting. I always loved seeing what I'd call ''spider holes'' in the grass. Perfectly round holes emitting no reflected light......hidden in the grass sitting straight up. I became really adept at seeing those even when my feet missed them.

On rare occasions people will shoot and I can tell they are not wanting to pick up brass so I will suggest to them that I will police it up since I have to pick mine up anyway.

When I use the range I normally find all of my brass. Sometimes there will be one piece that eludes me, but often I find those on subsequent trips to the range.

I bought a bunch of Starline 45 Super brass to run plain 45 ACP+P loads through my XDS. I don't want to lose any of that.

I sure miss those old days when there was brass, brass, brass everywhere once you picked up the knack for spotting it.

Mike

[JSnover]

Picking up my brass yesterday (I know it's mine because I draw red stripes around the cases with a Sharpie) I found about a dozen 7.62x39 and 30-30 cartridges, live, clean, unfired - the primers had not been struck, like someone just dropped them and didn't notice or didn't want them back after they'd been on the ground. I don't own a rifle for either of them so I laid them on the bench and one of the range officers scooped them up. Made his day.

[dragon813gt]

At our club, finding good usable brass at the range is a rarity

It's become more scarce since Sandy Hook at the ranges I belong to. But I've taken to going at night after training classes are held. Yields lots of 223, 9mm and 45acp brass. For some reason it will yield a lot of 380 brass from time to time. I can't stop in daily like I used to which has drastically cut down how much I bring home :(

[dtknowles]

I have stopped being a brass rat. Where I shoot now, there is always someone else who would like the range brass. I have plenty of brass for the guns I shoot that I am likely to see range brass for, so I let them have it. I used to collect brass and sell the surplus, I am not that ambitious and greedy anymore. Where I used to shoot nobody seem to want the brass and I could not stand to see it rot so I picked it all up. I think it is a bit of different time and different range. I still collect my own brass.

Tim

[JSnover]

Before I had a surplus I used to scour the range. LGS would buy back the more popular cases for a 10% discount on new brass. Now I'm more interested in recovering my own.

[gwpercle]

In my early reloading days I would get up early on Sunday morning, drive to the local range and police up all the leftover fired brass from Saturday. Back then only people who "weren't quite right in the head " reloaded , therefore I gleaned a lifetime supply of 38 special, 45 acp , 30-30 and 30-06. Even got a supply of 38 AMU from there.
After sweeping and trash barrel diving , then I would shoot some . Had to be back home for Sunday Dinner or Mom would skin me.
Gary

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friend of mine, YES I do have a friend, wanted to find ALL of his fired cases to reload that he bought an inexpensive metal detector at a yard sale. It must work as he hasn`t lost a case since!Robert

[JSnover]

A friend of mine, YES I do have a friend, wanted to find ALL of his fired cases to reload that he bought an inexpensive metal detector at a yard sale. It must work as he hasn`t lost a case since!Robert
Lucky him. The ranges I shoot there's way too much scrap on the ground for that

[EDG]

My range has little to no brass, but is almost paved with the steel cases that have mashed into the dirt.

[762 shooter]

Just walked into 75 pieces of once fired LC13 308 at my range. Some nice person thought it was trash.

762

[4719dave]

Well...Being a reloader it's so hard not to pu the brass ...

[duckey]

I love scrounging brass at my local public range. People usually stare at me when I'm shoulder deep in the trash barrels.

[RP]

Well how many of you have meet the guys that do not reload but collect all their brass? One guy I know picks his brass up because it has his finger prints on it and no he is not a felon. Two other I know have 45/70s when i asked about their brass they are saving it but no reason to do so. The ranges around here police all the brass up they sell it for scrap one reloads it and resales to shooters yes they have the paper work to do so one will sell brass to you but you have to dig in the barrels for it. I am happy I do not have to go to the range to shoot.
I did enjoy going to one of the ranges when the price was not so bad mainly for a day out to meet new people kill some time and relax. He went from 5 bucks a day shooting to 10 then to 25 its over 100 for the year but when you only go 4 to 5 days a year its not worth that kind of money to me. Keeps telling me how much it cost him a month to run that skeeter hole with no running water or power and to put up with some of his range officers which are not paid they just like being in charge. Funny thing is 10 or 15 guys show up to shoot at 5 bucks a head a few times a year or more is better then a 100 bucks one time. More and more people I know have stopped going telling me the same thing the cost keeps going up and its just not worth it. I look at it like goberment raise taxes you take in less lower taxes you take in more oh well rant over

[Don Fischer]

Picking up my brass yesterday (I know it's mine because I draw red stripes around the cases with a Sharpie) I found about a dozen 7.62x39 and 30-30 cartridges, live, clean, unfired - the primers had not been struck, like someone just dropped them and didn't notice or didn't want them back after they'd been on the ground. I don't own a rifle for either of them so I laid them on the bench and one of the range officers scooped them up. Made his day.

I would not fire ammo I found on the ground like that. Probably pull it apart for the case but wouldn't shoot it.

[Fshnutz]

I am a member at a local indoor range (tough to shoot outside when it's 118 degrees here in Phoenix!), and the brass gets swept away quickly. The range is OK with you picking up your own brass, but not other peoples. I usually have to stop every few magazines and collect my brass before some ambitious shooter tries to be nice and sweep all mine away!

[6622729]

At our club, finding good usable brass at the range is a rarity

The range I used to go to was like that mostly because they keep it nearly spotless. Sometimes they just wanted to empty the brass bucket and would send me home with some and once I got a matching set of about 30 once fired 308 brass from an otherwise empty trash can. The new range I am at is a trash pit by comparison. The happy side effect however is that sometimes someone leaves me a nice little pile. This week it was 40+ probably reloaded .223 cases since they were a collection of headstamps and a matching set of about 100 9mm cases. I don't NEED either but I'm not going to leave it to waste. I brought it home, tumbled it spotless and added it to my brass reserves.

[Harter66]

I've been on 3 ranges in the last 5 yr . I've picked up maybe 50 cases that weren't mine . Everybody is taking it all home these days out here .

If I could I'd scrounge every case. Especially after my recent struggle with finding 2 particular cartridges or sister cases. Good greif who would think that 2.5 inch WM family and x57 would be hard to find and folks would throw in 30 and 32 Remington because you bought the common as dirt brass and the Remington was taking up space ......
I had to buy 308 to make 358 , the world has gone mad .....

[6622729]

I've been on 3 ranges in the last 5 yr . I've picked up maybe 50 cases that weren't mine . Everybody is taking it all home these days out here .

If I could I'd scrounge every case.

Yep, I'm keeping every brass case I find even for calibers I don't currently use. I'm not planning on selling them. I just never know what I might be using in the future or might be able to help someone else with. I'm even picking up and tumbling clean my 22LR cases in case I decide to swege for .223 some day. I don't want to look back and think about all the brass I left behind. There is so much 22LR laying around though that I don't pickup other people's.

[JSnover]

I would not fire ammo I found on the ground like that. Probably pull it apart for the case but wouldn't shoot it.
Yeah, I was going to ask if they had a policy on live ammo (discard/destroy/dismiss) but I guess that RSO had his own policy.

[country gent]

I havent been to an indoor range in a couple years now. But I was one who did sweep the firing range floor ocasionaly to make walking moving around easier. I simply pulled against the back wall in piles behind the firing points when possible. I didnt pick up others brass till after they had left. With mobility issues stepping on a case or 2 wrong really sent me for a loop. At the club I belong to 223 some 308 on the rifle range and 380 to 45 colts on the pistol range. 20 and 12 gauge hulls can be had also. I did one Sunday morning come accross a couple 3 boxes of 32 acp cases on the pistol range. :) . My secamp loved it. LOL I like to see the cases picked up as it makes a nicer looking range and is easier to find my cases

[victorfox]

I'm probably the only scavenger in the range I go. I catch every brass I find though I can't handload now as well as just about any hull I might find as well as mine and go to the backstop when I'm alone and get all the lead I can find.
I made a small collection of restricted brass as 45acp, 40, even 22mag and 223. Also find a lot of unfired ammo. Some I shoot later or dissassemble and reuse the powder (no surprises when you have only two powders in the market...).

[6622729]

I'm probably the only scavenger in the range I go. I catch every brass I find though I can't handload now as well as just about any hull I might find as well as mine and go to the backstop when I'm alone and get all the lead I can find.
I made a small collection of restricted brass as 45acp, 40, even 22mag and 223. Also find a lot of unfired ammo. Some I shoot later or dissassemble and reuse the powder (no surprises when you have only two powders in the market...).

What do you mean by "restricted brass" and "only 2 powders on the market"?

[victorfox]

sorry. should have clarified. I live in Brazil and here you can't have what you want, just what the red army allows. This means 22lr 25acp 32acp/swl 380 38spl for handguns and 22 38spl 44-40 for rifles. Some other calibers may be had with army license. That's restricted calibers.
As 2 powders there is also the need of licenses for handloading and the only maker of powder is Cbc/magtech. About all the load data is around 2 powders 219 (fast) and 216(even faster). they publish shotgun data from .410 to 12 (10ga and above is not restrict - is forbidden) using the same powders (this way you can't go 1/2, 7/16 or 11/16 - factory loads are 9gram/5/16oz but I go up to 3/8oz with brass shells).
That's the BS here... The brass I find that I call restricted calibers are usually from police guys shooting. since even they need an army license to reload (which is expensive and hard to get -- you can reload shotshells without anything just having the shotgun certificate) they shoot and leva the brass...
I know it sounds crazy and sucks so don't consider brazil if you want to runaway from leftist liberal BS... there's plenty here.

[victorfox]

the loads I mentioned are for the .410. You can have a .410 handgun which I forgot to add. I bought the judge whixh here is .410 only so i could make my own shells at lower cost. Here ammo is REALLY expensive. I can shoot my own .410 for almost 1/2 the cost of std 22lr. And with 000 buckshot loads is not very far from 380 or 38spl. These loads are factory they use a different powder same used for 357 (quickload says it's close to herco, Id say between herco and 2400).

[Ron-E]

I used to be more worried about where the brass was ejected than were the boolit went. I have gotten better about that now, but still like to see where the brass is going.

[GONRA]

GONRA wistfully recalls (DECADES ago!) when POLITE shooters would leave their .45 ACP brass for me.

Stocked up on lottsa factory new, primed 9mm and .45 ACP brass during the "Clinton Panic". Still just sittin' there...

These days, pickup all the 9mm brass I can ever use for free.
Pickup barely enough .45 ACP too, just have to segregate !@##$%^ small primer brass.....

[DerekP Houston]

I still view brass on the ground as a pile of nickles just waiting for me to grab them all! I try to be polite and only collect my brass as the ranges typically resell it as part of their profit margin, but if the person behind me didn't clean their empties I bag em all up. Part of the reason I love revolvers is never chasing my brass down or losing it =).

[Harter66]

Maybe you guys should just toss all that pesky SPP 45 ACP in a box and send it to me . It sounds like there is a lot of it out there ,but just enough at a time to screw up a batch . I only have a little bit on hand and don't shoot a lot of it so it wouldn't be a problem for me to have it all.
Postage plus something for you filling up a box .........

[DerekP Houston]

Maybe you guys should just toss all that pesky SPP 45 ACP in a box and send it to me . It sounds like there is a lot of it out there ,but just enough at a time to screw up a batch . I only have a little bit on hand and don't shoot a lot of it so it wouldn't be a problem for me to have it all.
Postage plus something for you filling up a box .........

hehe it's only an issue if you load on a progressive. it was easy enough to grab the wrong ones out on the turret press, but now the spp versions jam up my whole works. I'm just tossing all my spp 45 in a bucket and once I get enough to make a batch worthwhile I'll either sell em or use em.

[redriverhunter]

things are changing here, for a while seemed like every morning there was a guy there cleaning the brass at the range. I went today and and cleaned up on about 80 pieces of 308 win, mostly fc, mke and some kind of mil. brass.

[Harter66]

Awe shucks ........ don't hurt to try..... :)

[fatelk]

What surprises me sometimes is the brass I see in the dumpster at the range. Most of the time it's too far down for me to reach but a while back as I was throwing some targets away I noticed a large cardboard ammo box full of 9mm and .45 brass, must have been nearly a thousand. I think the PD had shot there that day.

I find mass quantities of 9mm, occasional large piles of .223, a fair amount of .380, .40, and the occasional .45 and .308. Very, very rarely anything else. One day I happened across nearly a hundred .45 (long) Colt empties, as I recall.

[dragon813gt]

Part of the reason I love revolvers is never chasing my brass down or losing it =).

The Caldwell brass catcher is one hundred percent worth buying.
http://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/alt1/771/771785.jpg

I'm not gonna lie and tell you it catches every piece. Some bounces out but it lands directly underneath it. I shoot outside and set it up on a tripod right next to me. Indoor ranges most likely don't have enough room. I am really glad I bought it. Once I bought a 10mm I got really tired of losing brass. The brass catcher is worth the money IMO.

[LakeviewBulldog]

I collect just about every piece of brass I find. I purchased a "Brassmower" from a company based in Indiana making these things. That has been by far the best purchase I have made in my reloading career. Makes collecting brass so much easier. Now I pick up everything I can. It all gets deprimed and cleaned and put up to either use, trade, or sell.

[bleukahuna]

Back when the FBI was transitioning to the 10mm, they were using our range for training and I got there just as they were packing up. I picked up one and half 5gal buckets of 10mm brass, it was close to 5,000 rounds, of course I'm still using it! They also left the boxes and trays laying around. it was the then new FC FBI reduced load. Another time, when I was helping set up for a match, I found a pile of Lapua 7,62-39, had I found it all it probably would have been a thousand rounds. I bought an SKS just so I could use the brass. On a hunting trip to Canada, the guide took us to a gravel pit to check our zeroes. The entire place seemed to be 6" deep in .303 British. Apparently very few Canadians reload. The brass was beyond fugly, I did pick up a couple just for reference, I didn't want to end up buying a SMLE!

[DerekP Houston]

So i jokingly made a horrified face when I saw my regular lady at the range sweeping the brass back to the bucket. She inquired and I mentioned "you are throwing away my hard earned money!!" She laughed and dumped the whole thing in my range bag. I have been given permission to collect as much as I want any time she is around. It pays to be nice to the staff at your favorite places some times.

[BAGTIC]

One of the reasons I like top ejection M92 style carbines is that when I eject the empty cases come back right over my shoulder. I learned quickly that I could reach up and snatch them right out of the air. No brass to pick up.

[woodbutcher]

:bigsmyl2: At the range I used the most when I was growing up,used to find the usual suspects..38/.357,45acp,45 Colt 30/06 .243 and ect.BUT about once a month,I would find a nice pile of about 200 .50 BMG brass.None of the links though.All nice and shiny.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Bull Shoals]

In late 60's, early 70's, I shot bullseye against the 4th AMU at the old Caddo rifle & Pistol range just outside of Shreveport, La. They, 4th AMU, would leave excess 45 ammo and all the expended brass. That is where I got most of the GI 50 cal cans and 90% of the brass. It's a shame I cannot go back in time and make like a "chicken pickin up corn" to replenish my stash.

[Chili]

When I used to shoot at a public range in the national forest, there would be non-shooters whose sole reason for being there was to take brass to sell for scrap. One older lady would almost knock you down to get the empties. Don't know how many times I had to tell her and another guy to leave my stuff alone.

[edwardware]

It's interesting the difference in attitude regarding brass between being a non-reloader and a reloader. When I'm shooting my reloads, I want my brass back. I'll search quite a while to find that lost case. They've been cleaned, inspected, sized, loaded and form fired in my gun.

I recently joined a local gun club and have been surprised and excited by all of the brass I've been picking up for free. Once fired 223 and 9mm mostly, both of which I use, just laying there on the ground. I see those cases on the ground and see gold! The guy who shot them just sees trash and he can't even be bothered to pick up after himself. Thank you!

I'm 'that guy' with a bag scarfing up brass from the brass buckets for setting up at the bench. I'm sure some people wonder. . .

The most annoying thing is peering in the trash (right next to the brass bucket) and finding 10s or 100s of pieces of rifle brass. I've pullet the whole trash bag out of the barrel to recover them before. If you don't reload, at least be decent enough to dump the dust pan in the bucket instead of the trash!

[1BIGGUN]

MY range master picks up the brass and sells it cheap to hlp pay bills .

by cheap im talking a 5 gallon bucket of 223 for $100

seems to be a lot not picked up here . He saves the few Weatherby cases he finds for me .