Where would you buy military once-fired brass from?

Once Fired · March 16, 2013, 02:21 AM

Hi guys

I need your help. A small group of lifelong friends of mine are quite seriously considering jumping into the military surplus auction business - buying up vast once-fired brass quantities at the auctions. I'm talking about 100's of thousands of cases in a single lot. We want to pursue this just like the other big companies in the space, but of course do it intelligently.

We have done our research on what it costs - from auction to fees to transportation, labor, etc. Now we need feedback on our competition.

If you wanted to buy military surplus once-fired still-crimped 5.56, 7.62, 9 or 40 brass - what companies would you buy from? I believe the number of us who have actively participated in group buys of this magnitude are few & far between. But, I imagine a lot of us would buy a couple thousand cases from a vendor who hits the auctions and resells to us.

Who do you trust in those situations? I'd like to model our business after the companies that have done you right in the past, and have an excellent reputation.

I'm posting this in a number of forums. Sorry if you see it more than once.

Thank you!
ZAG

Boomer58cal · March 16, 2013, 09:30 AM

Last I heard there's a long line of people in front of you. I'm one of them. Great idea but this is probably the worst time in history to buy brass in any amounts. Good luck.

ScottRiqui · March 16, 2013, 09:48 AM

Reputation is really all that matters - the brass itself is pretty much a commodity item.

As long as your website accurately describes what you have and what you've done to it processing-wise, and you ship quickly, word will get around.

steve4102 · March 16, 2013, 10:52 AM

The brass you seek is being destroyed and not being sold to the public.

http://www.examiner.com/article/fort...upply-and-more

rajbcpa · March 16, 2013, 11:25 AM

i'm finding some crimped brass at auction cites so some of it is getting to the public.

it is not easy to find and it is expensive now.

ScottRiqui · March 16, 2013, 11:28 AM

I think it varies from location to location. The local Marine range where I shoot sells brass for $3/pound, and you can pick the calibers you want if you're willing to sort through the barrels. Plus, they seem to think that a five-gallon bucket of brass only weighs 35 pounds.

I've already bought a lifetime supply of Lake City 5.56 brass, and I've got so damned much crimped 9mm that I've started recycling it rather than mess with it.

KO3422 · March 16, 2013, 11:54 AM

I know a couple of my local ranges sell their brass. It's a tough find nowadays.

Burly · March 16, 2013, 04:59 PM

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...ent_Id%3C=8999))

That's where I'd go if I were wanting to buy spent brass in BULK. If the search doesn't come up on the link just type "brass" in the search block. No idea what the ending prices of these auctions have been. Good luck to you.

greentick · March 16, 2013, 09:03 PM

interesting

medalguy · March 16, 2013, 10:07 PM

I also sometimes buy scrap brass from military installations. The problem is finding lots that are reasonable in size. I don't call 600,000 pounds in a lot very reasonable for bidding to resell. There are quite a few resellers all bidding on this brass, so good luck to you.

A pause for the COZ · March 17, 2013, 01:26 AM

I have purchased 223 brass in 1000 case lots from Weidners reloading.
Easy on line transaction.
Once they sent me a lot that was advertised as mostly FC head stamped brass with some others included.

What I got was a lot that was 95% Speer head stamped and I counted only 25 FC head stamps.
I sent them a Email explaining what i had ordered and also what I had got.

The Email response I received with in 1 hour.

Sorry for the mix up. 1000 FC head stamp 223 on the way.

Cant beat that and I still got to keep the Speer cases.
Cant complain about that.

grizmt · March 17, 2013, 09:23 AM

I'm a new "wanna be" reloader. The reason I say "wanna be" is it's taking forever to find all the parts needed to put out even one round.
I found the govliquidation site and thought "oh boy I'll buy a pallet of that" and signed up waiting for the next auction.
Well, I had some down time so I started poking through the site and found the link for past auction results and went to the page for spent brass where you can see what has been paid as recently as last week.

Lowest price was over $1800 for 272 lbs of .40 cal and $5k for 750 lbs of 9mm. This is all plus shipping from wherever it is. I'm looking at a 400 lb lot of 9mm (about 4500 rounds) which I'll bet goes for over $3k.

So unless you're real,real lucky or have a conglomerate or personal deep pockets the odds of buying from this site are slim to none.
I'd love to get a group together but finding people with the want,time and $$ to get,sort and possibly sell off some to recoup costs is not an easy task.

Burly · March 17, 2013, 10:58 PM

He said he was looking to open a business supplying surplus brass. That site is for the person buying by the pound not by the shell case. He probably knew about it but I figured I'd mention it if he hadn't seen it yet.

Once Fired · March 21, 2013, 08:43 PM

Hey all

Yes, I am looking directly at buying in very large quantities (say 5,000 pounds at a time), cleaning it up, and reselling it.

I have investors behind it now, too.

We'll see if this takes off into a real venture shortly.

Thank you for the feedback!

ZAG

overthere · March 21, 2013, 10:20 PM

Here is 400,000 lbs of brass to start you off

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...&convertTo=USD

March 16, 2013, 02:21 AM	#1
Once Fired Member Join Date: October 26, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 62	Where would you buy military once-fired brass from? Hi guys I need your help. A small group of lifelong friends of mine are quite seriously considering jumping into the military surplus auction business - buying up vast once-fired brass quantities at the auctions. I'm talking about 100's of thousands of cases in a single lot. We want to pursue this just like the other big companies in the space, but of course do it intelligently. We have done our research on what it costs - from auction to fees to transportation, labor, etc. Now we need feedback on our competition. If you wanted to buy military surplus once-fired still-crimped 5.56, 7.62, 9 or 40 brass - what companies would you buy from? I believe the number of us who have actively participated in group buys of this magnitude are few & far between. But, I imagine a lot of us would buy a couple thousand cases from a vendor who hits the auctions and resells to us. Who do you trust in those situations? I'd like to model our business after the companies that have done you right in the past, and have an excellent reputation. I'm posting this in a number of forums. Sorry if you see it more than once. Thank you! ZAG __________________ Video games are for when you need to escape from reality. Responsible firearm ownership is for when you can't. Zombie Apocalypse Games Once Fired Lake City Brass Texas Security Guard Jobs

March 16, 2013, 09:30 AM	#2
Boomer58cal Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2013 Location: closer than you think Posts: 967	Last I heard there's a long line of people in front of you. I'm one of them. Great idea but this is probably the worst time in history to buy brass in any amounts. Good luck. __________________ The number one cause of death in the 20th century. 290,000,000 citizens were first disarmed and then murdered by their own governments. This number does not include those killed in war. We're from the government, we're here to help

March 16, 2013, 09:03 PM	#9
greentick Senior Member Join Date: January 15, 2011 Location: Deep South Posts: 261	interesting __________________ nous défions

March 17, 2013, 09:23 AM	#12
grizmt Junior Member Join Date: March 15, 2013 Posts: 12	Once fired MIL brass? Good luck! I'm a new "wanna be" reloader. The reason I say "wanna be" is it's taking forever to find all the parts needed to put out even one round. I found the govliquidation site and thought "oh boy I'll buy a pallet of that" and signed up waiting for the next auction. Well, I had some down time so I started poking through the site and found the link for past auction results and went to the page for spent brass where you can see what has been paid as recently as last week. Lowest price was over $1800 for 272 lbs of .40 cal and $5k for 750 lbs of 9mm. This is all plus shipping from wherever it is. I'm looking at a 400 lb lot of 9mm (about 4500 rounds) which I'll bet goes for over $3k. So unless you're real,real lucky or have a conglomerate or personal deep pockets the odds of buying from this site are slim to none. I'd love to get a group together but finding people with the want,time and $$ to get,sort and possibly sell off some to recoup costs is not an easy task.

March 21, 2013, 08:43 PM	#14
Once Fired Member Join Date: October 26, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 62	Thanks for the replies Hey all Yes, I am looking directly at buying in very large quantities (say 5,000 pounds at a time), cleaning it up, and reselling it. I have investors behind it now, too. We'll see if this takes off into a real venture shortly. Thank you for the feedback! ZAG __________________ Video games are for when you need to escape from reality. Responsible firearm ownership is for when you can't. Zombie Apocalypse Games Once Fired Lake City Brass Texas Security Guard Jobs

March 16, 2013, 09:48 AM	#3
ScottRiqui Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 2,905	Reputation is really all that matters - the brass itself is pretty much a commodity item. As long as your website accurately describes what you have and what you've done to it processing-wise, and you ship quickly, word will get around.

March 16, 2013, 10:52 AM	#4
steve4102 Senior Member Join Date: December 23, 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,952	The brass you seek is being destroyed and not being sold to the public. http://www.examiner.com/article/fort...upply-and-more

March 16, 2013, 11:25 AM	#5
rajbcpa Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 2012 Posts: 321	i'm finding some crimped brass at auction cites so some of it is getting to the public. it is not easy to find and it is expensive now.

March 16, 2013, 11:28 AM	#6
ScottRiqui Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 2,905	I think it varies from location to location. The local Marine range where I shoot sells brass for $3/pound, and you can pick the calibers you want if you're willing to sort through the barrels. Plus, they seem to think that a five-gallon bucket of brass only weighs 35 pounds. I've already bought a lifetime supply of Lake City 5.56 brass, and I've got so damned much crimped 9mm that I've started recycling it rather than mess with it.

March 16, 2013, 11:54 AM	#7
KO3422 Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2011 Posts: 124	I know a couple of my local ranges sell their brass. It's a tough find nowadays.

March 16, 2013, 04:59 PM	#8
Burly Junior Member Join Date: February 3, 2013 Location: Kalifornia Posts: 6	http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...ent_Id%3C=8999)) That's where I'd go if I were wanting to buy spent brass in BULK. If the search doesn't come up on the link just type "brass" in the search block. No idea what the ending prices of these auctions have been. Good luck to you.

March 16, 2013, 10:07 PM	#10
medalguy Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2009 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,033	I also sometimes buy scrap brass from military installations. The problem is finding lots that are reasonable in size. I don't call 600,000 pounds in a lot very reasonable for bidding to resell. There are quite a few resellers all bidding on this brass, so good luck to you.

March 17, 2013, 01:26 AM	#11
A pause for the COZ Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 2012 Location: Braham, Minnesota Posts: 1,314	I have purchased 223 brass in 1000 case lots from Weidners reloading. Easy on line transaction. Once they sent me a lot that was advertised as mostly FC head stamped brass with some others included. What I got was a lot that was 95% Speer head stamped and I counted only 25 FC head stamps. I sent them a Email explaining what i had ordered and also what I had got. The Email response I received with in 1 hour. Sorry for the mix up. 1000 FC head stamp 223 on the way. Cant beat that and I still got to keep the Speer cases. Cant complain about that.

March 17, 2013, 10:58 PM	#13
Burly Junior Member Join Date: February 3, 2013 Location: Kalifornia Posts: 6	He said he was looking to open a business supplying surplus brass. That site is for the person buying by the pound not by the shell case. He probably knew about it but I figured I'd mention it if he hadn't seen it yet.

March 21, 2013, 10:20 PM	#15
overthere Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2012 Posts: 290	Here is 400,000 lbs of brass to start you off http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...&convertTo=USD