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Thread: anyone else a chronic "saver" of brass?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    anyone else a chronic "saver" of brass?

    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.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    Amen brother.

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

    762
    Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
    My amendment can beat up your amendment.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master BNE's Avatar
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    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
    I'm a Happy Clinger.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master RKJ's Avatar
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    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.

  5. #5
    Moderator Emeritus


    MrWolf's Avatar
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    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.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master bedbugbilly's Avatar
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    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.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    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
    Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207

    “There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    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 strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government..... When the people fear their government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Thomas Jefferson

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
    zarrinvz24's Avatar
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    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.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master

    Beagle333's Avatar
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    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.
    KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy

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    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.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master

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    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.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master

    fivegunner's Avatar
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    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 .

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy


    DxieLandMan's Avatar
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    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

  16. #16
    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    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.
    Last edited by Baltimoreed; 01-04-2022 at 03:20 PM.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master Shawlerbrook's Avatar
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    Trade fodder !

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Yup, Guilty here!

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    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.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check