Brass everywhere

U

Unique

New member
I live in central Texas and picked brass at my local outdoor gun range for the last 35 years. Kinda weird the last couple years it was getting hard to find very much brass but maybe the last 3 months everyone is leaving brass on the ground.
I thought with as hard to find components as it’s been more people would start getting into reloading but I don’t really think that’s the case.
Now I go about 2-3 times a week just to bust a few rounds but mainly to pick up what’s left.
I do have my own rifle and pistol range in my yard so I just enjoy the free brass, free exercise and plus it’s only 9 miles from my house.
What about y’all, y’all finding brass laying around too at y’all’s ranges ???
 
Yes more people are shooting again and ammo is more available again. Still not cheap, but available. I would chalk it up to people shooting more frequently once again.


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Might be a factor of the new first time gun owners going out to shoot a box of ammunition just because they want to see that the gun works and they're not into reloading (yet)...but this is just speculation on my part.
 
I only visit the range once every couple of months. I find lots of 223, 9mm, and 40 SW with a little 45 ACP thrown in. I always pick up my brass and often come home with more than I fired. Don’t see many other calibers on the ground besides 22LR.
 
Getting into reloading is tough with the primer shortage and extremely high prices, so a lot of people aren't doing it as quickly as they would in times of plenty.
 
1984 (The year, not the novel)

Back in 1984, when I first started loading, when I needed brass, I'd just go to the range with a coffee can and fill 'er up. I went to a range that had sloppy rules and patrons. Brass was everywhere and nobody cleaned up after themselves.

Most of it was 38 Special; some of it was 357 Magnum; a few were 9mm; and a few less were 45 ACP. Anything else was quite rare. Fortunately for me, I was loading 38/357.

Those were the days.

Moving to modern day: I tell all new shooters that I meet to save their brass - even if they never intend to load their own. At some level, all brass is valuable. Potentially, quite valuable.
 
I took 112 lbs of brass to the recycle dealer in town on 12/30 and collected $299.04 @ $2.67 a pound. No one wanted de-primed, water tumbled brass at bargain basement prices so I just sell for scrap these days.

Bill
 
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My brass is free, so it’s no big loss to leave it behind.
I could take it to the recycler but they fingerprint and photograph you and scan your drivers license….it’s almost like getting booked into jail. Screw that….
 
take it to the recycler but they fingerprint and photograph you and scan your drivers license….
Click to expand...

Goodness. Do you think they could possibly do that for catalytic converters too?

Minor rant. For all I know they actually do such checks.
 
I shoot at a very nice indoor range. Every now and then, I'll see a fellow reloader who's collecting his brass. But, that's very rare, especially among the younger shooters.

The RSO's routinely come by with a floor squeegee and move the brass out onto the range. They know that I pick up my brass, so they'll often ask me what I'm shooting and move it into piles close to my shooting station for me to pick up.

I could pick up buckets of 9mm brass every time that I'm at the range, but I already have buckets of 9mm brass.

I wish that more folks shot .357, .44 Mag and .45 Colt. I'd like to find more of that. :)
 
I've seen the same thing. Even people that were shooting factory would carry it away. Clearly not reloaders.

Maybe they read about it and thought big bucks?
 
I went to the range today. Nothing remaining by 22lr, 22mag, and some steel cased.

I recently purchased some 44spl and 44mg once fired brass, company buys from indoor ranges. I was surprised at the ammount of starline in both batches.
 
This sounds a whole lot like fur buyers, back when furs were actually worth something. My hunting partner and I finally came up with a formula: the further you were from wherever the ''top'' prices were, the higher they were. So, seeing the great price for scrap brass, I checked our local scrap buyer: $1.20/lb. IF you can get $2.67/lb, more power to you, and I wish shipping wasn't so expensive, as I'd ship mine there.
 
Went to the range again today. I picked up maybe 300 pieces of 9 mm, approximately 200 .223’s and a handful of 45’s.
If I go every 3 days or so it’s been like that recently.
Other day I picked up maybe 200 380’s which I am loaded some today after testing yesterday and day before.
 
Shadow9mm,

Starline revolver brass left behind? My first reaction on hearing this was surprise, as you described. You'd think only a reloader is likely to have it in the first place, and no reloader will abandon it. Especially not from a revolver, for which retrieval is as easy as keeping a paper bag on your bench. I am wondering if some small reloading operation or a club bought Starline for its handloads and sold the finished loads. I can't think of any other reason for it, offhand.
 
Unclenick said:
Shadow9mm,

Starline revolver brass left behind? My first reaction on hearing this was surprise, as you described. You'd think only a reloader is likely to have it in the first place, and no reloader will abandon it. Especially not from a revolver, for which retrieval is as easy as keeping a paper bag on your bench. I am wondering if some small reloading operation or a club bought Starline for its handloads and sold the finished loads. I can't think of any other reason for it, offhand.
Click to expand...
Yeah, It seemed odd to me as well. Out of the 500pcs of 44sp I have pulled over 100pcs of starline so far and that was just a quick pick through.

I had a couple thoughts.
1st was a new loader who did not know any better and I just got lucky.
2nd was it was a lever gun and they got tossed to far out.
3rd was they tossed them cause they had been fired too many times. Based on how crisp the head stamps look though, I find this unlikely.
4th, was someone who had loads made for them or bought reloads at a gun show but does not reload themselves and just left them.
 
Not finding anything at my local range since around September. Once plentiful has turned to zero. Maybe some shooters are hording everything or maybe reselling during these difficult times?
 
Went to the range yesterday, and I remembered the cops had been there the day before. I found over a thousand of their 308 nickel plated, 9mm and 223 brass. They didn't bother picking it up because there was about 4 inches of snow that they melted down into.
I wanted to get it, but majority of it was visible, but mostly all frozen into the snow. So, no luck bringing any home, I wasn't about to try and chip the ice and dig them out.
 
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