Do you find yourself excited when you see free brass in the dirt ?

Road_Clam · August 23, 2015, 07:42 AM

On a more lighter note, I've been only handloading for about 3 years now and I also belong to a large gun club. In the beginning it was all about just shooting. Then I got into handloading, and I found myself first "all about shooting" then walking the range for brass. Now I seem to be all about shooting half the time and then visiting all the various ranges for brass...God help me if my next step is going to the range not to shoot but to just scrounge for brass...Have NO desire to sell the brass, I think I've become a brass hoarder ?? LOL Your comments welcome !

Mike38 · August 23, 2015, 08:47 AM

I must admit, if I see someone shooting new commercial .223 or new .45acp and it looks as if they are going to leave it, I do keep an eye on them. If they pack up and leave it behind, I'm usually picking it up before the engine gets started on their vehicle. But walking up and down a shooting line, no I don't do that.

I have more 9mm brass than a person could ever need, so I don't bother with that, I just pick up what I shot of my own. I also reload 7mmSTW. If someone left that behind, I'd think I'd have won the lotto, but that's never happened.

mikejonestkd · August 23, 2015, 08:57 AM

At our local conservation club members need to police their own brass and put in in bins- one for steel cases, one for 17HMR and 22LR, one for pistol brass and one for rifle brass.

I have more brass than I'll ever need, but I still poke through the bins every trip, just in case...

F. Guffey · August 23, 2015, 09:52 AM

Road_Clam, I always ask about brass at the range, for the most part the answer is universal. If the brass is left by another shooter the brass belongs to the range. I always ask about containers, I do not haul ammo to the range in baggies.

If someone is shooting next to me and the shooter is not a reloader I am allowed to make a deal, I have never found it necessary to exchange money. That ammo always come with the box the ammo came in.

And then there comes that time when an individual become know as a reloader that uses/needs brass. On occasions I will get a call informing me someone wants to sell brass, sight unseen for a price. When this happens I take the time to make arrangements to determine value. I do not have regrets.

Then there are iron and metal yards. A great source to tin/lead, lead and brass. I have purchased brass in 5 gallon and larger buckets. I have no ideal how belts of 30/06 ammo can make it to an iron and metal yard/recycler, I thought it was a good source of components and there is nothing like starting with a new unfired case.

F. Guffey

jdscholer · August 23, 2015, 10:22 AM

Oh Hell yeah. But from the time I was a little kid, I've been looking for treasures in the dirt; spent bullets, old bottles, arrowheads, and of course brass. jd

Jim243 · August 23, 2015, 10:27 AM

About 5 years ago you could find brass all over the ground at the range I shoot at, today that is not so. When someone is shooting next to me I always ask if they are keeping their brass and if not I recover their empty cases. Most shooters I find today keep their brass even if they do not reload. If you ask before picking up the brass, often the non-reloader will hand you the brass around their shooting station.

Jim

Road_Clam · August 23, 2015, 10:50 AM

I'd say that 75% of shooters at my club just leave their brass on the ground. I find a lot of brass beyond the firing line so my guess is that most shooters can't be bothered with calling the line "cold" to police their brass. I tend to visit my club during late day hours and most of the time the line is empty and I'm the only shooter. Many shooters whom I've befriended at my range actually give me their brass. I always return the gesture by giving the shooter a few of my "match" handloads and say "try these and see if your rifle likes them". By far the most popular spent brass I find is .223 and 9mm. I don't shoot 9mm but I do shoot .40S&W and I find a good amount of .40 brass as well. I have recovered about 1500 pcs of .223 and probably 600 pcs of .40 . I find a good amount of -06 brass as well especially after we host an antique military match.

excaliber551 · August 23, 2015, 05:23 PM

Most of the shooters at my range reload so they carefully extract and put their cases away safely. I do see some 45 acp from time to time and pick it up.

rightside · August 23, 2015, 09:52 PM

I used to, but I now have so much brass I'll never get around to reloading , I don't pick it up unless it it's real easy to get. I don't go out of my way anymore. I have boxes of it in all calibers!

4runnerman · August 23, 2015, 10:00 PM

Road Clam- I have been doing it for about 5 or 6 years now. Let me give you a warning-Stop while you still can. It has become an obsession for me now. I can't walk pass a piece of Brass anymore. I sell everything I don't load for. Everytime I go to the range now a plastic bag comes with me. I shoot 5 or 6 shots, pick up brass, shoot 5 or 6 more, Pick up brass. It's a viscous circle. No one at the range I go to except reloaders picks up there brass. I sit and watch, all brand new once fired brass by the hundreds. Most days I will come home with 15 to 25 Lbs of brass.

Gravedigger56 · August 24, 2015, 04:17 AM

Unfortunately, we are required to remove all of our brass when finished at the range so yes, I do get excited when I find a small cache of brass someone forgot to clean up.

Road_Clam · August 24, 2015, 04:44 AM

When I attended the Sig Saur Academy's "reach for a thousand" instructional class I was astounded at the amount of brass left in the dirt at all their ranges, I mean the ground was a sea of .223 and .308 brass ! I asked my instructor if it was ok to pick up brass when the ranges were cold, and he replied "absolutely". I went home at the end of the day with about 400 pcs of varied LC .223 and FGMM .308 brass ! HUGE score !

Fox84 · August 24, 2015, 05:26 AM

I've quit picking up 223. The primer pockets and trimming are so time consuming. I'll just keep reloading the thousands of mine that are processed until they give out.

I have plenty of brass, primers and powder. It's the bullets I can't seem to keep an abundance of.

madmo44mag · August 24, 2015, 07:00 AM

There is no other way to say this.
I am a brass whore!!!!
I ask first and pick up second.
If there is free brass to be had I want it even if it is not in a caliber I load.
Brass I do not load I use as trading fodder.
I always ask those shooting around me if they save their brass. If they do I do my best not to collect up any of their brass.
Some of my shooting buddies claim it is a sickness because they don't reload but now collect brass for me.

Ozzieman · August 24, 2015, 07:46 AM

Excited? No.
Just wondering what else the nit wits throw away. Baby with the wash?
Then you have the other nit wits that start picking up your brass while you’re shooting. When you ask them what they are doing they say. “I was told it was ok to pick up stray brass”.

FlyFish · August 24, 2015, 10:11 AM

I have more brass for the two dozen or so calibers I reload, along with a few other calibers I don't even own a gun for, than I'll be able to use in 10 lifetimes. I still pick up discarded brass every chance I get, just as I did as a kid over 50 years ago. Can't help myself - old habits die hard.

4runnerman · August 24, 2015, 10:13 AM

Hit the range this morning to try my new Barrel out. Sweeeeeet shooting for sure. It has been a very windy week here so Brass was not to good today. I did still manage to get about 10lbs of 9MMM,45 ACP, and 223 brass though.

DavidAGO · August 24, 2015, 11:46 AM

I do not consider it a good trip to the range if I do not come home with more brass than I got there with.

David

Clark · August 24, 2015, 12:23 PM

I once got 8 gallons of 223 brass for $62 at a gun show.
All brands all conditions. Some looked like it was new, some looked like it had been in the dirt for a season. Most in between.
I processed it while watching TV; cleaned, sized, primed.

I loaded some of it 35 gr Vmax moly 15 gr Blue Dot ~ 35k psi ~ 3500 fps.
I gave some to a guy who another friend ran out of ammo and took some from him, and one of those rounds blew up in a Rem700. His eye was injured and they sought medical treatment.

I have the case. Consensus seems to be it was not an overload nor a gun failure, but a case failure.

The guy's eye is better, and now he will only shoot new Winchester 223 brass.
When I shoot rodents with a 223, I am now wearing safety glasses.
I wear safety glasses while target practicing big game rifles, but I hunt big game without safety glasses.

When I see brass in the dirt, I think about my friend's eye.

AVirginian · August 24, 2015, 12:36 PM

The friends I shoot with don't reload so we pick up all the brass for me, I now have plenty. Sometimes shooters in the nearby lanes, seeing up pick up, ask if we want theirs, we always do. I never ask as I don't want to seem greedy.
On unregulated ranges, I pickup whatever I find as long as no one is there.

I did give away some reloads once but then thought better of it and now I am the only one to shoot my reloads. I would feel really bad if something went wrong.

LE-28 · August 24, 2015, 05:53 PM

I used to when I was young but these days if I see something laying around, I'm much more scrutinizing about what it may be than I use to be. I learned over the 40+ years of reloading, my calibers on sight, and I don't jump like I used to. Fact is, it has to be pretty appealing or I don't even look very hard.

Guess I'm getting lazy. (or maybe just plain old!)

Bucksnort1 · August 24, 2015, 08:38 PM

Road_Clam, I fall into the last description. I will gather all my guns, ammo and other shooting stuff then head for a couple of places in the mountains. There have been many times when I have not fired a single shot but rather, collected a lot of brass.

armoredman · August 24, 2015, 11:30 PM

I've "cleaned up after" more than one party when i hit the range. Whatever I don't use, I know a guy who can. Only exception was when I found 50 peices of once fired 300 Whisper. Ended up "paying it forward" by sending it to a guy on another forum who could use it - nobody down here even knew what I was talking about.

lee n. field · August 25, 2015, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Do you find yourself excited when you see free brass in the dirt ?

It's a good day, when you come back with more brass than you went with.

Tomas · August 25, 2015, 11:18 AM

5.56 is kind of a 'meh' moment, but I do pick it up if it looks factory fresh. Mainly, to cut for my .300 blk.

I get pretty pumped to find .308 brass, as well as .243 and 7mm-08. .308 is much more expensive to shoot and free brass is very nice. Most people don't even realize you can just run the .243 and 7mm-08 brass through the sizer.

7.62x39 is my favorite though. It's rare, that's probably why, and I'm going to get a Ruger Mini-30 soon, hopefully, and it won't hammer the brass so hard like my AK does.

August 23, 2015, 07:42 AM	#1
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	Do you find yourself excited when you see free brass in the dirt ? On a more lighter note, I've been only handloading for about 3 years now and I also belong to a large gun club. In the beginning it was all about just shooting. Then I got into handloading, and I found myself first "all about shooting" then walking the range for brass. Now I seem to be all about shooting half the time and then visiting all the various ranges for brass...God help me if my next step is going to the range not to shoot but to just scrounge for brass...Have NO desire to sell the brass, I think I've become a brass hoarder ?? LOL Your comments welcome ! __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid"

August 23, 2015, 08:57 AM	#3
mikejonestkd Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2006 Location: Brockport, NY Posts: 3,716	At our local conservation club members need to police their own brass and put in in bins- one for steel cases, one for 17HMR and 22LR, one for pistol brass and one for rifle brass. I have more brass than I'll ever need, but I still poke through the bins every trip, just in case... __________________ You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

August 23, 2015, 10:22 AM	#5
jdscholer Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2008 Location: Jefferson State Posts: 1,197	Oh Hell yeah. But from the time I was a little kid, I've been looking for treasures in the dirt; spent bullets, old bottles, arrowheads, and of course brass. jd __________________ "We're all dummies, just in different ways." Old Okie Philosopher

August 23, 2015, 10:27 AM	#6
Jim243 Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2009 Location: Just off Route 66 Posts: 5,067	About 5 years ago you could find brass all over the ground at the range I shoot at, today that is not so. When someone is shooting next to me I always ask if they are keeping their brass and if not I recover their empty cases. Most shooters I find today keep their brass even if they do not reload. If you ask before picking up the brass, often the non-reloader will hand you the brass around their shooting station. Jim __________________ Si vis pacem, para bellum

August 23, 2015, 10:50 AM	#7
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	I'd say that 75% of shooters at my club just leave their brass on the ground. I find a lot of brass beyond the firing line so my guess is that most shooters can't be bothered with calling the line "cold" to police their brass. I tend to visit my club during late day hours and most of the time the line is empty and I'm the only shooter. Many shooters whom I've befriended at my range actually give me their brass. I always return the gesture by giving the shooter a few of my "match" handloads and say "try these and see if your rifle likes them". By far the most popular spent brass I find is .223 and 9mm. I don't shoot 9mm but I do shoot .40S&W and I find a good amount of .40 brass as well. I have recovered about 1500 pcs of .223 and probably 600 pcs of .40 . I find a good amount of -06 brass as well especially after we host an antique military match. __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid" Last edited by Road_Clam; August 23, 2015 at 10:55 AM.

August 23, 2015, 08:47 AM	#2
Mike38 Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2009 Location: North Central Illinois Posts: 2,710	I must admit, if I see someone shooting new commercial .223 or new .45acp and it looks as if they are going to leave it, I do keep an eye on them. If they pack up and leave it behind, I'm usually picking it up before the engine gets started on their vehicle. But walking up and down a shooting line, no I don't do that. I have more 9mm brass than a person could ever need, so I don't bother with that, I just pick up what I shot of my own. I also reload 7mmSTW. If someone left that behind, I'd think I'd have won the lotto, but that's never happened.

August 23, 2015, 09:52 AM	#4
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	Road_Clam, I always ask about brass at the range, for the most part the answer is universal. If the brass is left by another shooter the brass belongs to the range. I always ask about containers, I do not haul ammo to the range in baggies. If someone is shooting next to me and the shooter is not a reloader I am allowed to make a deal, I have never found it necessary to exchange money. That ammo always come with the box the ammo came in. And then there comes that time when an individual become know as a reloader that uses/needs brass. On occasions I will get a call informing me someone wants to sell brass, sight unseen for a price. When this happens I take the time to make arrangements to determine value. I do not have regrets. Then there are iron and metal yards. A great source to tin/lead, lead and brass. I have purchased brass in 5 gallon and larger buckets. I have no ideal how belts of 30/06 ammo can make it to an iron and metal yard/recycler, I thought it was a good source of components and there is nothing like starting with a new unfired case. F. Guffey

August 23, 2015, 05:23 PM	#8
excaliber551 Member Join Date: February 2, 2013 Posts: 25	Most of the shooters at my range reload so they carefully extract and put their cases away safely. I do see some 45 acp from time to time and pick it up.

August 23, 2015, 09:52 PM	#9
rightside Senior Member Join Date: February 4, 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 419	I used to, but I now have so much brass I'll never get around to reloading , I don't pick it up unless it it's real easy to get. I don't go out of my way anymore. I have boxes of it in all calibers!

August 23, 2015, 10:00 PM	#10
4runnerman Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,577	Road Clam- I have been doing it for about 5 or 6 years now. Let me give you a warning-Stop while you still can. It has become an obsession for me now. I can't walk pass a piece of Brass anymore. I sell everything I don't load for. Everytime I go to the range now a plastic bag comes with me. I shoot 5 or 6 shots, pick up brass, shoot 5 or 6 more, Pick up brass. It's a viscous circle. No one at the range I go to except reloaders picks up there brass. I sit and watch, all brand new once fired brass by the hundreds. Most days I will come home with 15 to 25 Lbs of brass. __________________ NRA Certified RSO NwCP- Performance Isn't Optional

August 24, 2015, 04:17 AM	#11
Gravedigger56 Senior Member Join Date: February 5, 2015 Location: Indiana Posts: 125	Unfortunately, we are required to remove all of our brass when finished at the range so yes, I do get excited when I find a small cache of brass someone forgot to clean up.

August 24, 2015, 04:44 AM	#12
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	When I attended the Sig Saur Academy's "reach for a thousand" instructional class I was astounded at the amount of brass left in the dirt at all their ranges, I mean the ground was a sea of .223 and .308 brass ! I asked my instructor if it was ok to pick up brass when the ranges were cold, and he replied "absolutely". I went home at the end of the day with about 400 pcs of varied LC .223 and FGMM .308 brass ! HUGE score ! __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid"

August 24, 2015, 05:26 AM	#13
Fox84 Senior Member Join Date: September 25, 2012 Location: Chester Va Posts: 360	I've quit picking up 223. The primer pockets and trimming are so time consuming. I'll just keep reloading the thousands of mine that are processed until they give out. I have plenty of brass, primers and powder. It's the bullets I can't seem to keep an abundance of.

August 24, 2015, 07:00 AM	#14
madmo44mag Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2008 Location: Ft.Worth, Texas Posts: 1,522	There is no other way to say this. I am a brass whore!!!! I ask first and pick up second. If there is free brass to be had I want it even if it is not in a caliber I load. Brass I do not load I use as trading fodder. I always ask those shooting around me if they save their brass. If they do I do my best not to collect up any of their brass. Some of my shooting buddies claim it is a sickness because they don't reload but now collect brass for me. __________________ Texas - Not just a state but an attitude! For monthly shooting events in DFW visit http://www.meetup.com/TexasGunOwner-DFW

August 24, 2015, 07:46 AM	#15
Ozzieman Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Northern Indiana Posts: 6,117	Excited? No. Just wondering what else the nit wits throw away. Baby with the wash? Then you have the other nit wits that start picking up your brass while you’re shooting. When you ask them what they are doing they say. “I was told it was ok to pick up stray brass”. __________________ It was a sad day when I discovered my universal remote control did not in fact control the universe. Did you hear about the latest study.....5 out of 6 liberals say that Russian Roulette is safe.

August 24, 2015, 10:11 AM	#16
FlyFish Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Overlooking the Baker River Valley Posts: 1,723	I have more brass for the two dozen or so calibers I reload, along with a few other calibers I don't even own a gun for, than I'll be able to use in 10 lifetimes. I still pick up discarded brass every chance I get, just as I did as a kid over 50 years ago. Can't help myself - old habits die hard. __________________ NRA Benefactor Life Member NRA Certified Instructor: Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, PPIH, Metallic & Shotgun Shell Reloading; RSO Pemigewasset Valley Fish & Game Club

August 24, 2015, 10:13 AM	#17
4runnerman Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,577	Hit the range this morning to try my new Barrel out. Sweeeeeet shooting for sure. It has been a very windy week here so Brass was not to good today. I did still manage to get about 10lbs of 9MMM,45 ACP, and 223 brass though. __________________ NRA Certified RSO NwCP- Performance Isn't Optional

August 24, 2015, 11:46 AM	#18
DavidAGO Senior Member Join Date: October 7, 2008 Location: Magnolia, AR Posts: 340	I do not consider it a good trip to the range if I do not come home with more brass than I got there with. David

August 24, 2015, 12:36 PM	#20
AVirginian Senior Member Join Date: February 6, 2014 Posts: 128	The friends I shoot with don't reload so we pick up all the brass for me, I now have plenty. Sometimes shooters in the nearby lanes, seeing up pick up, ask if we want theirs, we always do. I never ask as I don't want to seem greedy. On unregulated ranges, I pickup whatever I find as long as no one is there. I did give away some reloads once but then thought better of it and now I am the only one to shoot my reloads. I would feel really bad if something went wrong.

August 24, 2015, 05:53 PM	#21
LE-28 Senior Member Join Date: September 24, 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 759	I used to when I was young but these days if I see something laying around, I'm much more scrutinizing about what it may be than I use to be. I learned over the 40+ years of reloading, my calibers on sight, and I don't jump like I used to. Fact is, it has to be pretty appealing or I don't even look very hard. Guess I'm getting lazy. (or maybe just plain old!)

August 24, 2015, 08:38 PM	#22
Bucksnort1 Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2013 Location: Littleton, Colorado Posts: 1,121	Road_Clam, I fall into the last description. I will gather all my guns, ammo and other shooting stuff then head for a couple of places in the mountains. There have been many times when I have not fired a single shot but rather, collected a lot of brass.

August 24, 2015, 11:30 PM	#23
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,297	I've "cleaned up after" more than one party when i hit the range. Whatever I don't use, I know a guy who can. Only exception was when I found 50 peices of once fired 300 Whisper. Ended up "paying it forward" by sending it to a guy on another forum who could use it - nobody down here even knew what I was talking about.

August 25, 2015, 11:18 AM	#25
Tomas Senior Member Join Date: May 9, 1999 Location: Blue State Posts: 441	5.56 is kind of a 'meh' moment, but I do pick it up if it looks factory fresh. Mainly, to cut for my .300 blk. I get pretty pumped to find .308 brass, as well as .243 and 7mm-08. .308 is much more expensive to shoot and free brass is very nice. Most people don't even realize you can just run the .243 and 7mm-08 brass through the sizer. 7.62x39 is my favorite though. It's rare, that's probably why, and I'm going to get a Ruger Mini-30 soon, hopefully, and it won't hammer the brass so hard like my AK does.