Digging through the trash cans

[abunaitoo]

Guys think it's funny watching me dig through the trash cans at the range.
Kind of gross, but I can't help myself. Hate to see things go to waste.
I look for cans, bottles, ammo boxes, shells, and what ever other goodies I think I could use.
On Sunday I found an unopened box of CCI standard 22lr ammo, and a unopened box of American Eagle .223 ammo.
Who's laughing now!!!!!

[Rcmaveric]

I used to feel ashamed of my self. Now i do it proudly. At the range, the ones that look at me funny, i just tell them i am collecting my lunch money because the wife is stingy on the budget. i keep an eye on dumpsters for woods, pallets and totes. If i can recycle it and save a buck i will.

[rancher1913]

the lady range officer helps me pick through the trash on the firing line, mostly good ammo boxes and not hardly any yechy stuff.

[Tazman1602]

Man when I go to the range at the club here -- I have a great range behind my house but try to stop in and shoot once in a while. Another member there is always trying to pick up my fired bras and I have to tell him HEY! I use that brass thank you....

Ruh-ro...crazy, I better leave .......

Art

[Taylor]

Free is good!

[6bg6ga]

Heck I will bring home empty ammo boxes just so I don't have to buy more plastic ones.

[Rcmaveric]

Its all fun and games till some one swears you took their match Lapua brass.....even after claiming innocence and they inspect you like a criminal. They still cant find it in your bucket they then lecture you. Yes i am still salty about that. Don't loose your brass and blame the dumpster diver. Instead of an apology i got a lecture.

[kbstenberg]

I can relate to the feeling ashamed for looking through trash cans. But I can also relate to using everything I find and saving money for what I find.

[MrWolf]

Who cares what others think. We are all on this site, right? :bigsmyl2:

[D Crockett]

long time ago I was dig threw a trash can when a guy came up to me and started to lecture me about that. I told him that every thing I get out of the can is used and does not sit in a dump for years and years decomposing. then I just happened to look down there was a cig. pack with a $10 and a $5 and $3 one's in the celifane he shut up and never said another word about it to me. not only did I get trays ammo boxes I got a good lunch out of that can. so some times it does pay to look in the cans. D Crockett

[starmac]

Can you blame them. lol

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/02/12/giant-pig-caught-on-camera-ravaging-garbage-bin-near-school-goes-viral.html

[thegatman]

I am a brass addict. My friend got me into it. I pick all brass even those calibers I don't shoot.

[bob208]

one mans trash is another man's treasure. I am still using steel I picked out of the dumpsters at one place I worked. when I go to the club or a shooting match I pick up brass.

[JBinMN]

one mans trash is another man's treasure.

Ditto.

And Abunaitoo, I am happy to report that the shotshell hulls that ya likely had to pick up that you sold & sent to me from Hawaii work just fine here in Minnesota. LOL
;)

[shdwlkr]

One range I go to I always look for left brass before I start shooting and if it is a busy day I do it again before I leave. I have even had some folks when they were done bring me their brass as they don't reload. It is interesting what folks leave behind some good a
lot of it is really bad. I used to shoot south of the city I live in in the desert, one weekend my church group and I went out and picked up trash and filled one of those huge trash containers that trucks haul, two weekends later it was just as bad as when we cleaned it never been back

[rockrat]

LOL, I check the trash cans too. Have dumped one on a table to get the brass. Heck, was at the range last week and spotted two empty 30-06 boxes in one trash can, looked in the other and there was 40 pieces of O/F '06 brass!!!

[slim1836]

I do the same, I have found lots of good stuff in the dumpsters behind the Harley Davidson dealerships.

Slim

[Wild Bill 7]

Yes I am a trash addict too. My wife is a brass addict. When we go to the range we look for brass first, then shoot, then brass pick again. I also mine the berm for lead. Last week I found 37 308's in the trash, picked up 200 223's and 50 pices of 38 special brass. Love the non reloaders. Use a fan(scratch) rake to rake top of the berm because there is so much lead sitting on top and hardly any dirt comes down with it. If there is some dirt I will scoop it up and throw it back up on the berm. Use my sifter and shake out some trash and dirt, pick out bigger pices and throw them away and bucket the the lead.

[MUSTANG]

Years ago I would go to the range and the trash would be overflowing. I started taking the Trash Bags out of the cans and putting new empty bags I bought at the Big Box Store into the Trash cans. (no spare Trash Bags on site) I now haul the Trash from the range each time I go, and keep a roll of Trash Bags at the range. I periodically get another shooter say something to the effect of "So your the guy picking up the Trash. I wondered why the Range started getting cleaner". I also picked up a bunch of White 5 Gallon Buckets from one of the Restaurants and put a sign on them at the Range "Brass Only". Sooooooo now each time I go to the Range I dump the White Buckets into a plastic bag for later sorting, and haul the Trash bags to the house where I can sort for brass and trays IN PRIVACY. Burnables get tossed into the Wood stove in the Spring/Winter/Fall so I get augmented heat, other trash gets taken to the Dump with household trash. Benefits: Less going to land fill, No more trash build up & blowing around the range area, and the Club does not have to worry about the Trash Issue.

Of course; people being people - were it widely known I was collecting the Brass and Trays; someone would complain. Probably same person/s who looked at the Overflowing Trash cans; asking why no one picks up the trash and takes it to the dump.

[Streetwalker]

And just when I thought I was the only "dumpster diver" around!

[GOPHER SLAYER]

At the range I go to the range officer will bring over the brass bucket he has collected from all the others and ask me if I wanted any of it. Now I usually say no. I can only store so much. I have run out of room. Of course if there were some 30-40, 32-4,38-55, 45-70 I would say you bet. In my dreams.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Of course; people being people - were it widely known I was collecting the Brass and Trays; someone would complain. Probably same person/s who looked at the Overflowing Trash cans; asking why no one picks up the trash and takes it to the dump.

The small club/shooting range I am a member of, has 55 gallon barrels that no one ever empties, except during range cleanup days. They are almost always overflowing...til I leave, LOL. I scrounge brass and trays from the barrels and also remove all the recyclables and bring them to our County's recycle dumpsters, luckily that's on the way home. I am almost always alone at that range (which I love),
so no one to judge me :veryconfu
...or pat me on the back :cry:


While I haven't been to the other club with the Large range in a few years, There were many people there that would recycle brass and metals (since the 2008 Commodities bubble) so had been slim pickin's. I wonder if that has changed? I might have to plan a visit there in the near future...Spring thaw is almost here :razz:

[Budzilla 19]

Yes, yes I am “ that guy” digging through the trash cans, that being said I love shooting free brass!
And I will pick up brass from wherever! Even for calibers I don’t have, because someone less fortunate than me might need that brass to keep going instead of giving up on reloading, and shooting in general! I would like to think that every one on this forum has helped someone down on their luck before. Trading material? You betcha! Gift to fellow reloaders? Absolutely! Helping to clean up the shooting range? Of course, you never know how, or in what form, it will come back to you. Just my.02

[RogerDat]

My parents lived through the depression. We kids were 100% brought up with a waste not want not attitude. So dumpsters, sorting through brass buckets, digging through scrap yard bins are all part of being thrifty. Allows me to give the guy at the bank a bag with 100+ 45 acp brass all clean and shiny from wet tumbling to encourage him in using the reloading equipment his dad is giving him to go with a 45 handgun.

Reuse as they say is the most efficient form of recycling. So if someone were to give me grief I would turn it back on them and ask why they don't recycle. Don't they care about our earth? :-) Besides I can always tell them if you think this is bad you should see me rinse and wipe off aluminum foil for later. Or they can always check out my reuse of a broken shovel handle I cut down.

[fatelk]

You all are dedicated environmentalists; reduce, reuse, recycle!

I rarely find much at my range. There’s st least two or three retired guys there that diligently scrounge all the brass every chance they get. Every once in a while I get there before them and find something good, and occasionally I’ll dumpster dive but my wife has a fit if she’s along. I once found a perfectly good Glock 19 magazine in the dumpster, and another time an unopened brick of 22 ammo.

[Tom W.]

Another member there is always trying to pick up my fired bras

Wanna tell us about that , Art? :kidding:

[merlin101]

Wanna tell us about that , Art? :kidding:
:bigsmyl2:
LOL!

[merlin101]

I'll pick up what ever brass I find and many times empty boxes sometimes there not even empty! Lately the club I belong to has found a retired guy to handle day to day cleaning incl. empting the trash so he's been getting all the goodies. Oh well.

[MaryB]

Local electronics manufacturer used to toss all kinds of goodies in a dumpster out back. I got a nice oscilloscope that needed minor repairs, all kinds of aluminum heat sinks and chassis pieces(most got sold to the scrapyard)... now they started doing their own recycling so no goodies anymore.

Range I go to has someone scavenge brass often because all you find is 22lr and that gets swept up for the local boy scout troop. Occasionally get some good pistol brass but it is rare..

[nun2kute]

I am truly not laughing at you, but WITH you ! I rarely shoot at any local "Range", but I have a special box just for "Treasures" that I find while out letting my dog get his legs out. From Teenagemutantninja Turtle key chains to Black Powder Paraphernalia, Pocket knives to limb saws. This last weekend I found Seven cell phones that melted out of a snow bank. They look like someone robbed the store of all their display models. Got two fist fulls of arrows, mostly cheap stuff. Golf balls. I find spinners people leave behind about once a month. But I already got three, don't need anymore. Compensators, magazines. OH Yea, and Brass too. I made the mistake of setting my coleman coffee mug down once while picking up brass, then forgot to pick it up when I left. By the time I got back to get it, it was perforated. We all lose stuff.

[Tom W.]

If I feel well enough after I go to the indoor range I'll sweep the floor and in my range bag have a small dustpan and a fair sized nylon bag that I'll
put collected brass into. Sometimes I'll get cartridge boxes, but I really prefer the plastic MTM boxes.
As for brass that I have no firearms for, did you know that a .40 S&W case can be filled with molten lead and make a heckuva boolits for a .44 magnum. No swaging required. A .357 Sig does, too!

[historicfirearms]

I was digging through a trash can this past summer at a shooting range in the UP. I was finding some nice 308 and 45acp brass when I found something really gross. It was a poopy baby diaper. Yuck! I grabbed a stick and moved the diaper and commenced the search for free brass. I did use hand sanitizer when I got to the car.

[john.k]

i thought i hit the jackpot with 45/70 brass thrown away,but turns out no one bothers saving Hornady cases,and for some reasons they dont even fit my Marlin.....rims too big?

[lead-1]

I usually get the normal caliber stuff and a few empty boxes with shell holders but last summer someone here benefited from my digging when I found
a little over a box of what looked to be some once fired 8x56R brass.

[WRideout]

Even with the low scrap prices for iron, I don't mind picking up empty steel cases, mostly because there are so many of them laying around. When I get a bucket full, I'll take them to the scrap yard along with other metal I have acquired. I recently bought a long-handled mag pickup from HF, just to gather the 7.62x39 steel cases that seem to be everywhere. Also an unapologetic dumpster diver. Lots of targets get thrown away with the pasters still around the edges, unused.

Wayne

[CastingFool]

My son once picked up a really nice ax, a vise and a plastic milk crate out of a dumpster at my parent's condo. I have no idea at all where he learned about dumpster diving.

[Bzcraig]

Great! Something else I need to add to my reloading/casting repertoire! Have you no shame? Nevermind it was rhetorical.

[afish4570]

And just when I thought I was the only "dumpster diver" around!
From the Range dumpster I usuallly get empty ammo boxes to put my reloads into, mt brass that was supposed to be put into the BRASS BUCKET. No receipt so it has the full return policy if you don't want it later,,,,,,,,,LOLafish4570

[firebyprolong]

I've gotten out of the habit anymore, just nothing to pick out. We just have too many meth users in this part of the country. Seem all they can do is scrounge for scrap. Pretty much any brass at the one local public range gets sold to the scrap dealers. If it was another reloder no big deal, but when mr scabby mc tweaker pulls up not to shoot but to dump out the trash on the ground and grab the brass I'm a little more than mad.

[iomskp]

I always check the range in the morning before we set up for our shoot I always find good brass, even found some snap caps once.

Regards Trevor

[white eagle]

whenever I go to the public range I dig through the trash
to look for empty boxes and cartridge holders that I can use
for the loads I am making

[David2011]

Another member there is always trying to pick up my fired brass. . .
Art

Doesn't every range have a resident brass wh***? Ours told me that he bought 3 guns from what he made picking up brass. Not high dollar guns, but guns nevertheless. Then he tried to pick up my still hot brass. I suggested that he pick up brass somewhere else. You can count on him to make the rounds every Sunday afternoon.

There is good stuff for reloaders in the trash cans. Lots of good ammo boxes.

I had to quit picking up 5.56/.223. It was multiplying faster than I could process and reload it. I still have several thousand to load. I'll still pick up .44 Spec/Mag, .357 Mag and .45 Colt if I see some but I have over 100 pounds of .45 ACP, several thousand .40 S&W and 6 gallons of .38 Spec. so I have no business collecting more of those.

[Nines&Twos]

Definitely a dump picker here. I’ve found magazines, knives even a scope once.
Lots of rifle brass still in the factory box right before hunting season. Hunters checking zero are so thoughtful. They shoot high dollar ammo, and put the brass neatly back in the factory box for me. Lol!

[JBinMN]

I'll still pick up .44 Spec/Mag, .357 Mag and .45 Colt if I see some but I have over 100 pounds of .45 ACP, several thousand .40 S&W and 6 gallons of .38 Spec. so I have no business collecting more of those.

May I recommend a "Pay It Forward"? LOL
;)

Doesn't matter to me, I "buy my own tickets to train rides", or, "jump on my own buckin' broncs"...

Just making a suggestion, if ya have more than you will ever load & shoot.

[Blanket]

bad thing on my range is I threw it away to start with

[MaryB]

I am lucky that our range is gated and locked. And on my suggestion last year we added game cameras in hidden spots to monitor fence jumpers and charge them with trespass. Got rid of 5 who were scavenging anything not nailed down, caught one trying to unbolt the hanging metal targets on the 300 yard range! Thy would come in and shoot everything up ruining things... break stuff...

Since then the amount of salvage brass has gone up but many of us there reload...

[redriverhunter]

yes I am a trash picker I made out like a bandit the other day got about 30 .308 win, about 40 30.06 and some other not sure yet have not gone through it yet. What I do not under stand is why those that dip spit in a trash can that is out side, spit juice will ruin a good day of picking.

[mold maker]

I used to always use a pair of cheap HF nitril gloves for the same reason. Spitting in a public place without using a bottle with lid is just plain rude and nasty.

[pete501]

We usually pick up the recyclable material encountered on public land shooting ranges. I hate to see shooters leave a mess. Too many areas are closed because it gets trashed.

As far as dumpster diving. The range I belong to has rules. Pick up only your own brass, no trash picking. It doesn't stop the ROs from taking all the 10 cent deposit containers. The easy brass gets collected by the care taker. Lots of common brass gets swept in the gravel. Before the rules, there was nothing on the ground.

I had gotten a lot of good stuff diving. Magazines, ammo, lots of empty boxes some vintage. At one time I sold empty ammunition boxes on evilbay. I sold lots of plain and common shotshell boxes. Estate brand and plastic CCI boxes were selling for more than the purchase price of a full box. I remember finding 3 Aquilla 22 boxes with the "rampant colt" , modern production. It got bid up to $74. I sold the other two ($73 & $72) to the other high bidders using the second chance offer feature. It was back in the ammo shortage days.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: Never did do much diving as there were no dumpsters back then.I did pick up what I used though.When I first started reloading it was 30-06,45acp and.223.In those calibers,I had a neighbor who shot on the NG rifle team.He brought me about 4K 1964 LC match brass,2K of .45acp and almost 5K of 5.56
brass Cost?Merry Christmas.That was why I bought a 788 Rem in .222 and had it rechambered to .223.Could`nt find one in .223.Also why I bought a Colt AR15
with 3 extra mags and 100 rds of ammo for $215.00 out the door.The only brass that I actively looked for after that was .38 spcl.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[skeettx]

I pick up all the brass I can find, sell what I do not want for scrap and pay for
my annual club memberships, yeeeee Hawwwww !!

[reivertom]

You'll only do it once in Kentucky............too many 'backy chewers and snuff dippers....nasty..

[Iowa Fox]

When I hit the range I check out the garbage cans first thing, even before I even sign in. It's just fun to see what gets tossed. One day I found an old S&W partial frame and grips. No barrel or cylinder. Don't know what happened there as the rest of the parts weren't in the can. I've never sold one penny's worth of brass, when someone needs some and I have it I give it to them to help out.

[lightman]

I've been picking up brass since I was a kid. When my kids were younger our weekend outing often was packing up the cooler with soft drinks, some crackers and a stick of Summer Sausage (Often Deer) and riding around to the local shooting sites. Usually the gravel pits, bridges and dead end roads that always seemed to attract dumping, and shooting. The boys also picked up any aluminum cans.

I have to admit that I'm a little conscious of digging through the trash can but I often look in them. I have been known to dump them in a box in the back of my truck and sort through it at home.

I pick up all brass, even the damaged or corroded stuff. The damaged stuff goes straight to the scrap bucket. The surplus 9mm, 40's and 223's get gifted to new reloaders or those that enter into a shortage unprepared.

[Outer Rondacker]

Funny I found this thread. I was in the garbage cans yesterday at the local range. I mainly pick boxes out since I am a reloader and always tend to have more in bins then boxes. So its a small range a few hundred members. The results are just outstanding for someone like me on a next to nothing budget.

A gallon size bag of 9mm. Did not count yet.
674 40s&w
29 7mm-08
291 45 acp
11 10mm
71 308 win
small zip lock baggy of 380
18 300 win mag
7 270s
5 30-30
30 45 GAP
1 204 ruger
300ish 5.56

I feel this is the entire winters worth as I found targets dated before hunting season last year.

[lightman]

You made a nice haul! I hardly ever find any rifle other than 223 except during hunting season. Mostly 9mm, 40 S&W and 223/5.56. Maybe a few 380's.

[fatelk]

Finding any rifle brass other than 223 and the very occasional 308 at our range is extremely rare too. There are at least a couple hard core brass scroungers that frequent the range so they've got the brass supply pretty much sown up.

[nvbirdman]

My friend and I were the only ones at an informal range one day just before hunting season and I kicked an empty ammo box on the ground. It didn't move like an empty box so I picked it up. Full box, twenty rounds of 30-06. Hope the guy discovered his error before he went hunting.

[Outer Rondacker]

The only full ammo I have found is a 22lr on the floor of the outdoor range. I did find yesterday a few more empty pieces here and there but the best one was this. A 223 case with a bullet head sticking out part of the way. I picked it up and the bullet fell back into the case. The case mouth had been crimped on one side by something. After getting it home and pulling the bullet I measured it. .204.

Good heavens I am wondering if I need to open my big mouth at the club and ask if anyone needs help learning reloading. You can clearly see they had to hit the case mouth with something to get the bullet to stay in place. Then when cycled it must have pushed into the case not letting it into the chamber.

I enjoy walking the range when no one is around. Last week I found 10 40 cal projectiles about 40 feet from the bench. All looked perfect and sat in the same pile. I now wonder if perhaps someone had loaded them so light they just inched out the barrel?

[lightman]

I got out for a little while today between rains and picked up a couple handfuls of 9mm and 223. I saw something odd laying there and when I picked it up saw that it was a single 7.62 X 25. Some reloader is only going to have 49 cases whenever he gets around to loading them! I would like to know what it was fired in.

[skeettx]

I shoot mine in a CZ-52 pistol

I have CZ-52s in 7.62x25, 9mm Luger and 38 Super/Largo

[mold maker]

About 15 years ago the CZ52 in 762-25 was a popular import. As a group, 8 of us bought them from Ohio Guns. Not the easiest to become proficient with, but a good defense weapon at the price. We also got about 1000 rounds each of the Berdan primed ammo.
I have since obtained Boxer-primed brass and found a load that the CZ52 and I both like.