Bought a gun because you had brass and/or bullets for it?

F

FrankenMauser

New member
The subject comes up from time to time, but I thought now was a good time to hit it again.

Who has bought a gun just because you had brass, bullets, ammunition, etc. for that cartridge?



I'll be the first to admit that I got back into .30-30 due in large part to my substantial stash of .30-30 brass and bullets, and the glut of powders that didn't work out in my .475 Tremor or 6x45mm (but were well-suited for .30-30).

My .480 Ruger came along when it did, largely due to the fact that I had hundreds of bullets that wouldn't work in my .475 Tremor (an AR rifle cartridge - .458 SOCOM necked up). I would have bought a .480 Ruger eventually, but I bought it when I did because I was tired of seeing all of those bullets gather dust. :D

And, for the last month or more, I've been scouring classifieds and auction listings for the perfect donor for my next Marlin 336 project. You see, I made a deal for some .307 Winchester brass and have a (cheap! with a capital exclamation point!) Marlin 336 .30-30 barrel on hand that was reamed to .307 Winchester. I have to build a Marlin 336 in .307 Winchester now.... ;)
 
Years ago, my Dad bought a 22 revolver because he got a good deal on a box of 500 rounds of ammo at a garage sale. :) I think he had been tossing around the idea of getting a 22 for some time anyway - but I'm not actually sure.

I have a couple large coffee cans full of 40 S&W brass. I even prepped, reconditioned, tumbled clean, and got them all ready for reloading. I have a couple 10mm's; so I already had the dies.

I thought about getting a 40 Cal. Probably not going to happen though. Heck, I don't often shoot my 10mm's as it is. Took my Glock 20sf out a couple weeks ago. That was probably the first time this year. Other than 1911's, semi-autos don't excite me much. Recreationally, I much prefer shooting revolvers.
 
When the first big panic came along about '94, guys bought up every 7.62x39mm round in sight,
About 2006 a bunch of that broke loose, a hoarder was losing his home to the sub-prime loan crap and had a 'Fire Sale', I came into about 35,000 rounds & 200 mags real cheap.
Couldn't stand the way an AK shoots, so I built an AR that accepted AK mags.

The ammo wasting crew that shows up from time to time loved it and the old AK.
Let them shoot until they got tired of loading mags, clean up with a magnet...
Berdan primed cases so I wasn't reloading, made for really easy clean up.
 
Many folks would agree that .308 is the preferred caliber for F/TR competition. However, since I was already reloading .223, I decided to build a competition gun in that caliber rather than .308.

It's not optimum, but with careful testing and by reloading with the best components, it's competitive at least where I shoot. Plus it's fun to say "Na Na Na Na Na Na" to the guys shooting .308s.
 
I'm getting a 45acp just because I have about 2,000 once fired for it.

I have the Springfield Range Officer in compact on my list. But a Lab Radar chrono is still at the top of the list.

There goes a lot of money in a hurry!
 
Can't say I have. But I do have a few boxes of 7 and 8mm mauser. Along with dies for 30-06, 444 marlin and 7.62x39 I do have an SKS but nothing that shoots the other two.
 
Remington 03a3

It was 3006 when I purchased it, all the while I knew I had several cases and miscellaneous bullets for .270 win left over from my 110 that I burned the throat out of, so yeah had 03a3 rebarrel ed in .270 win to fill the void...
 
Never could pass up all the 40 sw brass laying all over, and eventually had thousands of it. Liked high powers, bought a .40 to justify having kept the brass and it's chamber had fuller support. Then bought a .40 revolver, just cause it was cheap and had the brass. Finally got .40 xdm, just cause.

The only thing that got me into shooting .40 was all the free brass lying around.
 
Guilty! Bought 500 cases of once fired dirty 308 w/ primers still in so I could neck them down to 7-08. The once fired was cheaper than buying 200 new. I didn't need that many so figured I buy a budget 308 to use the left over cases.
Guilty twice!! Picking up range brass led to a fair amount of 45acp cases. Yep! Got a 1911 in 45acp. I already had the 45acp dies to use when adjusting my LNL pawls as the larger cases in multiple places in the shell plate make for a more precise adjustment.
Guilty of rationalizing!!! Yep!!!!!!
 
I'm sure to blame for the brass buy.

First one I bought due to excessive brass was a 30-06, then a .40, .44 mag and probably a .45 LC sooner or later. I "could" buy a few more as well but I'm trying to be good.:D
 
I've used that as a rationale,,,

I've used that as a rationale,,,
But it's never been the entire reason.

I saw a well used but not abused Charter Arms 3" .44 special for $299.99,,,
I had no use or need for the gun at all,,,
Just a desire to own the dang thing.

I had four boxes of .44 Special to shoot through my 629,,,
I jokingly used the fact that I had some ammo as the justification to buy it.

Aarond

.
 
I had a custom S&W M31 4" 32S&WLONG built because I found one [ 1 !!! ] 32caliber WC bullet in a carton of five hundred 38-148gr-WC ALBERTS bullets. Never regretted it for a second either! Whatta 32LONG sixgun that little booger is, a real money gun !! NEVER...and I do mean NEVER...bet against it.
And so it goes...
 
I Plead Guilty to the Act in both the 1st & 2nd Degree.

A couple of years ago I bought a large bundle of various brass at an estate auction. I could use everything in the bundle except for a large coffee can of .40 S&W brass.

In the First Degree - I hung onto the brass until Sig P229 Police Trade-in's in .40 S&W started hitting the market at ridiculous low prices. Now I own one and have reloaded the coffee can of brass.

In the Second Degree - I bought a new 357 Sig barrel made for the P229 at a good price. Therefore, I had to go out and buy brass and bullets for the new barrel.

In the act of purchasing the .40 S&W brass, I committed the above offenses.
 
In the mid 90s I bought a Norinco Tokerev in 9mm (mostly because it was cheap and I was curious) and of course I picked up some dies, brass, and a few FN+MJ bullets. Didn't particularly care for the 9mm so the gun went into the safe and the components went in the back of the cabinet. 20+ years later I found all the 9mm stuff, and figgered I might give it another try (I didn't see any use for a 9mm as I had revolvers from .22 up to .44 mag. and a couple 45 ACPs which covered any needs that may come up.). Bought an FMX plastic striker fired 9mm, Hmmm, kinda fun. Wound up buying another 9mm, a Ruger LC9s Pro which is a blast to shoot, almost as much fun as my Ruger MkII!

So, yep I bought a gun (actually 2) because I had a bunch of components that needed to be used. I hope that doesn't happen again; I've got 950+ .223/5.56 cases in a box somewhere in the shop....
 
I've got tons of 9mm components left over from years ago including hundreds of nice XTP's, I think I need a Glock 19 to consume them.
 
No... but I'm thinking about buying my dad's neighbors gun because HE has a ton of brass *and* the gun and doesn't shoot it anymore.:p
 
I'm bad. I bought one because a friend gave me a set of dies he didn't want. Never wanted a 25-06 but bought one.
 
Amazingly enough, I have only done this once. I had a commercial M1 Carbine back in the early 90's that was fun but not of much use (seemingly) so I sold it off. Some regret, but it's not exactly eating at me. Anyway, lots of brass and IIRC, maybe 300-400 component bullets.

That little component stash was enough to make me wanna chase down a .30 Carbine Ruger Blackhawk, which I eventually did... maybe a dozen years later.

Right now I have to seriously resist the urge as I have a little collection of .460 Rowland brass and I also have brass & bullets for .41 Mag. Not feeling any urges, but I also know my type haha. ;)
 
My brother gave me a few bore snakes this past christmas, a 30, a 27/28 and a 22. I have been pondering a 270 for a while now, so far I've got the bore snake ;).
 
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