anyone else a chronic "saver" of brass?

[mozeppa]

i have 10000's of brass in calibers i don't own guns for.

just sittin' in jars.


i see it on the ground at the range aaaaaand i just can't leave it there.

must have at least 40 different calibers....many for rifles i don't own!

i must be odd.

[762 shooter]

Amen brother.

My grandson asked me why I had so much brass and I didn't have an answer.

762

[BNE]

I do the same. I mostly shoot in private ranges, so I don’t see a lot of variety, but I figure I can trade it with somebody here. So far I have mostly just collected it! BNE

[RKJ]

I don't have that much but I do have quite a bit of brass for calibers I don't own. I figure I'll see where somebody needs it and help them out a little. That's happened a few times already.

[MrWolf]

When I shot at a club I belonged to, if it was on the ground and not in a bucket it was picked up. Now if I find anything it is from what I shot at my place.

[bedbugbilly]

I'm another "brass disciple". Pains me to even throw a split casing away so it got into another jar to recycle for a powder coop, etc. And you aren't alone . . if I see it, I pick it up and have even purchased brass in caliber i don't have guns for but "might" have sometime. Addictions are hard to quit cold turkey sometimes. :-)

[Three44s]

Without the “case” you can do nothing, it’s like a foundation for a future house!

Save the brass, trade what you have no use for things you need.

Three44s

[Hossfly]

I pick em all up, except .22. You never know what other cail. Could be made from a bigger one that maybe has a split neck etc. many parent calibers like 30-06 to .308, cut off and redo neck. .223-.556 to .300 black out. And when there worn out just sell for scrap money and buy more lead.

[zarrinvz24]

I tend to pickup and keep brass that I eventually plan to buy firearms for. Some things I leave for others, as I know I'll never have use of it: 500S&W being a good example.

[Beagle333]

Yes. I have bags and bags....... and lots of them are for calibers I don't even own or want. But there's always that slight chance that I "might" convert it to one of my calibers one day. haha.

[gkainz]

Eventually you find you’re squirreled away enough brass of a particular caliber that it just makes sense to go buy a new gun in that caliber.
I never wanted a .22-250 but this year I surveyed the stash and am now building a savage in … yeah … .22-250.

[country gent]

Im terrible for saving things brass, pices parts. Old used up barrels go out on the stock rack to be used for stock. ( priced stainless steel lately) any cuts from stock go back on the rack just in case I need hem. Even wood cuts ans small pieces get saved, How many time have you needed a 12" or less length of 2 x 4 to have to cut it off a 8 or 10 footer? Years from cleaning the local range I have more 9mm than I could ever use once let alone wear out. Pretty much 40 and 45 also. when I was competing I traded into 4 30 gal drums of brass 2 223 and 2 308 again more than what Id ever use let alone wear out

Out in the shop is just as bad, I have a big box of various big mills for horizontal mills that fit none of my machines,Same with end mills there are some 1 1/2 -2 1/2 in the box. Cemented lathe carbide tools ( right now have a form ground on them 1 1/4" square wont fit my tooling but could be milled down and resharpened. On the stock rack are a lot of small cuts some round 1-2" long and up to 10" in dia. Same with square and rectangle stock, 1-2" long and up to 8" square.

Dad was the same way wehen we took down a fence or building ir was disassembled nails straightened and saved wood that was still good saved.

[Froogal]

If I find it, I pick it up. If I can't find it, I get out the metal detector. If it has been stepped on, or otherwise compromised, I still save it. I even have one piece that I found in our garden. Don't know how long it had been there, but badly deteriorated. Head stamp completely illegible. I THINK it was a .223. A caliber that I have never owned.

[fivegunner]

Yes I`am a Brass Hoarder , It would take more than one pickup to haul away all the brass I have. I don`t want to sell any of it . I have given a bunch away to friends (9mm) (4o S&W) (223). I have aleast 2K or more of brass for each of the gun`s I have. I don`t shoot as much as I did 20 years ago, so I know someday I will have to cut back of what I have. this thread has got me thinking .

[DxieLandMan]

I keep all my brass that I can find and for rimfire, goes in the recycle bucket. All of the other, I save for a rainy day

[Baltimoreed]

Nothing wrong with saving them. Run it through the tumbler, sort by headstamp, bag them in 100/bag and sell them. If they’re split recycle, pull the bullets from others scrap loads. I recycle my .22s too. My bud once told me to stop squeaking. But I say-waste not want not.

[Shawlerbrook]

Trade fodder !

[lightman]

Yup, Guilty here!

[kevin c]

I wanted a 45 ACP. Started saving range pick ups to load for it. Eventually I had so much brass that I sold PART of it and bought one with the proceeds.

Fortunately, most everybody on my range reloads and therefore is on the lookout for brass, so I collect mostly the calibers I shoot and can save my back and limited storage space by leaving the rest. Occasionally I collect and give away brass in calibers I don’t use to my friends who aren’t at the range as often as I am.

[Jtarm]

People get annoyed with me at IDPA matches because I’m busy picking up my brass instead of taping targets.

But I just can’t help it.

[BJK]

If one reloads I'd be willing to bet they collect brass. I even pick up .22 rimfire brass. I figure someday I might need it for bullet jackets.

[Froogal]

I do cowboy action shooting. After each shooter, ALL of the brass is picked up BEFORE the next shooter takes a turn.

[Outer Rondacker]

You guys should all seek help and leave the brass to me.

[Smoke4320]

I see it as doing my part to save the environment .. yea thats it for the environment :)

[beshears]

Bought a new Kimber 38 Super because I had 1,000 rounds of reloads from a pistol I sold 29 years ago.

[todd9.3x57]

i have a plethora of '06 that i'll never use. but i do case reforming, 7,8 and 9.3x57 & 7.65x53 are formed by '06 brass.


i forgot 6.5x55

[tunnug]

Can't help it, nickels, nickels everywhere is what I see, to be traded, reloaded or sold as scrap. All for free no less.

[Chaparral66]

I go to the range to shoot and come home with 3 to 4 times the brass, all pistol caliber. I keep the 9mm, 40 S&W and .45 ACP and bag the rest to put out at the club for free to a good home.
It is not being cheap to pick up brass, it is being frugal.

Cheap: purchasable below the going price or the real value

Frugal: careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to : using money or supplies in a very careful way

[Baltimoreed]

Also a CAS brass picker. What I do but I have run the timer when the usual ro’s were out. It was nice at the last zombie match that I attended as I was the only .45 pcc shooter in my squad everyone was giving me my brass back while policing up their 9mms.

[GONRA]

Polite shooters leave .45 ACP Range Brass for GONRA's 1928 Thompson SMG reloading....

[SeabeeMan]

Absolutely. I tumble all of it and package in easy quantities, stored in rubbermaid totes. When the stash gets big enough it goes on here for sale or trade. Like all things 2A, I figure it's always going to be worth something.

My problem is that as soon as I clear out a caliber I don't have, I suddenly acquire something in that caliber unexpectedly. Case in point: I sold several thousand rounds of 38 Special ammo, along with at least that much brass in the same caliber and 357 Magnum. I pick up my 686 this Thursday and have next to nothing to get going with it.

[MOA]

I got lots of brass and die's that I have no firearm for. To me it's a resource that could very well be very useful in the future. I can always sell it or trade it. It's just chock full of intrinsic value.

[samari46]

I have new brass,dies for 35 remington but nothing to shoot in. As for dies,so many sets that I keep a list on the inside of my die cabinet to remind me not to buy anymore. Keep most of my brass in freezer bags and boxes. Heck I lost nearly 2000 45acp hard cast bullets. Found them at the bottom of my storage shelves. Brass alone would probably fill the bed of my truck. Frank

[Gator 45/70]

Picking up brass is exercise, Real exercise is digging the berm and shifting out the lead, The real exercise is getting it loaded up in the truck.

[ioon44]

People get annoyed with me at IDPA matches because I’m busy picking up my brass instead of taping targets.

But I just can’t help it.

I tape targets then pick up some brass, no need to annoy people.

[WRideout]

The public range where I go has mounds of 9mm, lots of 22RF, and some 40 S&W. The majority is steel and aluminum. I collect them all; the steel and Al go to the scrap yard along with soda cans. The last pistol I purchased I call my "Aluminum Gun" because that's what funded it.

Wayne

[Outer Rondacker]

Just wondering this, am I the only one who has been driving by the gun club or range to stop in and not shoot just to scoop up the brass?

[dverna]

I am too lazy to pick up brass I cannot use. And I am too practical to amass a pile of brass for a caliber I do not need and then buy a gun to use it in.

Year ago, I was buying 9mm and .40 brass for not much more than scrap value. IIRC I was paying $25/k for 9mm delivered. That is about 9 lbs. Scrap was about $2/lb. Not worth the time to sort, and clean range pickups. I think I bought 6-7k once fired cases and that will last me a lifetime.

Makes sense to pickup valuable brass to resell if you have no use for it. Can't see storing it for years.

[gwpercle]

When I started reloading in 1967 I discovered in my town very few reloaded . We had a local free outdoor public pistol range that was never closed or gated shut . I discovered that if I got up early on Sunday morning and went there with my broom and dust pan I could pick up all the brass ...on the concrete and in the trash barrel ...people would shoot revolvers , put empties back into factory box and drop in trash ... semi-auto I swept up . I would fill a 5 gallon bucket every morning .
4 years ago I bought my first new brass ...100 Starline 357 Magnum cases ...just because I had never had new brass with one head stamp and all my 357 brass was wearing out and it was on sale !
I'm a brass hound from way back and hated to come home with less brass than I went with ...
Always felt the need / desire to scrounge more brass !
Gary

[Bakebfr480]

Brass I can’t use I store in 5 gallon buckets till full then I sell it for scrap.

[Jtarm]

I tape targets then pick up some brass, no need to annoy people.

That’s where moon clips pay off.

People actually pick them up for you:-)

[OverMax]

50 yr habit.
Am a member to a shooting club for many many years. I pick up that unwanted brass whenever I feel like. Just one mannerly rule I follow. I wait until the brass's shooter has left the shooting lane/range. No one else interested I grab it. Club managers gave me permission so long as doing doesn't become a problem as I was told.
It amasses me how some others whom I know personally. They leave their once fired brass on the ground all the time. Weatherby cartridge brass I've collect and the usual others. . 257 270 300 some 340 and I don't have a rifle for it. I have 2 or three sterile light storage containers filled. Oh well. "Waste not_want not." lol

[JimB..]

I have components and dies to reload 7mm Rem Mag, 25-06 Rem, 270 Win, 243 Win, 308 Win, 30-30 Win, a handful of 32 caliber pistol rounds, 40 S&W, 357sig, 45GAP, and probably some others. No, I don’t own guns in any of those calibers, although I have owned guns in 30-30 and 308. Generally I have a 50 cal ammo can of brass plus another with dies, projectiles and brass to fill. Doesn’t take much space and everything was obtained almost free from various trades, estate sales, etc.

I’m rationalizing, I’m hoarding this stuff, just organized about it.

[wv109323]

I pick it up. I will try to find a home for it and give it away, helping out a fellow shooter. I went to a pistol match and during the lunch break I gave away .357 Sig, 270 Win., 5.7X28 and some other. I really can not imagine picking up another to load for.
If unusable I throw it in with the scrap brass box.

[brass410]

I pick it up whenever possible, as mentioned before it make great trade fodder, I have aquired the bulk of my reloading equip and supplies thru horsetrades and helping out when things become hard to find. SWMBO just shakes her head and doesnt even ask where stuff comes from anymore (boxes in the mail and such).

[farmbif]

sounds like an outstanding excuse to get some new guns in calibers you dont yet have.

[Walks]

Id rather have brass i cant shoot than guns i cant afford to shoot.

Me Too

Just recently lost My Best Friend, Who was an inveterate brass scrounger. He would pick up any non Cowboy brass on the ground and drop in to My brass "sack" when ever We attended a shoot. Didn't matter if I had a gun in that caliber or not. Got half a 5gal bucket of brass for calibers I've never even owned.

[Scrounge]

i have 10000's of brass in calibers i don't own guns for.

just sittin' in jars.


i see it on the ground at the range aaaaaand i just can't leave it there.

must have at least 40 different calibers....many for rifles i don't own!

i must be odd.

You actually sound normal to me. I pick up brass, wheel weights, and hardware of any sort wherever I find it.

Bill

[FISH4BUGS]

I also pick up every piece of brass left on the ground.
At the range, when people are finishing up, I will ask if they reload and if they don't I will be happy to sweep up for them and take the brass. Few people say no.
I just returned from my indoor range and after a busy day there was a TON of brass in front of the station. people just don't want to bend over to sweep WAAAAAAAAAAAY in there....so I did.
Probably 500 9mm and a few 223.
I don't care - I'll get a different selection next time around.
Over the years I have picked up many calibers that I don't own guns for and saved them.
Trading material or scrap is always an option.
Any day you leave the range with more brass than when you came is a good day.

[Plate plinker]

Guilty here.

[Shanghai Jack]

Yep - and don't even think about leaving a shotgun hull on the ground. Too many to even count in large contractor bags.

[John Crusher]

I gave away 10 5 gallon buckets of brass when I moved.
243, 270,7mm-08, 223, 556, 762x39, 762x51,7.62x54R, 303,308 and 30-06.
I only moved with 2!:p

[Outer Rondacker]

A few years ago, I joined one of the good old boys clubs around here. (fly by night) I would as I do pick up every piece of brass, steel, shot shell you name it. After two months if I missed a few days, they started calling me and asking why I didnt clean the range area. They liked it.
I no longer use that range. Safety is not an option there.

[Wis Tom]

Glad I'm not alone, as my wife informed me I had a problem, when I went from 5gal buckets full of brass, to 55 gallon barrels full. I broke the sickness years ago, but still have 4 barrels that I have not even started to sort. My friend was amazed once, when he said he was thinking of a new rifle, and I walked out of the shop with a jumbo bag of 250 300 WSM, just for him to get started.

[jakharath]

I can quit any time I want!

[lightman]

I save all of my finds up all year and deprime, sort and tumble them after hunting season is over. I save them so I have something to do when its too cold to get out and do anything thats fun. I've been tumbling for 2 weeks and probably have another week ahead.

[MOA]

I do the same. Shoot in warm weather and hold my brass for cleaning and reloading in the winter.

[DocSavage]

I had to stop mainly because I'm running out of room. I don't know how much brass I have for all the calibers I shoot but I do know it's enough for several life times.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I pickup brass and have a lot of brass in many calibers, but I have lotsa guns in lotsa calibers, Did find 16-18 rounds of 7mm Shooting Times out on the antelope sagebrush flats with a couple of the factory plastic ammo carriers. Don't think I will ever bother with one of those. I found three unfired and two fired 30-06 along a logging road. You could see the progressively deeper firing pin impacts on three of them. It was very cold that elk season that high - probably thickened oil in the rifle.

[shooterg]

I pick em all up, except .22. You never know what other cail. Could be made from a bigger one that maybe has a split neck etc. many parent calibers like 30-06 to .308, cut off and redo neck. .223-.556 to .300 black out. And when there worn out just sell for scrap money and buy more lead.

The .22 is good for swaging ! I get it ALL !

[bubbadoyle]

I have two metal ammo cans full of 223 brass. I don’t even have a 223 but I still pick it up at the range if I find it. I do load for 6x45 and 300 blackout so I do have some use for it. I do have several boxes of heavyweight .224 J bullets, so I might just have to build a fast twist 223 ar upper just to shoot them.


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[Duckiller]

Had lots of brass and hulls. Moved 1000 miles. Adult sons limited how much lead I could move. Had sold some hulls here. Got to keep 5 gal buckets full of each color. Still unpacking brass and bullets to determine exactly what I have. Does anyone have any 25/35 Win brass that they would like to trade? Just got an 1899 Model 94 Win and can't find any ammo yet.

[BigAlofPa.]

Im bad for keeping a lot of brass on hand. I sell the nice brass that i have excess of. The stained stuff i keep for loading. Im way ahead on 9mm brass.

[Winger Ed.]

I pick up brass on the ground for the few calibers I load,
and there's no way I'll leave a .45ACP case on the ground.

If I end up with a bunch I don't load for, I'll give them to someone who does.
Like .40S&W- without my glasses, they look a lot like a .45, so I'll pick 'em up and sort them out later.

[oley55]

Besides accurate shooting, a successful day at the range for me includes coming home with more brass than I fired.

[BD]

I am also an addict. I am a crow at heart. I will pick up any shiny object I see on the ground, just in case it is something I could use, someday. I pick up every useable piece of brass larger than .22RF that I find. I live up north surrounded by woods and I know where people go to shoot. I am guilty of going a little out of my way to stop by those spots and pick up brass. I am also an NRA and IDPA RO, and I insist that all brass that is under foot get picked up while the targets are being reset/pasted and returned to the shooter if they want it, (I have seen more than one shooter fall on their butt with a loaded gun while moving through a stage, almost always this results in a DQ, either from dropping the firearm, or breaking the 180 rule). However, I am pragmatic about keeping brass. I keep everything that I shoot, and everything that is generally in circulation, (,.223, 9mm 40mm, .45acp, 3006, .270, 30-30) whether I need it or not. Other stuff I sort and save and then trade it for things I do shoot.
I own enough of everything I shoot to keep me going for the rest of my life, and the hunting rifles through my grandchildren's lives.
Brass isn't making me nervous, primer and powder availability is.

[beezapilot]

9mm and 223 seem to be what .22's were to me back in the day- amazing how much of them I pick up. Personally, don't think much of the .223- but just counted 14 old eight pound powder jugs full of brass for one... ain't gonna count the 9mm containers.

[Outer Rondacker]

ya you got the bug

[sparky45]

I scavenged some puffed up 30-30 (a couple of pieces) and figured out they were 30-30 fire formed to 38-55. Guess what; I have a Marlin I bought new in 1978 that I haven't even shot the original box of ammo I purchased with the rifle and called JES today and the rifle will be on it's way to him this week for a re-bore to 38-55. This is the second time pickin up brass has cost me money.

[Pete44mag]

I save every piece of brass I get my hands on. I also share with other club members or people who are in need. I like to share the wealth.