What would you pay for brass

[Dillon]

How much would you pay for a 35 gallon drum of brass? I have a source that i can get one for $175. I have a way to sort the brass rather easily but do you guys have any clue to how many rounds that would be? I shoot a thousand or so rounds a month at least and i figure i can sell the calibers i dont use. and how much is a fair price?

[MT Gianni]

9mm 2 cents each, 45 auto 3 cents, 40 S&W 2 cents, 35 Whelen stamped 30 cents, 358 Win the same. Verifiable once fired 223/5.56, 308 30-06 20 cents all if I needed it. I have not needed brass for a long time though.

[yarro]

The going rate for .380 around 3 cents, 9mm and .40 S&W right now is around a nickle, .45ACP is around a dime. 5.56 a dime, 7.62Nato adn .30-06 are 15 cents. Misc rifle cases are 20 cents and up.

Some possibles for what you pay:

1750 non-scrap cases per gallon = 2.9 cents each. 61,250 cases
1500 non-scrap cases per gallon = 3.3 cents each. 52,500 cases
1250 non-scrap cases per gallon = 4.0 cents each. 43,750 cases
1000 non-scrap cases per gallon = 5.0 cents each. 35,000 cases

The number of cases per gallon depend on what kind of case it is. If it was all 7.62NATO, you would have around 80-90k cases (I keep mine in 5 gallon bucket and I think that it is around 2.5k/bucket). You can get ~4x of that if it was all 9mm. ~2.5x if it was .45ACP Sometimes you get a .45ACP with a .40 in it that has a 9mm in it that has a .32 ACP in it all in the space of a .45. If it is all brass and not a mix of brass, steel, and aluminum then your scrap rate will only be from stepped on an berdan cases, which can be sold to the scrap dealer at some point. It there is a lot of steel case and aluminum stuff mixed in then it may not be a good deal.

If it was all brass case, I would jump on it cause you can't really lose. If it was just range sweeps with no magnet cull then I would have to look at it first and dig through the top layer to seeit it was worth it and hope that they didn't load the bottom with steel cased empties.

-yarro

[Firebricker]

I'm not sure on price but you would have to factor the source. If it came from a range should be mostly once fired IMO. Most reloaders only leave brass when its flat wore out then its easy to identify. Another question would be is there any rifle brass in the lot. If you can check with Housedad he can tell you alot abought this since he bought a drum full and sold a lot.
FB

[RP]

It depends alot of whats in the barrel and who its coming from the police range brass I got was mostly 40s and I paid scrape price for it and took all of it which filled up the back of a F150 in trashcans. Sold alot of it here at low prices to get my money back and pass along the deal I got. I could have double or tripled my investment but thats not why I got it.

[evan price]

It depends on what the brass is.

If it's mostly rimfire and berdan it's worth scrap brass price.

I sort the bulk brass by size. I have not bothered tumbling and final sorting anything 40 S&W or smaller in six months, there's no money in it. It's all in 5-gallon buckets, dirty, until I get a-round-toit. I know there's .380 mixed in there but to find them I have to tumble and sort all of it and I don't want to bother right now even though 380 is worth money.

I have full buckets of shiny 9mm and 40 and so far this year I sold 4000 40 S&W at 3 cents each shipped and 4000 9mm at 2.5 cents shipped, no takers at any other price, so it's better for me to not bother messing with them in case the scrap market jumps, it's more profitable to me and my time to scrap it without wasting time and energy cleaning and sorting.

9mm& 40S&W are 3 cents. 38 spl 4 cents. 357 sig 5 cents. 45 acp/223 6 cents. 380, 32 long, 10mm 8 cents. 357 mag, mixed 308 and 30-06 10 cents. 45 colt, 44 mag/spl, nice 308, 243, 22-250, 30-06, 25-06, 270, and all the variants etc 15 cents.

Last 55-gallon drum I bought I paid $1.95 a pound for, it was all pre-sorted large caliber, no junk, no 9mm or 40. iirc I paid $1600 for that drum.

The police range brass I get I pay prevailing scrap price for it which iirc is $1.25/lb today.

[Edubya]

Dillon, you might check with your local gun shops to see what they charge and what they would give for them. You could base your price on those numbers. The $175 sounds like a pretty good deal, especially if it's from the police range. Do your police carry .45 or .40? That would be a determining factor. Have you looked at the contents or is it a "pig in a poke" thing?

EW

[jmorris]

If you would like to know how many rounds of brass you have lying around, as I did, you can use the information below. If anyone wants to count them out to see how close my calculations are let me know what you find out.

9mm, 59.46gr/ea, 117.7cases/#, 8.5#/1000

38spl, 68.06gr/ea, 102.8cases/#, 9.7#/1000

40s&w, 70.1gr/ea, 99.9cases/#, 10#/1000

.357mag, 78.3gr/ea, 89.4cases/#, 11.2#/1000

.45acp, 89.58gr/ea, 78.1cases/#, 12.8#/1000

.223, 95.28gr/ea , 73.5cases/#, 13.6#/1000

.44mag, 114.38gr/ea, 61.2cases/#, 16.3#/1000

50bmg, 865.26gr/ea, 8.1cases/#, 123.5#/1000

All weights are uncleaned fired cases with the primer remaining.

Individual case weights were derived using an average of mixed brass weights (except 50bmg)

So, if you picked up 8#s of 45 brass: 8# X 78.1cases/# = 625 cases+/-

If you use 1gal ziploc freezer bags to store your brass, each (full) bag contains:

9mm, 15.6#, 1836cases
40s&w, 12.2#, 1219cases
45acp, 11.4#, 890cases
223, 11#, 809cases

If you use 5gal buckets each full one will have

9MM = 8500-9000 pieces
.40 S&W = 7000-7500 pieces
.45 ACP = 3800-4000 pieces

a few more


CASES per POUND:

.380: 145
.357 Sig: 96
.45 GAP: 86
.32: 168
10mm: 96
FN 5.7: 124
.25 acp: 260
.30 Luger: 120
.38 S&W: 120
.38 Super: 104
9mm MAK: 124
.45 Colt: 60
.30-M1: 100
.308: 40
.30-06: 35
7.62x39: 54
.50 AE: 48
.30-30: 52

Here are the last prices I have seen

9MM=$225.00 .40 S&W=$210.00 .45ACP=$200.00 .38 Special=$200.00

All brass comes in 5 gallon buckets. All numbers below approximate but close.

9MM = 8500-9000 pieces
.40 S&W = 7000-7500 pieces
.45 ACP = 3800-4000 pieces
.38 Special = 4000+ pieces

[mike in co]

How much would you pay for a 35 gallon drum of brass? I have a source that i can get one for $175. I have a way to sort the brass rather easily but do you guys have any clue to how many rounds that would be? I shoot a thousand or so rounds a month at least and i figure i can sell the calibers i dont use. and how much is a fair price?

35 gallons is aprox 7 5 gal buckets
a 5 gal bucket of brass is about 65 lbs less if rifle is encluded.
7 x 65 is 450 lbs...that is about 40 cents a lb and scrap is over 1.50/lb

do the math, call your scrap yard....

all else is profit

[Dillon]

yeah i got it from there and it ended up being a lot of steel cases, about 20 lbs of it once sorted, but still a win because they let me get 8 buckets full. there are tons of .308 .270 and .30-06 brass. It ended up being a great deal since my gun shop said i could put it up for sale in his shop and he said he only wanted 5% of my profit. And they said I can come back at the end of the month and they would have more. so this might get to be a regular thing. im not complaining since i could sell it for scrap and still make a profit. I will just try to get a what i paid for it and a little more for my time, but i did skim about 15,000 for my own use and that will last me at least till the end of the month. ;-)

[Shiloh]

9mm 2 cents each, 45 auto 3 cents, 40 S&W 2 cents, 35 Whelen stamped 30 cents, 358 Win the same. Verifiable once fired 223/5.56, 308 30-06 20 cents all if I needed it. I have not needed brass for a long time though.

Good point about VERIFIABLE once fired brass.
I've seen some rough looking "once fired" brass.
Complete with multiple dinged .30-06 rims from M-1 Garands.

Shiloh

[mike in co]

Good point about VERIFIABLE once fired brass.
I've seen some rough looking "once fired" brass.
Complete with multiple dinged .30-06 rims from M-1 Garands.

Shiloh

well heck since we were asked...here is what i sell brass for locally at gunshows.
380 200/10......05 each( down from .10 each)
38 spcl 300/15 ....0.05 each
9mm 500/$20.....04 each
357 sig 500/25
357 mag 100/10-15.....so 10 15 each
40sw 500/25.....05 each
44 mag 100/10-12 ....10 12 each
45acp 500/29.....0.058 each
45 colt 100/12-15....0.12-0.15 each
308 15.17 each
3006 12-15 each
223 0.07 each
belted mag about 14/15 cents each sorted by head stamp.

once fired indoor brass
its all about supply and demand

no i do not ship

mike in co

[mister gizmo]

I've sold my share here over the past 4 - 5 years and I'm pretty much in agreement with Mike in Aurora on his selling prices within a penny on most of his calibers, except for a couple.

I'm getting 8 cents each delivered for once-fired .380 acp and 4 cents each for .223 (plus shipping).

And believe it or don't, some listmembers are paying 2 cents each for the small primer .45 acp from Speer, Winchester and Remington. They just reload with small pistol or rifle primers.

[ktw]

9mm 2 cents each, 45 auto 3 cents, 40 S&W 2 cents, 35 Whelen stamped 30 cents, 358 Win the same. Verifiable once fired 223/5.56, 308 30-06 20 cents all if I needed it. I have not needed brass for a long time though.

These seem pretty close to what I see at the local gun shows, plus

38 special .. 3 cents
357 Mag ... 5-6 cents
30-30 ....... 8 cents
270/30/06 .. 9-10 cents

I'm fairly well stocked up, but when I need some I don't have much problem finding it at those price points.

The less common stuff (45 Colt, 38-55, 32 H&R Mag), I don't bother looking for used brass, I just buy new from Starline.

-ktw

[mike in co]

I've sold my share here over the past 4 - 5 years and I'm pretty much in agreement with Mike in Aurora on his selling prices within a penny on most of his calibers, except for a couple.

I'm getting 8 cents each delivered for once-fired .380 acp and 4 cents each for .223 (plus shipping).

And believe it or don't, some listmembers are paying 2 cents each for the small primer .45 acp from Speer, Winchester and Remington. They just reload with small pistol or rifle primers.

i was getting 10 a pc on 380...right up till rem or win relased a bunch of new primed at 14 each....

if that supply disappears mine will go back up,,,,but for now, i'm just giving them away...sorta.
and my supply of 223/5.56 has been cut...so i sell a bit higher...but again mine is once fired....

mike in co