On a more lighter note, I've been only handloading for about 3 years now and I also belong to a large gun club. In the beginning it was all about just shooting. Then I got into handloading, and I found myself first "all about shooting" then walking the range for brass. Now I seem to be all about shooting half the time and then visiting all the various ranges for brass...God help me if my next step is going to the range not to shoot but to just scrounge for brass...Have NO desire to sell the brass, I think I've become a brass hoarder ?? LOL Your comments welcome !
Do you find yourself excited when you see free brass in the dirt ?
- Thread starter Road_Clam
- Start date
I must admit, if I see someone shooting new commercial .223 or new .45acp and it looks as if they are going to leave it, I do keep an eye on them. If they pack up and leave it behind, I'm usually picking it up before the engine gets started on their vehicle. But walking up and down a shooting line, no I don't do that.
I have more 9mm brass than a person could ever need, so I don't bother with that, I just pick up what I shot of my own. I also reload 7mmSTW. If someone left that behind, I'd think I'd have won the lotto, but that's never happened.
I have more 9mm brass than a person could ever need, so I don't bother with that, I just pick up what I shot of my own. I also reload 7mmSTW. If someone left that behind, I'd think I'd have won the lotto, but that's never happened.
mikejonestkd
New member
At our local conservation club members need to police their own brass and put in in bins- one for steel cases, one for 17HMR and 22LR, one for pistol brass and one for rifle brass.
I have more brass than I'll ever need, but I still poke through the bins every trip, just in case...
I have more brass than I'll ever need, but I still poke through the bins every trip, just in case...
Road_Clam, I always ask about brass at the range, for the most part the answer is universal. If the brass is left by another shooter the brass belongs to the range. I always ask about containers, I do not haul ammo to the range in baggies.
If someone is shooting next to me and the shooter is not a reloader I am allowed to make a deal, I have never found it necessary to exchange money. That ammo always come with the box the ammo came in.
And then there comes that time when an individual become know as a reloader that uses/needs brass. On occasions I will get a call informing me someone wants to sell brass, sight unseen for a price. When this happens I take the time to make arrangements to determine value. I do not have regrets.
Then there are iron and metal yards. A great source to tin/lead, lead and brass. I have purchased brass in 5 gallon and larger buckets. I have no ideal how belts of 30/06 ammo can make it to an iron and metal yard/recycler, I thought it was a good source of components and there is nothing like starting with a new unfired case.
F. Guffey
If someone is shooting next to me and the shooter is not a reloader I am allowed to make a deal, I have never found it necessary to exchange money. That ammo always come with the box the ammo came in.
And then there comes that time when an individual become know as a reloader that uses/needs brass. On occasions I will get a call informing me someone wants to sell brass, sight unseen for a price. When this happens I take the time to make arrangements to determine value. I do not have regrets.
Then there are iron and metal yards. A great source to tin/lead, lead and brass. I have purchased brass in 5 gallon and larger buckets. I have no ideal how belts of 30/06 ammo can make it to an iron and metal yard/recycler, I thought it was a good source of components and there is nothing like starting with a new unfired case.
F. Guffey
About 5 years ago you could find brass all over the ground at the range I shoot at, today that is not so. When someone is shooting next to me I always ask if they are keeping their brass and if not I recover their empty cases. Most shooters I find today keep their brass even if they do not reload. If you ask before picking up the brass, often the non-reloader will hand you the brass around their shooting station.
Jim
Jim
I'd say that 75% of shooters at my club just leave their brass on the ground. I find a lot of brass beyond the firing line so my guess is that most shooters can't be bothered with calling the line "cold" to police their brass. I tend to visit my club during late day hours and most of the time the line is empty and I'm the only shooter. Many shooters whom I've befriended at my range actually give me their brass. I always return the gesture by giving the shooter a few of my "match" handloads and say "try these and see if your rifle likes them". By far the most popular spent brass I find is .223 and 9mm. I don't shoot 9mm but I do shoot .40S&W and I find a good amount of .40 brass as well. I have recovered about 1500 pcs of .223 and probably 600 pcs of .40 . I find a good amount of -06 brass as well especially after we host an antique military match.
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excaliber551
New member
Most of the shooters at my range reload so they carefully extract and put their cases away safely. I do see some 45 acp from time to time and pick it up.
4runnerman
New member
Road Clam- I have been doing it for about 5 or 6 years now. Let me give you a warning-Stop while you still can. It has become an obsession for me now. I can't walk pass a piece of Brass anymore. I sell everything I don't load for. Everytime I go to the range now a plastic bag comes with me. I shoot 5 or 6 shots, pick up brass, shoot 5 or 6 more, Pick up brass. It's a viscous circle. No one at the range I go to except reloaders picks up there brass. I sit and watch, all brand new once fired brass by the hundreds. Most days I will come home with 15 to 25 Lbs of brass.
Gravedigger56
New member
Unfortunately, we are required to remove all of our brass when finished at the range so yes, I do get excited when I find a small cache of brass someone forgot to clean up.
When I attended the Sig Saur Academy's "reach for a thousand" instructional class I was astounded at the amount of brass left in the dirt at all their ranges, I mean the ground was a sea of .223 and .308 brass ! I asked my instructor if it was ok to pick up brass when the ranges were cold, and he replied "absolutely". I went home at the end of the day with about 400 pcs of varied LC .223 and FGMM .308 brass ! HUGE score !
madmo44mag
New member
There is no other way to say this.
I am a brass whore!!!!
I ask first and pick up second.
If there is free brass to be had I want it even if it is not in a caliber I load.
Brass I do not load I use as trading fodder.
I always ask those shooting around me if they save their brass. If they do I do my best not to collect up any of their brass.
Some of my shooting buddies claim it is a sickness because they don't reload but now collect brass for me.
I am a brass whore!!!!
I ask first and pick up second.
If there is free brass to be had I want it even if it is not in a caliber I load.
Brass I do not load I use as trading fodder.
I always ask those shooting around me if they save their brass. If they do I do my best not to collect up any of their brass.
Some of my shooting buddies claim it is a sickness because they don't reload but now collect brass for me.
I have more brass for the two dozen or so calibers I reload, along with a few other calibers I don't even own a gun for, than I'll be able to use in 10 lifetimes. I still pick up discarded brass every chance I get, just as I did as a kid over 50 years ago. Can't help myself - old habits die hard.
4runnerman
New member
Hit the range this morning to try my new Barrel out. Sweeeeeet shooting for sure. It has been a very windy week here so Brass was not to good today. I did still manage to get about 10lbs of 9MMM,45 ACP, and 223 brass though.
I once got 8 gallons of 223 brass for $62 at a gun show.
All brands all conditions. Some looked like it was new, some looked like it had been in the dirt for a season. Most in between.
I processed it while watching TV; cleaned, sized, primed.
I loaded some of it 35 gr Vmax moly 15 gr Blue Dot ~ 35k psi ~ 3500 fps.
I gave some to a guy who another friend ran out of ammo and took some from him, and one of those rounds blew up in a Rem700. His eye was injured and they sought medical treatment.
I have the case. Consensus seems to be it was not an overload nor a gun failure, but a case failure.
The guy's eye is better, and now he will only shoot new Winchester 223 brass.
When I shoot rodents with a 223, I am now wearing safety glasses.
I wear safety glasses while target practicing big game rifles, but I hunt big game without safety glasses.
When I see brass in the dirt, I think about my friend's eye.
All brands all conditions. Some looked like it was new, some looked like it had been in the dirt for a season. Most in between.
I processed it while watching TV; cleaned, sized, primed.
I loaded some of it 35 gr Vmax moly 15 gr Blue Dot ~ 35k psi ~ 3500 fps.
I gave some to a guy who another friend ran out of ammo and took some from him, and one of those rounds blew up in a Rem700. His eye was injured and they sought medical treatment.
I have the case. Consensus seems to be it was not an overload nor a gun failure, but a case failure.
The guy's eye is better, and now he will only shoot new Winchester 223 brass.
When I shoot rodents with a 223, I am now wearing safety glasses.
I wear safety glasses while target practicing big game rifles, but I hunt big game without safety glasses.
When I see brass in the dirt, I think about my friend's eye.
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AVirginian
New member
The friends I shoot with don't reload so we pick up all the brass for me, I now have plenty. Sometimes shooters in the nearby lanes, seeing up pick up, ask if we want theirs, we always do. I never ask as I don't want to seem greedy.
On unregulated ranges, I pickup whatever I find as long as no one is there.
I did give away some reloads once but then thought better of it and now I am the only one to shoot my reloads. I would feel really bad if something went wrong.
On unregulated ranges, I pickup whatever I find as long as no one is there.
I did give away some reloads once but then thought better of it and now I am the only one to shoot my reloads. I would feel really bad if something went wrong.