Lost all my 9mm brass

M

Machineguntony

New member
About few years ago, a sister, who lives by herself, had an attempted break in at her house, while she was home.

So I gave her a pistol, took her to the range. Now she shoots a lot. She enjoys it.

She also comes to me for ammo, since I’m the family member that’s known to have lots of ammo, and I don’t mind giving ammo to immediate family. I sometimes make them reload their own ammo on my press with my components.

When I’m with family, I tell them to pick up the brass. But when I give out ammo to a female family member, I don’t tell them to pick it up.

Also, if they do pick it up, they’ll bring back like 10% of the brass. Also, often they’re too embarrassed to ask the person in the next station if they can sweep up the brass that flew over (and guys being guys, might think they’re hitting on them).

So I just tell them they can leave the brass.

I did a New Years inventory and I realize that I used to have 20,000 9mm brass pieces that are now completely gone.

What do you guys do when you give friends or family brass/ammo? Do you ask them to pick it up and bring it back? Do you just say no? Note that I say no to requests for financial help, but yes to ammo bc I want to spread my love of the shooting sports.

I’m thinking it might be cheaper just to buy my sister and nieces steel cased ammo.
 
I only have 1 son-inlaw that shoots. Although i do reload rifle ammo for him with HIS brass, he buys his own pistol ammo. He knows that I reload and he knows I collect brass and still..I never see any empty cases after he goes shooting with his buddies. Even though none of them are reloaders. Kinda erks me that they leave all that once fired brass laying wherever they shoot.
 
Pretty easy to take water coming out of the faucet for granted...till it goes dry.

There are plenty of once fired brass outfits.
Explain that your supply must be replenished."Look,here,5000 is only..."

Then "Here is your brass,it needs to be.....(Sorted,decapped,cleaned,sized,etc"

Enjoy each other's company.Like pitting cherries.

At some point it MAY dawn on them...."You have been doing all this for me?"

Some folks prefer to carry their own load. Or THEY might decide to buy steel cased ammo. Or pick up the brass.

Sharing the shooting sports might include teaching someone to load their own.
 
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It wasn't that many years ago that 9mm brass was $10/1000. Some how it went crazy along with the price of other brass, to the point of full retard!

It has come down if you shop around, I've seen it at $25/1000 but some how people seem to think that $30-40/1000 is the norm! It's not like 9mm ammo and brass aren't being made and while most brass has come back to semi normal prices, 9mm seems to be the .22 of brass and being over priced!

I would ask anyone that you load for to pick up all the brass that they can and any extra. Maybe ask them to buy you some or donate to the reloading cause. I don't think that there's anything wrong with that, you're the one loading and using up your components. A little compensation for it isn't a bad thing and will keep you from having to foot the bill for everything.
 
I hear you.....Just paid $50 for 1000 5.56 brass....that seems nearly full retard to me, but it is nice to have some known once fired brass of same head stamp.
 
In my personal case my family and very close friends have been to the range with me exactly once. After that one trip when THEY asked to take them to the range and they show up with NOTHING and then proceed to shoot easily $500 worth of my reloads and factory ammo. I didn't even get a Thank You or help cleaning up. NEVER AGAIN! I mean how can they come to the range and bring their guns and no ammo or targets.

Now when my family and friends ask to go shooting I tell them if you want to shoot then bring some ammo and targets to shoot. I don't mind letting them shoot my firearms, but I do expect them to come prepared.
 
As reloaders, we always bring the most ammo, and I think that makes nonreloaders take us for granted.

I’ve had to cut a friend off who would also show up with no ammo and proceed to help himself to my ammo.

I told them, hey, you guys gotta chip in. So he would show up with a 20 round box of 223 and a box of 9mm and then announce, ‘hey I’m gonna go buy some 9mm and 223 because I’m all out’. All the while, I have 1000 rounds of 223 and two ammo cans of 9mm in clear view.

After that, I’ve never invited that friend shooting again.

Close blood family though, that’s another issue.
 
I've told my friends "if ya want me to reload it' you need to supply brass, bullets, powder, primers.
I don't mind doing it for them, but components ain't cheap.
 
Family is family but there has to be a limit. Have a nephew who would come shooting with my son and I when he was in town. He sure liked shooting all our guns but is so cheap. Finally had to put my foot down and cut him off.
Last time after shooting over $200 worth of our ammo I made him go and buy 250 reloaded 45 acp from the range store for $80.00. He had to go after shooting about half and wanted us to pay him for what was left. He was not a happy family member after I told him what he could do and has never gone since.
 
Sounds like you’ve provided your family a few thousand dollars worth of ammo over the years ... pretty generous by any standard even before you take into account the hours you spent pulling a lever.

If you can financially support that and don’t mind it then that’s awesome, otherwise I’d nicely breakdown for the them the time and money you put into giving them free ammo and ask them to chip in for components, or teach them to do it for themselves.

I’m surprised someone hasn’t commented yet saying “it’s crazy to give other people your reloads.” I once looked into providing a good friend with match ammo (he lets me shoot on his land) and I never did end up doing that because everything I read said the liability of a bad round hurting / killing someone else wasn’t worth it. We just started hunting coyotes out at his place so I’m again considering giving him some of my varmint rounds since he’s letting me hunt there.


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I used to be very generous letting other people try my reloads right up until I had a KABOOM.Thought I would go my whole life without one but this came from nowhere about my 700,000th reload. Not hurt but a nice gun was damaged. Now I have thought about what would go down if somebody else had an injurious incident with one of my loads. Your one time friend is gonna forget all that when he only has one eye left to count his 9 fingers. Imagine you slip your varmint hunting buddy some good yote loads but he has a mud dauber nest in his barrel he hasn't discovered. When it all goes bad there probably won't be sufficient insurance.....
 
Machineguntony said:
As reloaders, we always bring the most ammo, and I think that makes nonreloaders take us for granted.
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^^^This. Especially since non-reloaders do not really know what the cost of components is or the amount of time we spend at reloading. Part of my problem is I enjoy introducing folks to the shooting sports, so along with my personnel range on private land, I let a lot of folks shoot my ammo outta my guns. Add to that, my range is in an area that is very popular in the state for canoeing, hiking, and riding motorcycle. Add to that, the fact we have a nice cabin and bunkhouse located on the land and it ends up we spend a lot of weekends down there with multiple friends and end up shooting quite a bit. Buy me and my wife lunch when out canoeing or riding motorcycle in the afternoon and I don't have a problem with you shooting my ammo that night or the next morning. Bring something for everyone to eat and drink for the weekend, and again, I don't mind shooting my reloads all weekend. Seems tho, that those same folks that never bring anything, always ask for separate checks and never have any thing to pitch in towards a beer run, are the same ones that want to shoot so much. Some don't realize the cost involved, especially that fact that empty brass is the most expensive part of reloading. Many, once they do, are happy to pitch in. Others tho, never take the hint or just don't want to. Have a friend from out of state that comes for one or two long weekends every year to ride the great roads we have in the area, and almost everytime, they bring a different couple or two with them. Two years ago he brought two couples I had never met before. They were nice enough folks and had been told to expect to do a lot of shooting. They were pretty disappointed when they found out I didn't bring guns or ammo that weekend. When he asked me "why no guns/shooting this weekend?" and I told him, "I bought pop, beer, brats, burgers and steaks. I cut firewood for the fires at night and made sure we had gas for the grills. My wife washed the sheets and made the beds before you got here and will again after you folks leave. We supply towels for hot showers and paper plates and utensils. If you want to shoot too on top of all that, bring some ammo for yourself and I, and I'll bring my guns. Even tho I reload, I can't afford to supply an infinite amount of ammo for everyone that stops by. I'm sorry ".

He took the hint, apologized and since, they and their friends leave money on the counter along with buying my wife and I all our food and drinks while out and about, and we are not at the cabin. Sometimes folks just don't know.




Machineguntony said:
Close blood family though, that’s anothor disappearer issue.
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Yeah, kinda where I'm at with my oldest son. I have drop cloths I spread out by the shooting benches at our property to catch the brass ejected by pistols and long-guns. Works very well and is not much work. The few pieces it misses are inconsequential. My oldest won't take the time to put down the dropcloths if I'm not there, and he likes to do "tactical" stuff where he is running and shooting from different positions. I accepted the fact a long time ago that any brass I send with him is gone. Heck, I consider myself lucky iffin I get the MTM plastic boxes back. I generally send the older more used and less valuable brass with him, and the ammo in ziplock bags, just for that reason. New, once fired stuff is saved for when I'm along or it's the younger brother shooting. Now...before the lecture comes about teaching my oldest responsibility, you need to know he is very generous to us and makes up for this one short coming in many other ways that greatly outdo anything I spend on his shooting.
 
I give lot's of rounds to my son and my daughter and son-in-law, but I stress about keeping up with brass, that's worked well except once when I cut my son off until he brought me the last brass.
It only took once and he'll brings it back now.
 
I load my own, 50+ years now, but never offer to supply anyone else's needs. I shoot only my own loads, and encourage others to do the same. I do, however, give instruction on my presses to any who want to learn, with the proviso that they bring their own brass. I charge them for my outlay in powder, primers and bullets. It's a fair deal all around and they understand that.

There's a safety/liability issue as well. And that is that if I give or sell my reloads to others, I am in fact at least partially liable for any mishaps. That's the reason that I don't shoot anyone else's loads...I just don't trust them.

Rod
 
I had about 8k of 9mm and 5k of 223 loaded on the shelf when I was sent to Afghanistan for 14 months. My son was a rising senior in High School. He and his best friend shot up every round I had of those two calibers. They policed about 1/3 of it. They didn't touch my 45 or 30-06.

To add more to this recipe of disaster my stainless mini-14 also had golden barrel. I was able to polish out the stainless and it still shoot fine but I thought it had been seriously hurt. Both my 9mm and my mini were gunked up. My son later admitted he cleaned the 9mm once and never cleaned the mini. I made him take both guns all the way apart for a deep clean.
 
Machineguntony asked:
What do you guys do when you give friends or family brass/ammo?
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When I give ammunition to the one friend I trust with my reloads or to my family members (father, wife, two sons), it goes with clear instructions that they are to pick up as much of the brass as they can reasonably find in a five to ten minute sweep of the area when they get done. I don't expect to get it all back, but I do expect numbers that represent a god-faith search. It is an unspoken understanding that the consequence of not bringing back brass is that I may suddenly run out of reloaded ammunition to share with them.

Neither my friend nor my family are gluttons; so a box of 50 or 100 rounds is generally all they're looking for anyway and I don't mind sharing it with them because I shoot to support my reloading habit and if they'll bring back most of my brass, I'll get my next "fix" when I start processing it.
 
When I give a family member or friend ammunition to shoot I simply give it to them. A few years ago for Christmas I gave my son-in-law a S&W Model 15 with a few hundred loaded rounds of 38 Special. He actually, without being asked, saved all 200 cases and returned them. Damn, I like that kid but no, when I give family or friends ammunition to shoot I don't expect to see the brass again and don't ask them to return the brass. This applies to all low end handgun ammunition but not to higher end rifle ammunition like 308 Winchester. :)

Ron
 
I don't give friends...or adults in the family ammo. All of the adults in family are over 35...and its not up to me to pay for their hobbies. But if I did give them a few boxes for some reason / I wouldn't expect to see any brass come back ( and it never has ). I have told all 4 of the adult kids this...so they no longer ask for -- or expect ammo out of my reload supply.

I do provide ammo for grandkids to shoot with my guns...but not for their parents guns ( some of which I have given them ). When the grandkids are shooting with me...they are good about sweeping up & bagging up brass for me. I have plenty of brass ...I keep at least one 8 gal storage tub full of brass, by caliber, for each of the 8 calibers I reload for.

At some point in family...and I don't know if its when they are 25 or 40 yrs old...they have to pay their own way & decide if they want to invest in reloading or just buy ammo as they need it. I've taught the older grandkids and all the adults how to reload...but none of them seem to want to take the time to do it / let alone invest in equipment. I think this part of the hobby is changing a little....and all the family members from 15 to 50 yrs old seem to be busy with all kinds of things - but only 1 or 2 of them have any interest in really understanding reloading as part of the gun hobby. Things are different now...not bad....just different.

I will continue to share my time & knowledge with them....but they all make good livings...so I'm not subsidizing them in my retirement years. Shooting is a major hobby to me and right now I still shoot about 30,000 rds of handgun ammo a year.....and we all know this is an expensive hobby...but I just don't feel its my responsibility to pay for them in terms of ammo or my reloading time to support their hobby.
 
I ask them to pick up anything they find, including rimfire.
It's all scrap weigh at the least, premium brass at the best...
 
Make them pay for the loaded ammo they take (bullet, case, powder, and primer). As an incentive, give credit for each empty case returned. Otherwise, if you care whether they shoot or continue, accept that there will be an expense. Make it so they take nothing for granted and at least express gratitude for your time.

It is a little late to begrudge the depletion of your brass. You know, there is such a thing as buying new brass.

You can also tell everyone that you no longer provide ammo, because all the free brass is gone. If they want more, let them bring you some brass.

If you cannot say these things, accept your fate as Daddy Big Bucks. You spoiled them.
 
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