How Do You Keep Your Rifle Brass Organized?

[Bzcraig]

Well I mixed up a bunch of the 223 brass I use for my AR and spent all day going through all of it, checking, trimming, etc and it was a huge pain in my kiester. Obviously, my system failed, so please tell me what you do.

[725]

Gallon plastic sealing bag, by head stamp. Cull the unfit ones and process by whatever steps I have to do. If I have time to clean, and deprime, but nothing else, I slip a note in the bag to tell me where I left off. Next time might add FL sizing and OAL trimming. New note and reseal. etc.

[prsman23]

∆ what he said!


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[David2011]

About the same as 725 said. I write down on an index card everything that needs to be done to a bag of brass. As an item is completed I mark a line through it. That index card stays with that group of brass until it's ready to load at which time it goes into a box marked "Ready to Load" and the index card gleefully goes in the trash. That's worked for me for about 4000 pieces of 5.56.

[Iowa Fox]

When mine is loaded for the first time they get put into plastic 100 round boxes that has notes inside. They never leave those 100 round boxes until the brass is scraped. I keep the 100 round boxes in totes. It's a rare occasion when I don't have a catch bag on the AR.

[Hick]

zip lock bags in batches of 50, all same headstamp. They don't go in the ziplock until they've been sorted, sized, cleaned, primer pockets uniformed and ready to load. Each ziplock ls labeled by manufacture type and a number (LC-1, LC-2, LC-3, PMC-1, FC-1, FC-2, etc). My reload records include a table of how many times each of those bags is reloaded, and I try to keep them all about the same number of reloads. When I use a batch, I deprime it, resize, clean, check for bad cases, then return it to the same bag. I use bags of 50 because my loading block has 50 holes and my cartridge boxes are all 50 round boxes.

[Beagle333]

Ziplocks here too.

[54bore]

Gallon plastic sealing bag, by head stamp. Cull the unfit ones and process by whatever steps I have to do. If I have time to clean, and deprime, but nothing else, I slip a note in the bag to tell me where I left off. Next time might add FL sizing and OAL trimming. New note and reseal. etc.

This is a good idea, i do this same thing with pre weighed black powder charges, i pre weigh all of my charges, put them in plastic ziplock bags with a note telling me what type, and Grain of powder.

[Shepherd2]

I use gallon zip lock bags sand put in a note about what I have done or need to do go the brass.

[FISH4BUGS]

I have well over 10,000 223 brass in 5 gallon buckets. I prep brass all winter and load on a Dillon 550 about 1000 at a time. I will do each step on the 1000 kept separately in plastic egg buckets (they are from an egg processor and are smaller than a 5 gallon bucket - they have a snap lid) and note where I left off on a piece of paper. As I do each step, I transfer the brass to another container. Full length resize, clean primer pockets, swage (yup, I do them whether they need it or not). trim, and into the RTL (ready to load) bucket.
Hey....winters are long and cold here in NH. What else ya gonna do?

[jonp]

Plastic bins from walmart. I will tumble brass before storing and may or may not deprime and size. Easy to tell if primers in or out. I then take out what i need and use until worn out.
Either way, i dont trim until ready to load and then keep all fired brass seperate

[vrh]

Shepard 2 does it just like I do.

[dragon813gt]

Ziplock bags and either five gallon buckets of FRBs. Most of the brass is unprocessed, I have to much. Those that are ready to load are marked as such on the ziplock bag.

[Kraschenbirn]

For rifle brass I used a combination of Ziploc and storage bins. Sort the brass into the Ziplocs, with enclosed 3x5 cards listing any processing required then bags are stored by caliber in large-size stackable bins. For pistol, I use 2# plastic coffee containers marked with caliber and "clean" or "dirty".

Bill

[kayala]

Well for my 223 I deprime/size and trim in a single operation (Dillon trimmer) so it's kind of simplified process: once I have enough dirty accumulated it goes to wet tumble, after that for processing and for final polish/lube removal. So I store either "dirty" or fully processed.

[mold maker]

It seems we all use the convenience of zip shut plastic bags to one degree or another. It's also common to include a note stating the current stage of improvement.
In order to get the most mileage from powder and primer, I have only small volumes of loaded rounds in 50-100 rnd boxes, also with a note stating all load data. I do however have and keep large volumes of prepared brass.
As others have stated, each batch of brass is in a plastic bag with a note, and each caliber is in a marked bucket or storage container.
Included on the notes along with the stage of process, is which rifle they were used in, and how many times fired.
I do this also because of my age. At some point, all the brass and components will be someone else's responsibility. There will be little ammo to be pulled down and everything else will be ready for use as is, with all pertinent info at hand.

[osteodoc08]

MFRB and Gallon Ziplock bags. If it's loaded it's in a ammo can with label or in 50/100 rd containers. Dillon for pistol and typically thick MTM brand for rifle.

[FISH4BUGS]

ziplock bags and either five gallon buckets of frbs. Most of the brass is unprocessed, i have to much. Those that are ready to load are marked as such on the ziplock bag.
never too much brass!

[FISH4BUGS]

It seems we all use the convenience of zip shut plastic bags to one degree or another. It's also common to include a note stating the current stage of improvement.
In order to get the most mileage from powder and primer, I have only small volumes of loaded rounds in 50-100 rnd boxes, also with a note stating all load data. I do however have and keep large volumes of prepared brass.
As others have stated, each batch of brass is in a plastic bag with a note, and each caliber is in a marked bucket or storage container.
Included on the notes along with the stage of process, is which rifle they were used in, and how many times fired.
I do this also because of my age. At some point, all the brass and components will be someone else's responsibility. There will be little ammo to be pulled down and everything else will be ready for use as is, with all pertinent info at hand.
Agreed except for once I settle on a load, I load THOUSANDS of them and label them in the Dillon boxes. Winters are long and hard here in NH and that is what I do all winter. Brass prep, cast and load. That way when I go shooting, I just go to the closet, take hundreds of rounds and not worry about running out.

[shooterg]

2 piles - loaded and unloaded !

[tygar]

I have absolute tons of brass for most standard, Wby & lots of wildcats, with many match/BR/LR hunting guns.

All are put into cans, mostly big cashew cans from Costco, PB, mayo etc. All are sorted by Manufacturer & weight into individual cans. All LC military, are year sorted then years are sorted by wt. Militalry & hunting are sorted to .5 gr. BR etc are exact weight sorted.

Things like levers arn't sorted all that much. Do sort by manu & try to get within 2gr.

Don't sort pistol brass except by brand & then not for blazing ammo.

When I buy brass for a gun, I will buy 500 or 1k, sometimes more as in LC 5.56/7.62 so I can get the the same yr groups & lot nos.

Any gun, no matter what it is will have 500 minimum (except maybe levers - just don't know)

Weight brass, bullets, powder will have a great effect on accuracy in any gun worth having.

[gpidaho]

Seems most of us use the same type of system. I use the zip locks and a note as to just what steps have been taken. Gp Ps. Let me know if you need a trip to the county range, it would be good to meet up one of these days.

[Sur-shot]

I belonged to a military R&G club for about 35 years. They had wooden crates from salvage full of brass for the taking, at every meeting. Then I found I could buy processed and primed LC at Tulsa for about $110 per M. I still have moving book boxes full of military brass yet to process. Most of my various 223 guns shoot a different powder and bullet combo a bit better than other loads. I package them in 100 round packs using a Seal a Meal, cleaned and loaded, I use a magic marker to write on each pack what is inside, before filling or sealing. I clip a V notch on each side's edge at the top, under the seal line. The top will then tear right off at the notch. I put the loaded packs of ammo in marked book boxes by the gun that they were loaded for. I have been using the Seal A Meal bags for years, they are dirt, dust and waterproof, plus the brass stays nice and shiny.
Ed

[Blackwater]

I've long just used whatever was available that would fit the volume of brass I had - usually simple cardboard boxes, for the most part. But if an appropriately sized plastic storage container is available and unused, I like them. And for separating brands or types of brass in the big lots, I'll use gallon plastic zip lock freezer bags, if they'll hold it all, or larger bags with a rubber band or something around them to keep them closed, so the brass doesn't "escape" and get in with some other type of brass. BUT .... and this is the BIGGIE in all this .... one HAS to be diligent in KEEPING the brass assorted over time, lest one might have to do it all over again. I now have enough brass of enough calibers that it's a real challenge to keep it all. But I've had much worse problems, to be sure!

[lightman]

My prepped brass goes into MTM 100 round boxes, with the info noted on the label. Unprocessed brass gets washed and dried, then is sorted by headstamp and stored in plastic coffee cans. I had a source for coffee cans at one time that got me way ahead of my needs and what I use now easily keeps up.

[No_1]

I store my brass in 5 gallon buckets for the high volume stuff which means everything pistol and large coffee cans for not so high volume stuff (rifle). Once loaded it is placed in either 50 or 100 count zip locks then stored in 30 ammo cans.

[DocSavage]

Sorted by headstamp,stored in 100 rd MTM boxes and those are stored in 20 mm ammo cans. Trimmed,pockets swaged and run thru wet thumbler with ss pins.

[Remiel]

Plastic zip lock bags and magic marker, then into coffie cans with calibers listed, bags have head stamp and number of times fired

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[FISH4BUGS]

2 piles - loaded and unloaded !
boy isn't that the truth!

[popper]

2 quart plastic jugs the wife gets, screw on top. One for each cal. Fired goes in,when full I process. Plastic flip top roll boxes from the grocery - unprocessed in one side, processed in the other. Finish the process (single stage press) and go the other way. When done, back into another screw top jug. Loaded go into peanut screw top jugs as do primed. I don't sort by HS. Don't use the loading blocks anymore either.

[frankenfab]

Gallon plastic sealing bag, by head stamp. Cull the unfit ones and process by whatever steps I have to do. If I have time to clean, and deprime, but nothing else, I slip a note in the bag to tell me where I left off. Next time might add FL sizing and OAL trimming. New note and reseal. etc.


Same here. I put RTS for ready to size, RTL for ready to load, etc.

[BNE]

I use empty plastic coffee containers. I label how far along they are in the prep process with masking tape. Easy to stack and I group them in basic caliber sizes on shelves under my bench.

[375supermag]

Hi...
All my brass, rifle or handgun, goes in plastic containers. Mostly the big plastic Folger's coffee cans my wife used to buy.
About any appropriately sized container gets used, though.
I come home from the range all the brass from that trip goes in the tumbler or gets washed, depending on how I feel like doing it.
When I am ready to load a batch of brass, I count out how much I want to reload and then re-size and de-prime them. I then prime the cases and load them in loading blocks and then dump powder and seat bullets in groups of 50 each. I just keep reloading until I have whatever quantity I desire. My generic target/plinking loads that I shoot by the thousands go in an ammo can. My rounds for hunting, testing or more serious use are stored in plastic ammo boxes.

[dragon813gt]

never too much brass!

I have the room so I agree in principle. I don't shoot machine guns so I don't run through thousands of rounds at once. But when you have over a thousand pieces of 375 H&H brass you start to think "do I have to much?" :laugh:

[NoAngel]

When grocery shopping ALWAYS choose the product that comes in a container that can be easily washed and reused. Ice cream buckets, coffee cans, etc. We have a parrot and the bird food comes in tall plastic jug. I use a lot of those. No telling how many plastic tubs of Country Crock margarine now house brass.

[375supermag]

I have the room so I agree in principle. I don't shoot machine guns so I don't run through thousands of rounds at once. But when you have over a thousand pieces of 375 H&H brass you start to think "do I have to much?" :laugh:
No such thing as too much brass.
Can always be sold or traded if you don't need all of it.

[lightman]

When grocery shopping ALWAYS choose the product that comes in a container that can be easily washed and reused. Ice cream buckets, coffee cans, etc. We have a parrot and the bird food comes in tall plastic jug. I use a lot of those. No telling how many plastic tubs of Country Crock margarine now house brass.

Ha Ha! You might be a reloader if your household purchases are chosen because the container is useable for storage! Love it!!!

[Soundguy]

Plastic zip lock bags.

[FISH4BUGS]

I have the room so I agree in principle. I don't shoot machine guns so I don't run through thousands of rounds at once. But when you have over a thousand pieces of 375 H&H brass you start to think "do I have to much?" :laugh:
Oh my..... a belt fed full auto 375 H&H...I LIKE IT!

[dragon813gt]

Oh my..... a belt fed full auto 375 H&H...I LIKE IT!

Ok, now I'm on board. It appears I don't have enough brass ;)

[jbutts6785]

I use a mixture of ziploc bags, Folgers coffee cans, MTM boxes, and ammo cans up to a 20MM size. It all depends on what caliber it is and whether it is loaded, ready to load, or fired and waiting to be cleaned.

[Smoke4320]

50 cal ammo boxes and sportsmen's dry boxes

[mold maker]

Kids at the day care eat only snacks that come in useful containers. I don't care if they all go home with cheese ball stained clothes.
Doesn't everyone do it that way?

[FISH4BUGS]

I used to live in a 41 residential unit condo building. There was a trash room with recyclables separated out.I saved, for probably 2 years, all the plastic and metal coffee cans with lids that I could grab.
Man, what a collection! I have probably 100 of them in the barn just waiting to be used.
I know I will never use them all but hey.....just in case, right?

[Soundguy]

somewhat hard to find the metal coffee cans these days.. used to be all the 1qt cans were metal.

[Jack Stanley]

I use coffee cans or five gallon buckets and either label them or have a card on the top of the brass . Have another box that is labeled "anneal , trim , sort", those get just that then put into cans waiting to be loaded .

Generally , I load in large batches and it is easy to keep track .

Jack

[lightman]

somewhat hard to find the metal coffee cans these days.. used to be all the 1qt cans were metal.

Having used both, I actually prefer the plastic.

[MaryB]

Unprocessed is sorted by headstamp into these

https://hw.menardc.com/main/items/media/EDSAL001/ProductLarge/IBU301642.jpg

Since I am only reloading for 223 right now i only have one set. Once I process it I move it to 1 gallon food saver bags and seal it with a label on it saying what headstamp. If it is my own second or third times used brass it goes in gallon ziplocks with a note card saying 2 times, 3 times etc. and gets laid on top of the unproccessed in the bins to keep track of how many times i have reloaded it.

[JBinMN]

somewhat hard to find the metal coffee cans these days.. used to be all the 1qt cans were metal.

Restaurants around here use the #10 cans a lot for their kitchen uses. I just picked up 4 of them yesterday from a small bar & grill just by asking. They do not have the plastic lids like you might get with the old coffee metal cans, but the lids should fit, I would think.

Maybe ask around at local restaurants/grills & see if they would save ya some if ya want them.

I use them for all sorts of things, so I like to keep about 8-10 empty ones around all the time.

G'luck!
:)

[Boolit_Head]

I've been using Zip Locks and paint buckets for bullets and brass. Lately I am transitioning to some square containers I found at Target. They are the Sterlite latching storage boxes.

http://www.sterilite.com/ProductCategory.html?ProductCategory=17&section=1

Nice thing about them is they are uniform and stack-able. In each I place a index card denoting the current state of processing.

[HATCH]

It depends on what caliber it is and how many.
Example, I have over 20k pieces of processed ready to load 9mm.
I have them boxed up on the shelf in med size flat rate postal boxes.
It makes it easy if I have to ship them.
I have a lot of new starline brass. It's still in the original boxes.
I have a tub full (25k+) of 40 cal once fired police range brass that has to be sorted (some 9mm is in it) and then processed.
Then I have a tub of 45 acp (15k+) that has to be cleaned.

Basically my plan is to process the 40 (clean, then run thru case pro100) and store them in ready to ship med size postal boxes. Same with the 45.

I don't sell brass so don't ask. I store them ready to ship because I have a couple brothers out of town and some friends that might need brass so it's easier if it's all ready to ship.


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[mold maker]

The plastic gal containers that restaurants get mayonnaise and condiments in, also provide air tight storage. Many have screw on lids and are semi-transparentThe bakeries at Sams and such, have plastic pails w/lids from 1/2 to 5 gal that contained icing and dough. Usually, all you need do is ask.

[Soundguy]

The plastic gal containers that restaurants get mayonnaise and condiments in, also provide air tight storage. Many have screw on lids and are semi-transparentThe bakeries at Sams and such, have plastic pails w/lids from 1/2 to 5 gal that contained icing and dough. Usually, all you need do is ask.

if I could find some of those 2g mayo and condiment tubs, and those 10# coffee cans, I'd be set!

[goryshaw]

Depending on quantity for the caliber they go in a Walmart plastic shoebox, margarine container or ice cream container, most rifle cartridges are sorted by headstamp and labeled for how many times they've been fired. As they are loaded they go into another of the same type of container with load information and times fired on the label.

[GONRA]

GONRA uses large mouth plastic peanut butter jars for all sorts of "ammo / components storage stuff".
Be dam sure to label it all. Include the purchase date, loading date, etc.

Large cardboard oatmeal "cans" are great for range pickup brass storage.
(Keep pickin' up the 9mm brass, day will come when you will thank me.)

Have found it handy to store 100 round lots of primed ready-to-load brass in baggies,
with the MT 100 rd. primer box inside.

[Boolseye]

I just keep my brass in plastic bags in cardboard boxes.
I shoot so little compared to the amount of brass I have that much of it is in permanent storage. The stuff I use (i shoot a wide variety of calibers) gets sorted as it's shot, tumbled in small batches and rotated if necessary. I don't sort by headstamp.

[Taterhead]

Like a lot of others here, notes to indicate the various stages of prep for 223. I don't segregate by headstamp whatsoever.

For bolt rifle brass, I keep a groups of brass in MTM style ammo boxes. Those brass live together for their lives. Shoot one. Empty is returned to the box. When they are all spent, they are processed together in a batch and loaded again. The cycle repeats until time to send them to the recycling center in the sky.

[fredj338]

My brass is stored in plastic bags or plastic nut container (Costco). It's either unprocessed or processed for the 223. I mark all the cleaned, processed cases with a Sharpie on the case head & pick them up & sort them separate from once fired range pickups.
For other calibers they go in 60rd plastic boxes & I keep track of how many times fired.