Pistol reloaders....where do you get your brass?

BigTex308 · February 5, 2013, 11:06 PM

Just curious, where do you get your handgun brass from?

Do you just buy dirty brass, new brass, or fully processed fired brass?

Ike

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Misssissippi Dave · February 5, 2013, 11:23 PM

I bought some new .357 Mag brass since it was hard to find factory ammo at a price I could afford. Most of it came from StarLine. For everything else it comes from factory ammo I shot. I started picking up my brass about a year before I got back into reloading. I knew I was going to need it. I think it is better to have too much brass on hand rather than not enough. I think I still have another case of 9 mm that still needs to be loaded.

SVO · February 5, 2013, 11:28 PM

Yes,

Some of my brass comes from shooting factory ammo. Some I buy new in bulk, like from StarLine. Some is once fired brass I got a good deal on. Some is once fired that comes from friends and family. And some is range pick-up. Always nice to clean up the range after a visit from the Coast Guard or Sheriff's Department

GTOne · February 5, 2013, 11:28 PM

When I first bought my pistols I bought a couple cases of factory for them, saved all the brass.
I picked up an additional bucketful of 9mm and have about 4-5k of that stuff, and 2k of .45, I expect I have enough to last me for a few years. .45 acp is low pressure, a dozen reloads on a piece of .45 brass is not unheard of.

medalguy · February 6, 2013, 01:44 AM

I scrounge brass from the place where I shoot. Lots of people just let their brass lie on the ground and don't bother to pick it up. Today I went to the range and picked up nearly a full box of 46 pieces of 10mm brass (good trade material), about 45 pieces of 7.62 x 39 Winchester brass, a couple hundred .45 ACP brass, and lots of 9 and 380 brass. A good day overall.

Cheap 870 · February 6, 2013, 06:08 AM

If I buy new I buy from starline. Catch is you have to buy 500 at a time or if you can catch when midway gets a shipment in you can buy by the 100.
Either way it's still $10 to $20 cheeper a 100 & in my opinion just as good.
Or if you can find a good deal on used brass(hard to do now a days).

bird_dog · February 6, 2013, 07:18 AM

For my .44 mag ammo, I originally started with some factory shells, and supplemented them with a couple of bags of brand new brass. I've reloaded them all at least 8 times now, with no signs of wear. That's the beauty of shooting a revolver: 100% brass recovery.

Ditto for my .357 ammo.

For 45's, which are shot in semi-autos and recovery is somewhere in the range of 80% (if I'm shooting outdoors), I've gotten a bulk bunch of 1000 from some gathering my BIL went to years ago, and I've ordered some from a guy who sells range brass off Amazon. It's dirty, and there's some odd primers here and there that I throw out, and the count isn't quite always a thousand, but he's cheap and all I have to do is tumble it for a couple of hours to clean it up.

It's out there. Good luck.

David Bachelder · February 6, 2013, 08:23 AM

Starline, Range pickup or once fired. Whichever offers the best price/quality.

Starline is very hard to beat.

FlyFish · February 6, 2013, 08:46 AM

In order of preference, and depending on caliber: range pickup, purchased once-fired, purchased new. Very, very, rarely: from loaded factory ammo. After a few decades, I now have enough brass for each of the 15 or so pistol calibers I reload to last me the rest of my life.

Overscore · February 6, 2013, 08:47 AM

Fortunately for me, I went through a few thousand rounds of purchased ammo before deciding I needed to start reloading, so most of my brass is from that. But, I also collect it from ranges. Where I get the most, is during downtime at IDPA matches. Loads and loads of if-you-pick-it-you-keep-it brass dumped out there.

It'd be worthwhile to deliberately go to a range after a match, assuming you're a member and it's copacetic to do so.

serf 'rett · February 6, 2013, 08:48 AM

Range pick up and range sale of fired brass. Some factory from before I started reloading.

kraigwy · February 6, 2013, 09:56 AM

I did some work on the neighbors ATC (snow plow) and his tractors.

Night before last he brought me a large garbage bag full of 38s, 357s and 30-30.

I told him to go back and get some 9mm and 45 ACP, He says OK I didn't know you reload for that.................I reload for everything.

38s and 357s, I have tons of from my LE days where the gave our range bass to anyone who wants it. As a range officer I ended up with a life time supply.

I do shoot a lot of both. Don't know about the 30-30. The only 30-30 cal I have is a TC Pistol.

40 cal I got from a West Coast PD when I was working on their sniper school.

I did order and just got some 458 WM and 30-40 Krag brass. It was long in coming, but its not on my loading list right now. Don't need it until spring.

ScottRiqui · February 6, 2013, 10:05 AM

My local range sells fired brass for $3/pound, and they seem to think that a five-gallon bucketful only weighs 35 pounds.

Rifleman1776 · February 6, 2013, 10:18 AM

Same as anybody. Scrounging. From the range, buy new brass, friends used to give it to me, buy used brass at gun shows, etc. Keep yer eyes open.

velillen · February 6, 2013, 10:52 AM

Like others most is either fired by me or is range pick ups. 9, 40, and 45acp I have picked up thousands just from other people at the range. 357 and 44mag I did buy some new as it can be hard to find I've found as pickups. I'll be buying some 10mm as its been hard to find as well and all o have is the 500 or so factory I've shot so far.

LFEngineering · February 6, 2013, 10:56 AM

Although I do still scrounge at the range for clean fresh brass I get most of mine at the local sport shop. Lucky me their aren't too many re-loaders in town so I'll frequently find bags of 500+ cases for $10 bucks.

rlc323 · February 6, 2013, 11:31 AM

Count me in as a member of the dirty knees club. I try to hit the club I belong to after the local PD practices there. I crawl around for my own as well, and a couple buddies and I trade.

I have bought some over the internet on Gunbroker with good results, shipping costs hurt those "deals," the cheapest way is to scrounge and trade.

drklude · February 6, 2013, 01:22 PM

I've just recently started getting into reloading so I didn't have much saved factory brass. I went to a local range the other day with my wife and I asked the range master if it was ok for me to collect my brass. Being new to the whole process I figured better to ask then to make a fool of myself.

Range officer told me I could have whatever I could find. It was like Christmas morning as this range is frequented by a lot of first time shooters who see brass as just garbage. I ended up collecting brass for 30 minutes while the wife shot. I left with half a 5 gallon bucket of .40, .45, 9mm, and .38 mix.

Needless to say, I will be going back frequently.

OEF-Vet · February 6, 2013, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVO

Yes,

Some of my brass comes from shooting factory ammo. Some I buy new in bulk, like from StarLine. Some is once fired brass I got a good deal on. Some is once fired that comes from friends and family. And some is range pick-up. Always nice to clean up the range after a visit from the Coast Guard or Sheriff's Department

Same here.

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rajbcpa · February 6, 2013, 02:53 PM

...Internet ...just search "once fired brass" there are lots of sellers. Now supplies are getting tight, however.

auction cites are also a good place to find used brass..... prices are climing fast, however...

Prof Young · February 6, 2013, 11:23 PM

Loaders:
I save my own from store bought ammo and my own reloads. I've bought new brass, especially for 44 and 45 as store ammo is so expensive, and I've bought used, especially 9mm at $40 for 1000 it seemed like a good buy.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young

Gdawgs · February 7, 2013, 07:55 AM

Already been mentioned, but around here, 9mm, 40, 45ACP and 38 spec are pretty easy to come by at the range. So that's what I use for those calibers. I generally don't find much else for revolver cartridges, other than the occasional 357 and 45 Colt. I don't ever plan on finding 454 casull, 460 S&W, 327 mag, etc brass at the range, so I've purchased those new from various sources. Seems like everyone is out now days though.

leadchucker · February 7, 2013, 09:40 AM

Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to go to ranges where there is plenty of brass for the scrounging.

I have several thousand empties of every caliber I load, and a bunch of stuff I don't load. I picked it all up off the ground at the local ranges.

FloridaGuy · February 7, 2013, 09:59 PM

I just recently got into shooting and now into reloading. So when I purchased myguns I also purchased several 1000 rounds for each gun of factory ammo. So now I have thousands of rounds of Brass in the following calibers .45 ACP, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt and 9mm. I have also purchased both new brass and once fired brass from the internet.

Most of the local ranges around me do not allow you to pick up your brass. They have a policy that if it hits the floor it is there's. They will then sell it to a recycler or to reloaders.

I currently have probably 20 .50 caliber ammo cans of sorted brass and probably 2 five gallon buckets of un sorted brass.

shootniron · February 7, 2013, 11:14 PM

Most of my brass is picked up at the range.

February 5, 2013, 11:06 PM	#1
BigTex308 Senior Member Join Date: October 26, 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 259	Pistol reloaders....where do you get your brass? Just curious, where do you get your handgun brass from? Do you just buy dirty brass, new brass, or fully processed fired brass? Ike Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

February 6, 2013, 08:23 AM	#8
David Bachelder Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2011 Location: Trinity, Texas Posts: 636	Starline, Range pickup or once fired. Whichever offers the best price/quality. Starline is very hard to beat. __________________ David Bachelder Trinity, Texas I load, 9mm Luger, 38 and 40 S&W, 38 Special, 357Magnum, 45ACP, 45 Colt, 223, 300 AAC, 243 and 30-06

February 6, 2013, 08:46 AM	#9
FlyFish Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Overlooking the Baker River Valley Posts: 1,723	In order of preference, and depending on caliber: range pickup, purchased once-fired, purchased new. Very, very, rarely: from loaded factory ammo. After a few decades, I now have enough brass for each of the 15 or so pistol calibers I reload to last me the rest of my life. __________________ NRA Benefactor Life Member NRA Certified Instructor: Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, PPIH, Metallic & Shotgun Shell Reloading; RSO Pemigewasset Valley Fish & Game Club

February 6, 2013, 08:48 AM	#11
serf 'rett Senior Member Join Date: June 25, 2009 Location: Stuttgart, AR Posts: 1,569	Range pick up and range sale of fired brass. Some factory from before I started reloading. __________________ A lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part.

February 6, 2013, 09:56 AM	#12
kraigwy Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2008 Location: Wyoming Posts: 11,061	I did some work on the neighbors ATC (snow plow) and his tractors. Night before last he brought me a large garbage bag full of 38s, 357s and 30-30. I told him to go back and get some 9mm and 45 ACP, He says OK I didn't know you reload for that.................I reload for everything. 38s and 357s, I have tons of from my LE days where the gave our range bass to anyone who wants it. As a range officer I ended up with a life time supply. I do shoot a lot of both. Don't know about the 30-30. The only 30-30 cal I have is a TC Pistol. 40 cal I got from a West Coast PD when I was working on their sniper school. I did order and just got some 458 WM and 30-40 Krag brass. It was long in coming, but its not on my loading list right now. Don't need it until spring. __________________ Kraig Stuart CPT USAR Ret USAMU Sniper School Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071

February 5, 2013, 11:23 PM	#2
Misssissippi Dave Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2009 Posts: 1,411	I bought some new .357 Mag brass since it was hard to find factory ammo at a price I could afford. Most of it came from StarLine. For everything else it comes from factory ammo I shot. I started picking up my brass about a year before I got back into reloading. I knew I was going to need it. I think it is better to have too much brass on hand rather than not enough. I think I still have another case of 9 mm that still needs to be loaded.

February 5, 2013, 11:28 PM	#3
SVO Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2009 Location: Texas Gulf Coast Posts: 728	Yes, Some of my brass comes from shooting factory ammo. Some I buy new in bulk, like from StarLine. Some is once fired brass I got a good deal on. Some is once fired that comes from friends and family. And some is range pick-up. Always nice to clean up the range after a visit from the Coast Guard or Sheriff's Department

February 5, 2013, 11:28 PM	#4
GTOne Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2011 Location: IL Posts: 210	When I first bought my pistols I bought a couple cases of factory for them, saved all the brass. I picked up an additional bucketful of 9mm and have about 4-5k of that stuff, and 2k of .45, I expect I have enough to last me for a few years. .45 acp is low pressure, a dozen reloads on a piece of .45 brass is not unheard of.

February 6, 2013, 01:44 AM	#5
medalguy Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2009 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,033	I scrounge brass from the place where I shoot. Lots of people just let their brass lie on the ground and don't bother to pick it up. Today I went to the range and picked up nearly a full box of 46 pieces of 10mm brass (good trade material), about 45 pieces of 7.62 x 39 Winchester brass, a couple hundred .45 ACP brass, and lots of 9 and 380 brass. A good day overall.

February 6, 2013, 06:08 AM	#6
Cheap 870 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 159	If I buy new I buy from starline. Catch is you have to buy 500 at a time or if you can catch when midway gets a shipment in you can buy by the 100. Either way it's still $10 to $20 cheeper a 100 & in my opinion just as good. Or if you can find a good deal on used brass(hard to do now a days).

February 6, 2013, 07:18 AM	#7
bird_dog Senior Member Join Date: May 26, 2004 Posts: 225	For my .44 mag ammo, I originally started with some factory shells, and supplemented them with a couple of bags of brand new brass. I've reloaded them all at least 8 times now, with no signs of wear. That's the beauty of shooting a revolver: 100% brass recovery. Ditto for my .357 ammo. For 45's, which are shot in semi-autos and recovery is somewhere in the range of 80% (if I'm shooting outdoors), I've gotten a bulk bunch of 1000 from some gathering my BIL went to years ago, and I've ordered some from a guy who sells range brass off Amazon. It's dirty, and there's some odd primers here and there that I throw out, and the count isn't quite always a thousand, but he's cheap and all I have to do is tumble it for a couple of hours to clean it up. It's out there. Good luck.

February 6, 2013, 08:47 AM	#10
Overscore Member Join Date: February 4, 2013 Posts: 72	Fortunately for me, I went through a few thousand rounds of purchased ammo before deciding I needed to start reloading, so most of my brass is from that. But, I also collect it from ranges. Where I get the most, is during downtime at IDPA matches. Loads and loads of if-you-pick-it-you-keep-it brass dumped out there. It'd be worthwhile to deliberately go to a range after a match, assuming you're a member and it's copacetic to do so.

February 6, 2013, 10:05 AM	#13
ScottRiqui Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 2,905	My local range sells fired brass for $3/pound, and they seem to think that a five-gallon bucketful only weighs 35 pounds.

February 6, 2013, 10:18 AM	#14
Rifleman1776 Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2010 Location: Arkansas Posts: 3,309	Same as anybody. Scrounging. From the range, buy new brass, friends used to give it to me, buy used brass at gun shows, etc. Keep yer eyes open.

February 6, 2013, 10:52 AM	#15
velillen Member Join Date: October 20, 2012 Posts: 93	Like others most is either fired by me or is range pick ups. 9, 40, and 45acp I have picked up thousands just from other people at the range. 357 and 44mag I did buy some new as it can be hard to find I've found as pickups. I'll be buying some 10mm as its been hard to find as well and all o have is the 500 or so factory I've shot so far.

February 6, 2013, 10:56 AM	#16
LFEngineering Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2013 Posts: 2	Although I do still scrounge at the range for clean fresh brass I get most of mine at the local sport shop. Lucky me their aren't too many re-loaders in town so I'll frequently find bags of 500+ cases for $10 bucks.

February 6, 2013, 11:31 AM	#17
rlc323 Senior Member Join Date: January 23, 2013 Location: Forgottonia, Il Posts: 217	Count me in as a member of the dirty knees club. I try to hit the club I belong to after the local PD practices there. I crawl around for my own as well, and a couple buddies and I trade. I have bought some over the internet on Gunbroker with good results, shipping costs hurt those "deals," the cheapest way is to scrounge and trade.

February 6, 2013, 01:22 PM	#18
drklude Member Join Date: January 30, 2013 Posts: 40	I've just recently started getting into reloading so I didn't have much saved factory brass. I went to a local range the other day with my wife and I asked the range master if it was ok for me to collect my brass. Being new to the whole process I figured better to ask then to make a fool of myself. Range officer told me I could have whatever I could find. It was like Christmas morning as this range is frequented by a lot of first time shooters who see brass as just garbage. I ended up collecting brass for 30 minutes while the wife shot. I left with half a 5 gallon bucket of .40, .45, 9mm, and .38 mix. Needless to say, I will be going back frequently.

February 6, 2013, 02:53 PM	#20
rajbcpa Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 2012 Posts: 321	...Internet ...just search "once fired brass" there are lots of sellers. Now supplies are getting tight, however. auction cites are also a good place to find used brass..... prices are climing fast, however...

February 6, 2013, 11:23 PM	#21
Prof Young Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2007 Location: Illinois - down state Posts: 2,404	Everywhere! Loaders: I save my own from store bought ammo and my own reloads. I've bought new brass, especially for 44 and 45 as store ammo is so expensive, and I've bought used, especially 9mm at $40 for 1000 it seemed like a good buy. Live well, be safe Prof Young

February 7, 2013, 07:55 AM	#22
Gdawgs Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2009 Location: MN Posts: 656	Already been mentioned, but around here, 9mm, 40, 45ACP and 38 spec are pretty easy to come by at the range. So that's what I use for those calibers. I generally don't find much else for revolver cartridges, other than the occasional 357 and 45 Colt. I don't ever plan on finding 454 casull, 460 S&W, 327 mag, etc brass at the range, so I've purchased those new from various sources. Seems like everyone is out now days though.

February 7, 2013, 09:40 AM	#23
leadchucker Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2011 Location: NC Posts: 252	Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to go to ranges where there is plenty of brass for the scrounging. I have several thousand empties of every caliber I load, and a bunch of stuff I don't load. I picked it all up off the ground at the local ranges. __________________ JOIN THE NRA!

February 7, 2013, 09:59 PM	#24
FloridaGuy Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2012 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 237	I just recently got into shooting and now into reloading. So when I purchased myguns I also purchased several 1000 rounds for each gun of factory ammo. So now I have thousands of rounds of Brass in the following calibers .45 ACP, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt and 9mm. I have also purchased both new brass and once fired brass from the internet. Most of the local ranges around me do not allow you to pick up your brass. They have a policy that if it hits the floor it is there's. They will then sell it to a recycler or to reloaders. I currently have probably 20 .50 caliber ammo cans of sorted brass and probably 2 five gallon buckets of un sorted brass. Last edited by FloridaGuy; February 7, 2013 at 10:31 PM.

February 7, 2013, 11:14 PM	#25
shootniron Senior Member Join Date: April 16, 2011 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,599	Most of my brass is picked up at the range.