Worth it to pick up brass?

S

SkunkApe

New member
A question:

There's an outdoor area near me that's been used locally for years for target shooting. There are multiple shooting areas along a stretch of road, and the ground is littered with used brass, shotgun hulls, and all kinds of trash at each one. Even picking through the trash and rimfire, I could probably fill up a five-gallon bucket of centerfire brass pretty quickly.

Is this worth my time? What's the approximate value of five gallons of used brass?
 
You'll have to call your local scrap recycler and see what they're paying. Also if they'll accept used shells, as it's my understanding that some scrap buyers don't.

You can go through this thread that's a few days old...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=464006

But the short answer: yes, it's generally worth it. You can even sell some of it to reloaders for a little more than the scrap value. Also, rimfire brass is still brass.
 
Thanks. I was thinking more along the lines of selling it to reloaders, rather than for scrap value. If I just separate it out by caliber, and not clean it, would anyone buy it?
 
You'd probably have to pick up a boat load of it in order get a significant amount of money. Probably worth more to reloaders than anyone else.
 
IMO, there is too much potential liability selling to reloaders. Fired rimfire and centerfire cases do have scrap value. The more you have, the more it is worth. Separate the different metals - brass, nickel plated, aluminum, steel, etc. Make sure there are no complete cartridges or cases with an unspent primer.
 
IMO, there is too much potential liability selling to reloaders.
Click to expand...

Reloaders buy brass on TFL all the time, and pay far more for it than scrap value for certain calibers. Melting it down and recycling it is better than putting it in the dump, but just barely IMO.
 
Scrap brass has been over $3 per pound many times recently... Pure copper hit over $4 per not too long ago... At those prices, it is hard to find a reloader to pay scrap value on some heavier cases...

Brent
 
Used brass

On the topic of used brass, pick it up and sell it per piece. I run through about 7oo,ooo pcs of brass a week. I usually trade loaded FACTORY ammo for it at a fraction of the brass price. My usual BUYING prices are 2-4 cents /each on handgun, and 10-15 cents / each on rifle. Berdan primed brass I usually recycle. It IS reloadable if you have a swager....

Resale values of "Reloading Components" (the legal loophole, that has the buyer inspect brass before loading it)...range as follows:

Brass handgun 8-10 cents each
Nickel handgun 10-15 cents each
Brass (common) rifle 15-20 cents each
Nickel (common) rifle 25-30 cents each

Common brass is considered to be .30-06, .308, .30-30, .270, .223, 5.56mm.

"Uncommon" brass / nickel priced on caliber variation, usually about 60% of new price.

If the need of shipping comes about, that is added on top of price. Bulk discounts are available too...

So in answer to your question, yes, it is worth picking up. Most of the people I sell to want ORIGINAL fired primer in casing, not resized or cleaned, that way they can process it to their liking, with their methods and calibration specifics.
 
Personally I don't pick up rifle brass at ranges and such. Never know how many times and how it was reloaded. I'm picky about my rifle brass.

Sometimes I pick up used straight walled pistol brass but not rifle brass.
 
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