Bought 5 gallons of range brass today

G

Grey_Lion

New member
I had MUCH higher hopes for finding more .40 S&W in this 5 gallons of brass - but it's 2/3rds 9mm and a mix of other stuff and so far I'm on track to only get 20 pieces of .40 S&W brass out of it :(

I'll clean up the 9mm and .45 for trade - and hopefully find someone local to me to trade for some .40, or some cci 500 primers.
 
Figures your in Texas as i'd make the trade 40S&W for 45 ACP in a heartbeat.

Especially since i sold my pistol for 40S&W.
 
I have often trade brass using flat rate shipping boxes from the post office...even the small boxes, you can pack quite of pistol brass in those suckers, pack them till they bulge on the sides and use a lot of packing tape....we just agree to go by weight of brass not by count, makes it easier.
 
Sunday Shooter said:
Just curious, what did you have to pay for 5 gallons of brass?
Click to expand...
I overpaid at $75 for a bucket of outdoor range brass. I say overpaid as the range picks up brass using a rolling picker so I got water and gravel in the brass. Cleanup is a lot of work as inspect & clear each piece for debris. Indoor brass I typically will pay $80 or more for 5 gallons.

Next comes separation by caliber - then a dry media tumble to remove the worst of it - then de-priming - then a wet media tumble for the final cleaning. Then I'll sort by head-stamp.

Anyone wanting any 9mm , make me a fair offer and we'll talk. I've got some .45 as well and I have some dirty 380 auto that I'll be happy to donate if anyone wants it. If we've got any .223 swagers out there, I've got some 22 LR shells too.
 
Put some dish soapy water in you tumbler, enough to cover bottom 1/3rd of the brass, toss in muddy, dirty range brass, tumble slowly for many revolutions, this will get 90% of smeckle off the brass so you dont waste a batch of media.
 
All my range brass goes in to the sonic cleaner for about 10 to 15 minutes and than I let it dry in the oven. Only than do I pop the primers. For me this insures that my dies do not get scratched or dirty.
 
The indoor range I shoot at I just tell the range officer I want to recover my brass... he just piles all of it up in the corner and lets me pick what I want out of it. Granted, 9mm rules the day... unfortunately, I don't see a lot of .40, I'll pick some up now and then, thinking it's a .45ACP case but by and large I don't see a lot of .40 anymore. I'd probably just find a source for once-fired .40 and be done with it, rather than relying on a bucket of mystery meat for... $80???
 
I'm not a fan of range brass...no tellin' how it was previously loaded nor how many times. I use only once fired brass of my own purchase or from the LEO's that use my farm range. Other than the loss of a few pieces in the long grass there in the meadow, I rarely need to purchase new.

I just checked Jeff Bartlett's "GI brass", and he's getting 6.5 cents a piece for it and once fired too. He's a good guy, honest, and just down the road from me here in KY. Once fired, means ONCE FIRED with him.

YMMV, Rod
 
I saw an ad posted on a local forum. Someone was selling 3000 .40 once fired cases for $30. I responded immediately and grabbed them all that night. Guy told me .40 is a slow mover. He sells 9mm and 45ACP for $35 to $45 per thousand.

All the Best,
D. White
 
Go find a metals reclaimer, Not only will they but scrap metal they will also sell.
Generally the going price for selling is twice the buying price.

I dropped off some scrap last week and they had a 4x4x4 tub 2/3 full of range brass.
Came from local PD and 95% was 40 cal.

Give them a try.
 
Grey Lion,
If you ever make it out to the Midland/Odessa area look me up. I have all kinds of brass on hand.

I hauled 14 five gallon buckets to the recycle yard last weekend. Still have plenty left.
 
Wow, looking at your post on dearth of .40 makes me glad for what I got last week at the range. I was just shooting away with my brass catcher on my hand (shooting new SA 1911). A guy had just arrived and was setting up at the next bench and noticed I was catching most of my brass. He comes over and asks if I reload. I said yes and he asks if I want some brass. I asked what caliber and he said .40 and .45. He then proceeds to get two ammo cans from his truck and says here ya go. He would not take anything for them, or the cans, and said he was happy to get them out of the back of his truck(he said they had been sliding in there for a year). He and his brother were planning on reloading last year, but never got around to it. I sorted them the other day and nearly all were .40 Maybe 60 were .45 and there were even 16 rounds that were still intact. Consider myself lucky.
 
jaguarxk120 recyclers are a good source unless you live in Illinois and are looking for recycled lead to cast with.. In Illinois lead is considered a Hazardous material and the recyclers cannot resell it w/o a HazMat license for the buyer. I found this out while looking for sources of lead to cast with.
 
Gray Lion,

A common problem is .45 Auto shooters being unable to distinguish .40 cal from .45 cal brass at a glance, so a lot of .40 cal goes home with .45 Auto shooters who toss it.

If this is from an indoor range that doesn't allow customers to police their brass, then you've just found a mostly-9mm neighboorhood range.
 
one reason I hand sort my brass before I ever tumble it is to separate the nested shells pulling .380 and 9mm out of the .40 and .40 out of the .45
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top