Organizing all of this Brass!

[DonMountain]

Over all of these years of collecting firearms, reloading die sets, brass and forming brass for all of these, I am looking for a system of keeping tract of all of this brass and organizing it all in some sort of containers. Right now most of it is in zip-lock plastic bags stored in plastic bins I can't pick up any more. Some is divided out into army surplus ammo cans. Anybody have a good system for 30 different brass, a lot thats been "converted" from something else? :veryconfu

[beechbum444]

50 caliber ammo can with labels or square buckets, they stack and store ALOT easier

[georgerkahn]

I was faced with a similar dilemma. My "solution" was to purchase cardboard boxes from Amazon; I assembled boxes with some packing tape on bottom, and affixed a label of what brass size for each box's end. I already had brass in small zip lock bags with a card indicating quantity, source, times loaded, and any other pertinent data. It may sound like "overkill" but the benefits of my easily retrieving any brass I wish to use; to readily see what I do and do not have; surely makes it worth the minimal expense and effort. I will endeavor to go to shed, where they're stacked, and take a picture I'll either add to this, or PM to you, tomorrow.
geo

[mozeppa]

i went with plastic jars.

theses are boolits ....but the brass is on shelves above them in similar jars.

gotta find my camera.

[Bzcraig]

I ordered free flat rate boxes from the USPS

[Michael J. Spangler]

Carlisle or Cambro lexan food storage containers.
Nice tight fitting lids. Clear for easy ID. stackable. Square for efficient storage.

I work for a foodservice company so I pick them up now and then when I need them.
I’m sure you can get them at your local Sysco or foodservice supplier.

[Motor]

I use Folgers plastic coffee containers. ;)

Motor

[fast ronnie]

.50 cal ammo cans work great. Smaller batches can be put in .30 cal cans. Stacks easily, painters tape for labels for short term, magic marker for a little more permanent.

[bruce drake]

plastic coffee tubs for unloaded brass, loaded brass goes into ammo cans or reloading boxes.

[sawinredneck]

I’m cheap, I use the Christmas popcorn cans and label them with tape.

[John Boy]

Plastic containers with lids and empty Captain Black pipe tobacco containers with lids. All containers have desiccants in them. The 9mm brass that came with 1000 cases is the original shipping box

[Rcmaveric]

I have a shelf that holds stackable bins from the dollar store, stacked 2 high. Bin on the bottom holds cases that have not been shot in my guns and the bin on top has been. Cases i don't reload get organized in plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store and stacked in the corner of one is rifle and the other is pistol and cases in Ziplock bags that are labeled. The dollar store never seams to run out of the containers. Sometimes i wish they would make a 2 dollar store with those containers a bit more sturdy. But its cheap and easy and laid out nicely.

[DonMountain]

Keep these all good ideas coming, as I progress through all of this. I have already moved most of my cast lead projectiles to those square clear plastic peanut containers my wife buys at WalMart. And they fit on the shelves on my loading bench perfectly. Now I am moving a lot of my brass to some of them and to a bunch of 50 Caliber army surplus ammo cans I bought locally and found in my garage. But I need a bunch more. I am also looking at some of these other suggestions of the stackable plastic containers at the Dollar Store. The only potential trouble is the structural capacity of my shelves? And the floor?

[alamogunr]

I use several diffferent containers. Since I have more 9mm brass than anything and likely to get more since local law enforcement has gone back to 9mm, I use both 5 gallon buckets and one gallon ice cream buckets. For everything else I use the ice cream buckets, Folger's coffee containers and USPS large flat rate boxes(recycled). I use zip lock bags for smaller quantities.

[Rcmaveric]

Dollar store also sells those peanut like containers. I started using those for bullets aswell and i use cigar boxes found from tobacco stores or the water front mission to store lubed bullets. I like the dollar store when it comes to piecing together an organization schemes. Cheap, easy and simple. Hell i even color code components, brass and bullets containers. That way i cant grab the wrong thing. The bullet and brass containers have colored label that matches the reloading log and primer containers. Beats searching and rummaging through things.

For large cashes of empty brass. My wife and kids make sure i have i plenty of gallon ice cream containers. Then toss in a desiccant and snap on the lid.

[daniel lawecki]

Sterilite 6qt containers with snap on lids

[lightman]

I use plastic coffee cans for brass and ammo cans for loaded ammo. I use a sharpie to write the info on the coffee can. I still have a few of the larger ice cream containers that dairy queens used to get but I have lost source for those. I also have a parts drawer that I use for the smaller amounts of brass that I don't load.

[Wild Bill 7]

I store all my prepared brass in plastic bins with lids under my bench. Boolits are stored in ammo cans under the bench also. Everything is separated by calibers. Brass to be cleaned is stored in various coffee cans and plastic tubs. Everything is labeled also.

[JimB..]

Dirty brass is in 5 gal buckets, clean brass is in 50 cal ammo cans, some rifle brass is kept in separate boxes by batch because I track loadings.

I also keep loaded ammo in 50 cal ammo cans, and small lead ingots in 30cal ammo cans.

I have a lot of ammo cans because they are durable, stackable and easily moved.

[Shawlerbrook]

Folgers cans, both large and small depending on quantity.

[Went2kck]

I use peanut butter jars. They are clear and come in large and small sizes. I just put paper tag inside the jar and stick it to the side with the con-tense. Also use coffee containers of the plastic and metal type.

[DonMountain]

I do keep my empty 12 gauge plastic hulls in old 61.7 pound (5 gallon I think) sheet rock mud tubs as they are pretty heavy duty and I have about 8 of them left over from sheet rock jobs on my house and a few other jobs I did for relatives. And the 50 BMG ammo cans hold my reloads in 12 gauge and are just the right size to carry out to the trap range. From all of these recommendations I have ordered 4 more 40 mm ammo cans from Midway that I need to ride up and pick up now.

[dverna]

I do keep my empty 12 gauge plastic hulls in old 61.7 pound (5 gallon I think) sheet rock mud tubs as they are pretty heavy duty and I have about 8 of them left over from sheet rock jobs on my house and a few other jobs I did for relatives. And the 50 BMG ammo cans hold my reloads in 12 gauge and are just the right size to carry out to the trap range. From all of these recommendations I have ordered 4 more 40 mm ammo cans from Midway that I need to ride up and pick up now.

5 gal pails are what I use for both empties and loaded Trap loads. I can stack full ones four high, they take up only one sq ft of floor space and that stores 2000 loads. Very efficient. 500 loaded shells will not fill a 5 pail but 500 empties will.

[DxieLandMan]

For empty brass I use coffee cans, Planter's nut jars, kitty treats jars, etc. For loaded ammo, I have .50 cal and .30 cal ammo cans with tape on the outside telling the caliber. They stack really well too.

[mold maker]

I keep prepped brass in whatever it fits, ie stacked 5gal buckets to peanut jars. I no longer keep much loaded ammo to make the powder and primers last.
I no longer shoot the volume I once did and having extra thousands of loaded rounds might someday be a problem for my heirs. What I do have is in plastic boxes stored in Mil ammo cans.

[DonMountain]

Ok, I am back with my 40 MM ammo cans that just fit on my shelves. I bought 4 of them, and have one from a long time ago. I just need to do a little straightening of these new ones, but they are in pretty good shape for the $12.95 I paid for them. And now I have just discovered that those WalMart plastic peanut jars just fit in them for easy retrieval. After going through all of my loaded ammo that I did back in the last century, I am finding some of the plastic bags of ammo with commercial brass is badly corroded. Should I attempt to clean this somehow or just ditch it and start over. I found a lot of 308's this way. And what should I do with all of these old foreign made military shells that I am afraid to fire due to corrosive primers? Ditch it all? I have had it for 40 years.

[MK111]

I use 30 and 50 caliber ammo cans. The size depends on the amount of each caliber. I down sized and kept only 500 rounds of each caliber. I keep all my loaded rounds in ammo cans also.

[Grmps]

I like eating peanuts Good for storing some brass and bullets in the loading area. The rest are in buckets for the common calibers, plastic bags in square plastic milk crates for the rest.
https://i.imgur.com/HGhqMIG.png

https://i.imgur.com/MjOCxZy.png

[CraigOK]

Folgers cans, pb jars, pladyic ammo cans, 3 & 1 gallon buckets are my solution currently. May continue to evolve

[Outer Rondacker]

plastic coffee tubs for unloaded brass, loaded brass goes into ammo cans or reloading boxes.

+1 unless its 44 or 357 9mm or 30-30 or 223/5.56 or 243. Then it has to go in 5gal buckets with lids.

[leebuilder]

I have used most of the ideas already posted. But I realy like the plastic square kitty littre containers, more capacity than ammo cans and stackable. You can glue them together and cut hand holes in them and use them like a pigeon hole type arrangement.
Be well

[DukeSoprano]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180303/86eafbf2b8d1886d3595a4e48c6ca2ea.jpg


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[redhawk0]

I like eating peanuts Good for storing some brass and bullets in the loading area. The rest are in buckets for the common calibers, plastic bags in square plastic milk crates for the rest.
https://i.imgur.com/HGhqMIG.png

https://i.imgur.com/MjOCxZy.png

Mine looks similar to yours...except I put my square nut jars on their sides stacked on top of each other. I mark the lids and can just unscrew one for access without removal from the stack.

You have more space than I do...this looks nice.

redhawk

[slim1836]

215604

Mine is more primitive, free coffee cans from work. I use a sharpie and label the contents between the handholds. If repurposed, acetone will remove the label and it gets remarked.

I even put some of my lead ingots in them although they sit on the ground. I just pick one up and take it to the melting pot.

Slim

[DonMountain]

Wow! Some really great ideas here that I have incorporated into my complete rearrangement of my reloading room. Unfortunately I gained so much room I went and purchased reloading dies for the last two calibers (32 ACP and 380) that I have never reloaded for in my collection of firearms. But I now have room for the added brass and lead projectiles when I get molds for them. Thanks everybody for your great ideas!

[vrh]

I store my once fired brass in ammo cans. The brass that I am currently using gets stored in coffee can above two plastic bins of corresponding bullets. Pistol bullets and brass are stored in separate coffee cans.

[alamogunr]

I've posted once in this thread but today I ran across another source of containers for brass. A friend owns a building supply company. I was there today on his back dock, talking to him about something else and noticed several square plastic buckets with substantial bales. Looking closer, they had either nail or dry wall screw labels. He said they generate several empties each month. They are smaller than the one cat litter bucket that I have but are big enough to hold about fifteen hundred .40 S&W cases(the first thing I put in them).

Admittedly, they would not be as widely available as Folgers coffee cans or some other but, for me, they are an ideal size.

[OS OK]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180303/86eafbf2b8d1886d3595a4e48c6ca2ea.jpg


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Oooh Duke...The bins are A+, but....when you go so far as to generate those custom labels....well, I feel that I have to 'Caution' you, I think you are 'Borderline OCD' and you can catch a lot of flack around here for attention to detail! Try to resist at least until your an ole fart like myself...then at least you have an excuse! :bigsmyl2:

[OS OK]

I like eating peanuts Good for storing some brass and bullets in the loading area. The rest are in buckets for the common calibers, plastic bags in square plastic milk crates for the rest.
https://i.imgur.com/HGhqMIG.png

https://i.imgur.com/MjOCxZy.png

That's great Grmps...doesn't hardly get any better than that!

216589

This is my old mentor Bob, a Kansas City boy....@ 84 he's still stuffin brass but as an organizer he missed the boat. A few years back I couldn't take it anymore so I built him some shelves and installed them. I'm trying to get all his brass out of the glass jars so I gave him all my peanut and jelly bean plastic stuff like yours. Grmps, we think a lot alike :bigsmyl2:

[jessdigs]

I use Costco pretzel jars, from at home and work, and store brass by Caliber, headstamp, and various stages of prep.
Like LC 556 RTL (ready to load) cleaned, decapped, sized, swaged, trimmed
Or LC 1x, just cleaned and needs prepped. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180320/fd2e703e55ff83bf12547a901a2078e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180320/8396c18a9f16b8349fc27e520c3c705b.jpg

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[JimB..]

I use Costco pretzel jars, from at home and work, and store brass by Caliber, headstamp, and various stages of prep.
Like LC 556 RTL (ready to load) cleaned, decapped, sized, swaged, trimmed
Or LC 1x, just cleaned and needs prepped. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180320/fd2e703e55ff83bf12547a901a2078e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180320/8396c18a9f16b8349fc27e520c3c705b.jpg


I do love those peanut butter pretzel bites, but you sir have a problem!

[DonMountain]

Has anybody figured out how to get the original glued-on labels off of all of these peanut plastic jars I have?

[alamogunr]

I don't know if the jars I use are the same, but I just leave the label in place and use 2" wide blue tape and write on that with a Sharpie. I have removed labels with some degreaser I got at work(before I retired) but it leaves the plastic a little rough on the surface where the adhesive was removed.

[Dadswickedammo]

Yep I was going through the same issues.
So this is what I do......
All loaded ammo in marked ammo cans.
Processed brass in clear plastic hinged lid containers. Brass that I WILL be using and this is key (will be using) as I already have ammo cans full of reusable brass. Brass that WILL or is in some state of being processed goes in stackable parts storage bins on shelfs with a tag (lil sticky note) caliber and what has been done so things are in a constant stream of getting done and I'm not nailed down to any one task. Also for anything I want to load I have ready to load brass or one step away nice neat and squared away.
I am a lil anal about how I do things.
The proper container are very important.
I built a large 4.5ft wide x 7ft tall 2ft deep wood cabinet all the shelf are to proper hight to house these containers except the open front stackable parts bins. Those go on shells on my work bench.

[Cue]

Has anybody figured out how to get the original glued-on labels off of all of these peanut plastic jars I have?

I have used just hot water and a butterknife as a scraper on a lot of those type labels.

[georgerkahn]

There's a readily available product called Goo-gone I swear by! Imho, it's cheap, works well, leaves no smell or residue (duh -- it's purpose ;) ) and is regularly used by my wife and me. Try it! geo217454

[alamogunr]

I've been tempted to try Goo Gone but I've got about a gallon of industrial degreaser I got at work before I retired. It gets the labels on just about anything off. The stuff is apparently made from offal from orange processing, at least that is how it smells. Not perfect since it leaves a slightly cloudy place where the adhesive was removed.

[DonMountain]

There's a readily available product called Goo-gone I swear by! Imho, it's cheap, works well, leaves no smell or residue (duh -- it's purpose ;) ) and is regularly used by my wife and me. Try it! geo217454

I have never heard of this stuff. Where do you get it from? Is it available from places like the WalMarts we have here in Missouri?

[Springfield]

Just soak the jars in hot soapy water and scrub them off with a dish scrubber. Works great on plastic Peanut butter jars.

[DonMountain]

There's a readily available product called Goo-gone I swear by! Imho, it's cheap, works well, leaves no smell or residue (duh -- it's purpose ;) ) and is regularly used by my wife and me. Try it! geo217454

Wow! My wife bought one of the new spray bottles of this Goo Gone stuff, and I took a couple of peanut butter jars down into the basement and laid them on their sides and sprayed some of this Goo Gone stuff on the labels. Came back in a couple of hours and the labels pealed right off and I could clean off the residue with a paper towel. Plastic containers are unmarked and clear showing no evidence of any glue being there. Didn't damage the plastic at all. So, now I have 4 peanut jars at a time laid out on the bench soaking with Goo Gone. And I just come back in a couple of hours and clean them off and put 4 more out. Good and cheap.

[DonMountain]

Just soak the jars in hot soapy water and scrub them off with a dish scrubber. Works great on plastic Peanut butter jars.

This didn't work on my peanut butter jar labels at all. But Goo Gone sure did!

[Petrol & Powder]

Whatever type of container you go with it needs to have square sides or as close to square sides as you can get. It is an added benefit if all of the containers are uniform.

Ammo cans are good for durability and they stack well if they are all the same type. Unfortunately, the 30 cal. and 50 cal. cans are different in all three dimensions (width, length and height). They are close to being the same height but not quite. They are also a bit expensive. If you need fewer than about 10 cans, this is probably the way to go. In terms of strength and durability, ammo cans are hard to beat.

The large plastic containers with the screw top lids and sort of square sides (like the peanut containers featured on this thread) are a good choice because they are cheap, uniform and don't waste as much space as round containers. However, It could take a while to accumulate a supply of them.

If you have a table saw, some other tools and some basic wood working skills, you can make some very fine wooden boxes. This system requires a large amount of time, a large amount of pre-planning and a strong "Big Picture" mindset. However, beyond the tools needed, it doesn't require a large amount of money. The materials are inexpensive. The goal is not to make A box, but rather a system of identical boxes that fit your needs. Planning is KEY to this method.

Whatever you decide to do, it is advantageous to think "System" and not individual container.

[JimB..]

I think that I posted above that I’m heavily into ammo cans, but for some calibers where I have a lot of brass I’m considering square cat litter pails since we seem to get one or two a week anyway. They seem sturdy and have a handle.

[alamogunr]

I think that I posted above that I’m heavily into ammo cans, but for some calibers where I have a lot of brass I’m considering square cat litter pails since we seem to get one or two a week anyway. They seem sturdy and have a handle.

It would seem that the cat litter pails fulfill the requirement of a square container. I've only got one and it is still half full of crystal cat litter that I use for a desiccant. As I posted earlier, the nail/screw containers that I got from a friend that owns a builders supply, while not as big as the cat litter pails, are perfect for my use. The way SWMBO feels about cats leaves that option out.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Cat treats come in 6"x6"x9" clear plastic bottles, I plan to fill those with boolits so I'm saving them up. Small but if filled with lead they won't be light... Used to have lots of coffee cans as I ran the coffee maker for work, for years; Great for brass or boolits.

[retread]

Hoppes #9 takes the glue right off those Costco nut jars.

[JimB..]

It would seem that the cat litter pails fulfill the requirement of a square container. I've only got one and it is still half full of crystal cat litter that I use for a desiccant. As I posted earlier, the nail/screw containers that I got from a friend that owns a builders supply, while not as big as the cat litter pails, are perfect for my use. The way SWMBO feels about cats leaves that option out.

Is “crystal cat litter” a brand? I’m curious about an inexpensive desiccant.

[alamogunr]

Is “crystal cat litter” a brand? I’m curious about an inexpensive desiccant.

No! It is crystals of some kind of desiccant that soaks up moisture. I don't think it is as effective as silica gel but for $12 for a 16# bucket, I couldn't pass it up. I've had this for 7-8 years and it was on a closeout shelf at a pet supply store. As I recall they replaced it with a 8# bag for about the same $$.

Since I've had it so long, I bake it in an old toaster oven at about 150º for several hours to make sure it is dry to start.

Most silica gel desiccants have a treatment that colors it blue which turns pink when it is saturated. Again baking returns it to blue

[Mr_Sheesh]

JimB.. - Another option is to roast Drywall same as recharging the crystal cat litter, to recharge it. If you already have drywall scraps that's pretty affordable :)

[JimB..]

JimB.. - Another option is to roast Drywall same as recharging the crystal cat litter, to recharge it. If you already have drywall scraps that's pretty affordable :)

I’m remodeling a room, I’ve probably burned 500lbs of drywall in the past couple months. Guess I’ll save a few scraps and see how it works.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I know it's been used in DIY radiation meters for years (where you have two foil pieces and charging them makes them repel each other, then radiation hits cause ionization and the foil pieces get closer together etc.); Might package them in a paper sack or coffee filter etc. to keep the gypsum dust from getting all over, if needed :)

[jessdigs]

I do love those peanut butter pretzel bites, but you sir have a problem!
I know I do. My wife came home with some Snyder's brand peanut butter pretzels with honey on/in them. They were really good. I can't find them anymore, so I decided to experiment and I dipped my Costco pretzel in nature Nate's honey from Costco. It sounds strange but it's really good. Like 200 pretzel containers good[emoji85]

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[JimB..]

I know I do. My wife came home with some Snyder's brand peanut butter pretzels with honey on/in them. They were really good. I can't find them anymore, so I decided to experiment and I dipped my Costco pretzel in nature Nate's honey from Costco. It sounds strange but it's really good. Like 200 pretzel containers good[emoji85]

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Sounds very good actually, salty and sweet.

[Tripplebeards]

I do love those peanut butter pretzel bites, but you sir have a problem!

Nice, looks like gladiator racks. I bought 2 of those racks blown out at Sears a few years back for $48 each. I have my 2 tons of lead ingots on the bottom rack

[DonMountain]

I do love those peanut butter pretzel bites, but you sir have a problem!

I love it! This forum has turned into "what can we eat thats good" to get the plastic jars from? I recently bought two new molds for the 9mm Luger and 380 pistols I am working on and suddenly needed 4 more peanut jars from WalMart. My wife left for the weekend and I ran right over to WalMart to get 4 more and some beer to go with them and had peanuts and beer for supper, just to empty one of those jars. Is this obsessive?

[therealhitman]

... had peanuts and beer for supper, just to empty one of those jars. Is this obsessive?

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

[JimB..]

Nice, looks like gladiator racks. I bought 2 of those racks blown out at Sears a few years back for $48 each. I have my 2 tons of lead ingots on the bottom rack

To confirm, you have 4,000 lbs of lead on a single shelf? I was thinking these things were rated for 1,000 or 1,500 per shelf. Plenty for brass, but I’m surprised that they hold lead.

[pertnear]

Here in my neck of the woods, there is a chain called the "ContainerStore". Even if you visit just to get ideas. If you can't find good solutions there, none exists! :)

FWIW...

[jessdigs]

Here in my neck of the woods, there is a chain called the "ContainerStore". Even if you visit just to get ideas. If you can't find good solutions there, none exists! :)

FWIW...
There are container stores in California too. Never thought of going there for containers for reloading. Will have to check that out with brass and cast boolits in mind.

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