What do you do with range brass?

[Lavid2002]

Im planning on collecting range brass. Im curious. How do you guys do it? Should I get numerous containers and collect it a set each caliber in its own container, then sort it by headstamp and the Manufacturer whilst junking crap casings and oddball brands? Thanks guys!
Dave
P.S. I reload .308 Win and .223 remington. Ill collect all other popular reloading cartridges like 6.5mm, 30-06, 45 ACP, 40 S&W, and 9mm Luger and selling it here!
Thanks AGAIN guys!
Daveh

 

[T. O'Heir]

You may run into an irate range owner/operator. A lot of 'em either sell the brass for reloading or the scrap value. In any case, you never know what you're getting when you pick up range brass. How many times it's been loaded, with what, by whom, berdan primers, etc, etc. Wouldn't touch it myself.

 

[Scorch]

Ditto the warning for irate range officers. Many ranges have rules against picking up brass on the range (I know mine does, as do most of the ranges I have shot at over the past 30 years). A few every now and then is not going to cause an issue, but it's probably better for the quality of your reloads if you just buy brass.

 

[rwilson452]

I retrieve my own brass and anything else I load. the other stuff goes in the brass bucket. the steel stuff goes in the trash. sadly, a lot of people don't even pick up their own. I police a lot of stuff left behind. as an ex officer in the club the club doesn't mind and never has. In the winter months they have 22 shoots that brass is collected by the club. basically at our club the rule is pick up after yourself, brass in the brass bucket, trash in the trash. far too often its everything on the ground.

 

[putteral]

I used to sort by head stamps but it became to much work. Know I just pick them up, clean them, reload and shoot. At my range they are not to critical about pickin up brass. If it is on the ground and nobody is claiming it I pick it up. I have been getting pretty lucky lately. Generally the guy next to me shooting doesn't reload and lets me keep his brass. Must have a couple of thousand each of 9mm and 45 empties.

 

[BigJimP]

I pick up "my share" of range brass all the time. yes, the range picks it up and sells it as well - but I don't have any problem picking up a one quart bag of it as my share - especially for my own use.

How I store it ....

I dump everything I pick up into one big rubbermaid container with a lid. Before I clean it - I sort it by caliber into a caliber specific rubbermaid container ( still dirty ). I use 8 gallon containers with snap-on lids ( staples, lowes, .... go for something fairly heavy duty or they don't hold up or stack well with weight in them. Once the caliber specific container is full of dirty brass - I tumble it / then I inspect it for rejects - and put the inspected and clean brass into a clean caliber specific container so
"clean .45acp" as an example.

I keep the "cleaned brass" tubs full / stacked in an out of the way place in my shop / then I use that for reloading. I keep 2 finished "clean brass" 8 gallon containers of clean brass for all of my primary pistol calibers ( .45 acp, .40 S&W, 9mm ) and one each for lower volume calibers like .38 spl , .357 mag, .44 mag. So I have 9 clean tubs / 6 dirty tubs / 1 general tub. Any excess I have ( I just pass on to others that need some brass ). The other responders are right - you don't know what you're picking up / I shoot at an indoor range - but you can tell when something looks like its been shot a lot - or its real burnt / just toss it. In my experience there isn't any conceivable way to just shoot and pick up your own brass - shooting at an indoor range - it bounces all over. But I'm often the benefactor of a couple of cops in there shooting some of their allotted ammo in .40 S&W or whatever / or someone renting a gun and shooting ammo they bought at the range. I leave way more behind than I take / so the range is certainly getting their share / plus they mine the lead downrange and make a nice piece of money off that as well - so its easy for me to justify. But the range I shoot at has no formal policy on shooters picking up brass other than just being courteous / safe. Its only a guess but I think 75% of the shooters that go in there do not reload.

I think its crossing the line if you're going to collect any brass to sell - but then I don't know anyone that would pay for brass either when they can pick it up free / unless you could certify it is all just once fired factory ammo with a specific head stamp / and if you're picking up range brass you can't do that - because a lot of it may be reloads.

 

[Sigma 40 Blaster]

I sort before tumbling, put them in cardboard boxes, big Ziplocs...whatever I have. I label them with the caliber and condition (clean, dirty, deprimed...whatever). If I tumble some dirty brass and just re-store it I change the label to show the new condition (clean).

I have about 6000 pieces of brass in different calibers and conditions...peanuts compared to what most of you guys have.

 

[swmike]

The range I shoot at has a lot of "Non-Reloaders, at least for 9mm and .223 so I pick up all I can. The 9mm is all once fired, in most cases S & B that the range sells and the .223 is all Mil-Surp with crimps. The red primer seal and the crimp give me a good indication that it is all once fired and I have no worry as it being a "super load" discard. So far I have over 8k of .223 brass and 6k of 9mm brass that I have included in my "rotation". Free Brass is great,

 

[Sidetracked]

I know a lot of people that sweep up everything they can find, and sort it out later.

Personally, I pick up only what interests me. While picking it up, I check to make sure it is a boxer-primed case, and not damaged badly. I throw everything in a bag/box/bucket, and take it home. Once home, it is tumbled, sorted by caliber, and tossed in the appropriate container.
Unless something stands out as a factory, once fired load; I add it to my 'plinking' brass. If it is a quality brand, and once fired, I'll sort it out for quality loads.

Oddball brands? There's no such thing when it comes to plinking...

 

[Threefeathers]

I pick up everything I can at every range I can. So does every one else I know.
I usually ask if someone is reloading, if not can I have their brass.

I try to sort by headstamp, but I end up with lots of boxes of mixed because I reload a bunch.

I sort by caliber when I get home then sort by headstamp after I tumble.

 

[Mike40-11]

I pick up whatever's left lying at the range. I shoot at a private range, about 1200 members and there's no rules on brass except clean up your mess. A lot of the guys reload so it gets picked up pretty quickly if somebody leaves it behind. I figure, if they're leaving their brass, they don't reload, ergo, their stuff is once fired factory. (Usually)

If somebody is on the line with me I pick mine up as I go. If they're not a reloader they usually ask if I want theirs.

I wind up with stuff I don't shoot but hey, you never know, I might pick up a 5.7 or .32 one of these days. Or trade it somebody else for more .45!

I sort for damaged brass (pitch) and crimped primers (ream). Oh, and AMERC! (Kill it! Kill it!) MAN, that stuff is junk!:barf: I gave up sorting by headstamp other than that. R-P, Winchester, S&B, Aguila, CCI, Federal, it's all good.