How do I value all of this ammo??

[Idaho45guy]

Finally was able to get the OK from the insurance company to remove all of the equipment and supplies from his reloading room that had heavy smoke and water damage.

Unfortunately he had dozens of RCBS dies and other dies for unusual calibers that are all rusting and ruined. Lot's of brass was saved, and all of the ammo was stored down low in plastic cases, so all appears good, with some just missing the lube.

I removed most of it and there is quite a bit...

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Attachment 314884

So far, around 3000 rounds and none of it factory loaded. Probably another 7-10k of .22LR rounds.

I can use much of the ammo since I also have the rifles it is for, such as the .50-90 Sharps, 6.5-.284 Norma, .45-70, etc.

But the hundreds of rounds of .38-65 and .45-90, I have no use for. All of it BPCR and Scheutzen match ammo that he meticulously loaded. Pretty sure most have the exact recipe written on the inside of the box.

I know people shy away from shooing other's reloads, but these are BP loads. Kinda' hard to overcharge them. Or, are they just worth whatever the components are once broken down?

I'd gladly ship them to members here, but it's ammo and I believe I can't do that.

But there was also a ton of brass in unusual calibers like 44-40 Winchester and .38-65, etc. that should all be good. I'm only keeping ammo and components for calibers I currently have, which in BPCR is the .45-70 and .50-90.

So, neighbors are saying I should get a table at a gun show for the ammo and all of the weird little knick-knacks like scope rings and Pedersoli sights, etc.

[Winger Ed.]

You'll need to do a fair amount of research to find the value of a lot of that.

For loaded ammo, I doubt you could sell it at all.
I don't know anyone that would buy ammo from somebody they didn't know--- if then.

The key word for the dies is 'ruined'
For the ammo- It doesn't go bad, and you're still fairly young. I'd shoot it.
For the odd ball cal.--- you 'need' to buy guns that chamber it, and shoot that stuff up too.

Otherwise, break it down and salvage it out as best ya can.
Sell the brass and ingots from melted down/pulled boolits, save the powder and primers for yourself.

[dverna]

I agree with Winger Ed.

If you decide to sell it, there are legal issues with selling reloads. There is also a potential liabilty issue if someone does something stupid and gets hurt. IMO, not worth the risk.

I would break it down. Keep the powder if it looks good, and sell the primed cases you do not want. The rare stuff should sell well on this forum, and you can ship primed cases UPS and FedEx IIRC.

Selling odds and ends at a gun show can be a frustrating waste of time. I have had better success using eBay or selling stuff here.

Good luck.

[JimB..]

Loaded can be shipped via UPS. It must originate at one of their facilities (not a UPS store) and the box needs to have the black and white diamond on it, can be a sticker, a printed piece pf paper, or even drawn with a marker. There is no premium for shipping ammo, just the usual size and weight.

For liability reasons, I’d sell it only with the documented understanding that you didn’t load it, don’t know if the notes represent the load data, and that the buyer agrees to pull it all down for components and not shoot any of it.

For the rusting and ruined dies, pretty easy to value them. I’d toss some in evapo-rust and see if that plus a little polishing makes them usable. Only for fairly uncommon dies of course. RCBS has been known to replace things like stems and rings, worth asking.

Good luck in this difficult time.

[Chill Wills]

38-65 or 38-56? Transposed the number?

Give me a PM if you want. I knew your dad. Not well, but for about 20 years. He came to the American Creedmoor Cup matches I put on at the Ben Avery range. We both attended many other of the same matches like the nationals at Raton. The dies may be past use but there may be something in there that can be used.

[Dave T]

I know a couple guys who would be interested in the 44-40 (properly 44 WCF) brass. PM me with how much you have and what you want for it. Maybe we can do business or I can find a couple buyers for you.

Dave

[Idaho45guy]

I am still a bit from properly inventorying and cataloging everything to see what can be saved.

The ammo is out, as are most of the bullets. Still need to get all of the dies and pick ones I have rifles for and see if they can be saved. Will be weeks since work only gave me 5 days off for bereavement, and now we are working OT and mandatory Saturdays. So, very little time to sort anything.

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[Winger Ed.]

very little time to sort anything.

Wow.
I'm retired, and that would take me about a year to plow through.

Not to be a wet blanket, but being busier than a cat in the sand box like you are--- it's ahhhh,, a rather formidable project to say the least.

[Tall]

Those rusting dies can be saved. Just let them sit in Evaporust overnight. Sold at every Harbor Freight outlet and biodegradable.

[15meter]

I suspect I'm going to be asked to take on a similar task shortly with a large amount of reloads. I have a close friend in the hospital with pancreatic cancer. I don't expect him to come out. His kids are hunters not shooters with apparently no interest in safari hunting. My buddy made it to Africa 8 times, the most recent trip just 3 weeks ago. He has a large number of african caliber rifles that I have loaded a massive amount of ammo for. I suspect that I'm going to be asked what to do with the ammo. I'm leaning towards telling the sons that I want the reloads back so I can disassemble them.

I do not want them sold with the rifles. The liability scares the bageebies out of me. My buddy trusted my reloads. And I trusted my buddy to not blow himself up. We generally shot together, we'd have a doubles day where he brought nothing but double rifles, or a bolt gun day. I don't trust a rummie(or his wife) from 12 states away not suing me when he screws up and blows up a gun.

It sucks to have to dispose of that much stuff.

Good luck.

[Rockindaddy]

Sell the black powder loaded ammo. You can't overload black powder. Ship the BP loaded ammo via FedEx but you must put an ammo sticker on the package. Use a soft wire carding wheel on the reloading dies and use a wooden dowel with a slot cut lengthwise. Use 0000 steel wool and use keroscene on the steel wool to burnish the inside of the reloading dies with a slow running drill. Contact RCBS and tell them you had a fire and your die boxes got damaged. They sent me new cases for free when I had a shop fire. RCBS is a good company!!

[Teddy (punchie)]

Most of your reloads can be sold. At least the auctions around me do. I'm like I'll never trust some people and others I do. Shots shells just look at them. I have no problem buying them if reload data is there and they look good. Some guys just shouldn't be reloading and if you know what to look for you can tell.

There reloads look like my 3" 20 gauge reloads just not very pretty, folds not correct and hulls on the puffy side. Looked like a newbie made them.

I look for the data. Next is where did it come from? What type of history some reloads are better then the factory some are not.

All this said I have seen, talked to and witnessed some re loaders and shooters I wouldn't be at the same range with let alone shoot their reloads.

Just today going over some range brass, older brass 9mm found some funny looking reloads?? primer not fired. Looking closer I see that some type of load, bullet is in the end like a wad-cutter I'm like that's odd. So lay them off to the side as I looking for cull brass, too dirty, or split etc. I find a bullet, so what someone did was load these copper bullets upside down; in all I found 4 of the loaded ?? brass.

I'm funny about brass I check and look at every piece, I'm like a lady knitting but I check brass and clean it in the evenings/ watching a movie or Just want something to do . Then check it again. Lightly oil and mark for storage.

Lets face it some factory ammo is just range spray other reloads are tack drivers so are the reloaded ammo. One fact I think 95 % of the re loaders are great people and know what they are doing. Other 5 percent that you have to find out and watch for.

I also watch what firearm I'm using. A Good 98 is a sound beast and can handle just about anything. 30-40 or the like with a weaker action I would not shoot just anything from just anyone. Like 12 gauge we have a 870 we test ?? ammo in.

Knowledge is power. Be smart, wise and Safe!!

[Teddy (punchie)]

I am still a bit from properly inventorying and cataloging everything to see what can be saved.

The ammo is out, as are most of the bullets. Still need to get all of the dies and pick ones I have rifles for and see if they can be saved. Will be weeks since work only gave me 5 days off for bereavement, and now we are working OT and mandatory Saturdays. So, very little time to sort anything.

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Light oil is your friend, I use cooking oil or mineral oil. Coat every thing that can rust or tarnish. Work on them later.

Room didn't get that hot, paper would have been gone and labels or at least the edges.

Keep telling buddies water and heat make steam that what you need to worry about.

[beemer]

I know I can't say much that will help but I do know you are going through a difficult time. Take care of yourself.

I have a dear friend that had a shop fire and lost not all but a good bit of his reloading stuff, firearms and tools. He is in his 80's and had the shop since the 1960's, it was hard to deal with. I cleaned up several guns and a lot of other reloading stuff that could be saved. The hardest thing to deal with is rust. With the fire and water rust happens fast. The best thing to do is put all you can as quick can in a bucket of oil or at least a good coat. This will save it till you can take care of it.

I understand this can be over whelming, best wishes.

[atr]

I recently had to dispose of a lot of hand-loaded ammunition. I didn't sell it but called the sheriffs department and they took all of it without question.

[Idaho45guy]

My dad was a subcontractor for Buffalo Arms and produced thousands of bullets for them over the years. I don't know if he made BPCR match ammo for them or not, but it would not surprise me if he did. His match ammo is of the highest quality, having won dozens of matches and state championships over the years.

I will save all of the dies and get them soaking ASAP. I'm thinking a 5-gallon bucket full of oil or something to stop the rust for most of the dies, then a gallon of that evaporust stuff to soak a couple of die sets at a time in for a couple days.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!

[Tall]

You don't need to put any of it in oil first. Just put the dies in Evaporust. The rust will be gone overnight. Then, after rinsing with water and drying, spray each of them with some motorcycle chain lube - LPS 3 is a version of it with a combination of oil and wax.

[15meter]

My dad was a subcontractor for Buffalo Arms and produced thousands of bullets for them over the years. I don't know if he made BPCR match ammo for them or not, but it would not surprise me if he did. His match ammo is of the highest quality, having won dozens of matches and state championships over the years.

I will save all of the dies and get them soaking ASAP. I'm thinking a 5-gallon bucket full of oil or something to stop the rust for most of the dies, then a gallon of that evaporust stuff to soak a couple of die sets at a time in for a couple days.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!

Cheapest is probably diesel fuel. On the farm, every fall we took a garden sprayer with diesel oil in it and sprayed the mold board plows, the disks, the openers on the corn planter and the grain drill. Every spring it took a good 10 yards in the ground to have bright shine equipment again.

[deces]

Ammo loaded by Dad, priceless.

[Baltimoreed]

I’ve broken down a bunch of cf and sg ammo loaded by a guy that I didn’t know that I got thirdhand. I was given 45acp reloads that a bullseye shooter friend loaded that I shot without any problems. Makes a difference. While I’ve reloaded ammo for a couple close friends I would NOT SELL a reload, even the ones that I loaded. My suggestion would be to bite the bullet, pun intended and break them down, save or sell the components. Sounds like he had a lot of unique ammo and brass which while being worth more might be harder to move.