Brian's (Military) Surplus . . .

Prof Young · April 2, 2022, 06:39 PM

Was headed back to IL from IN earlier today. Stopped in at "Down By the Tracks" gun store in Galveston IN to look for reloading stuff. While there a guy told me about Brian's Surplus in Greentown IN. It was not much out of my way so I checked it out. Wow. Lots and lots of ammo of all kinds. Lots of reloading power. Lots of other fun stuff. (Was tempted to buy an MRE just to try it out.) And a lotta customers. (no primers save for 50 cal). Prices were were in line with with what you see on most ammo these days. Worth a look if you are in the neighborhood.

Life is good.
Prof Young

BornFighting88 · April 3, 2022, 02:46 PM

Does he have a website?

jcj54 · April 3, 2022, 05:53 PM

Website
https://brianssurplus.com/

BornFighting88 · April 5, 2022, 04:48 AM

Dang!! They have removed their online store.

**4V50 Gary** · April 5, 2022, 09:25 AM

yep, all gray screen.

deadcoyote · May 2, 2022, 10:39 PM

Everyone who’s never ate an MRE always gets full of the giggles wanting to try one. Really not good.

doofus47 · May 3, 2022, 08:26 PM

Not the best, but when you're out on a mountain side during late elk season, they can make a good bite.
I do love the weird water-powered heaters.

armoredman · May 3, 2022, 09:15 PM

Only MREs that were good came with Tobasco - only way to kill the taste.

**Aguila Blanca** · May 3, 2022, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadcoyote

Everyone who’s never ate an MRE always gets full of the giggles wanting to try one. Really not good.

Better'n K-rations or C-rations.

TailGator · May 5, 2022, 02:39 PM

The joke going around after major hurricanes here was that the troops smiled while tossing boxes of MREs into the back of your car because they were glad to be rid of them. But they weren't really that bad, as I recall. When you are tired and hungry enough you can eat anything that isn't snapping back at you.

jonnyc · May 6, 2022, 07:41 PM

I generally liked the Manot Krav combat rations we got in the IDF, but my dog absolutely refused to eat any of the canned meat options. He obviously had a much more discerning palate.

Webleymkv · May 25, 2022, 08:56 AM

Brian's isn't far from me and I stop in often. He buys from a lot of distributors and thus usually has inventory that others locally don't though he sometimes has to pay scalpers prices for inventory which, of course, gets passed on to the consumer. He does very sporadically have primers, but prices will be high (last time was $150/1000).

603Country · May 26, 2022, 02:24 PM

I don’t know about Brian’s, but I can say, regarding foods and speaking from experience, that the C-Rat Beans and Weenies (aka “Beans and Dog ____” are far superior to MRE Beans and Franks.

Paul B. · May 26, 2022, 04:15 PM

Back around late 1963 when I was doing a TDY at Indian Springs AFB I got involved with a project when they loaded wing tanks with supplies like C rations and air dropped then into specific areas. he idea wad to figure out how to drop supplies to troops that were and couldn't be supplie by normal type air drops. Well, the whole thing didn't quite work out as planned and we had about 8 wing tanked that were smashed open with cartons of C-rat scattered all over the area.
Dates on some of the carton were in the late 1930s.

We opened some of the cans and if it smelled OK gave them a try. Full 20 round packs of cigarettes as well but the contents were so dried out the tobacco just fell out of the tube. Big mistake in throwing those away. I wonder what collectors would pay for a pack of Lucky Strikes in the original green packs? Probably the best eating was the roast beef or pork steaks. A couple of the wing tanks had bandoliers of ammo for the M1 Garand. Me and my buddy split that between us to feed our hunting rifles. The surprising thing though was how well that old canned food held up over the years.
Paul B.

oldbear1950 · June 24, 2022, 03:23 PM

Went into the US ARMY RESERVES 1968 were still carrying M-1s. transitioned to US COAST GUARD JULY 1968 full time active duty and were still shooting M-1s. Retired from US COAST GUARD, 1989, and were still using M-1s for drill and funerals.

April 2, 2022, 06:39 PM	#1
Prof Young Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2007 Location: Illinois - down state Posts: 2,404	Brian's (Military) Surplus . . . Was headed back to IL from IN earlier today. Stopped in at "Down By the Tracks" gun store in Galveston IN to look for reloading stuff. While there a guy told me about Brian's Surplus in Greentown IN. It was not much out of my way so I checked it out. Wow. Lots and lots of ammo of all kinds. Lots of reloading power. Lots of other fun stuff. (Was tempted to buy an MRE just to try it out.) And a lotta customers. (no primers save for 50 cal). Prices were were in line with with what you see on most ammo these days. Worth a look if you are in the neighborhood. Life is good. Prof Young

April 3, 2022, 05:53 PM	#3
jcj54 Senior Member Join Date: February 28, 2011 Posts: 219	Brian's Surplus Website https://brianssurplus.com/

April 5, 2022, 09:25 AM	#5
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,841	yep, all gray screen. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

May 3, 2022, 08:26 PM	#7
doofus47 Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: live in a in a house when i'm not in a tent Posts: 2,483	Not the best, but when you're out on a mountain side during late elk season, they can make a good bite. I do love the weird water-powered heaters. __________________ I'm right about the metric system 3/4 of the time.

May 6, 2022, 07:41 PM	#11
jonnyc Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2009 Location: PA Posts: 1,731	I generally liked the Manot Krav combat rations we got in the IDF, but my dog absolutely refused to eat any of the canned meat options. He obviously had a much more discerning palate. __________________ 2024 PA Cartridge Collector Show; Aug. 16-17, 2024!!! Buy...Sell...Trade All Types of Ammunition & Ordnance PM or email me for 2024 show details.

April 3, 2022, 02:46 PM	#2
BornFighting88 Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2021 Posts: 455	Does he have a website?

April 5, 2022, 04:48 AM	#4
BornFighting88 Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2021 Posts: 455	Dang!! They have removed their online store.

May 2, 2022, 10:39 PM	#6
deadcoyote Senior Member Join Date: April 13, 2009 Location: northern CA Posts: 674	Everyone who’s never ate an MRE always gets full of the giggles wanting to try one. Really not good.

May 3, 2022, 09:15 PM	#8
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	Only MREs that were good came with Tobasco - only way to kill the taste.

May 5, 2022, 02:39 PM	#10
TailGator Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,787	The joke going around after major hurricanes here was that the troops smiled while tossing boxes of MREs into the back of your car because they were glad to be rid of them. But they weren't really that bad, as I recall. When you are tired and hungry enough you can eat anything that isn't snapping back at you.

May 25, 2022, 08:56 AM	#12
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	Brian's isn't far from me and I stop in often. He buys from a lot of distributors and thus usually has inventory that others locally don't though he sometimes has to pay scalpers prices for inventory which, of course, gets passed on to the consumer. He does very sporadically have primers, but prices will be high (last time was $150/1000).

May 26, 2022, 02:24 PM	#13
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	I don’t know about Brian’s, but I can say, regarding foods and speaking from experience, that the C-Rat Beans and Weenies (aka “Beans and Dog ____” are far superior to MRE Beans and Franks.

May 26, 2022, 04:15 PM	#14
Paul B. Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 1999 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 3,802	Back around late 1963 when I was doing a TDY at Indian Springs AFB I got involved with a project when they loaded wing tanks with supplies like C rations and air dropped then into specific areas. he idea wad to figure out how to drop supplies to troops that were and couldn't be supplie by normal type air drops. Well, the whole thing didn't quite work out as planned and we had about 8 wing tanked that were smashed open with cartons of C-rat scattered all over the area. Dates on some of the carton were in the late 1930s. We opened some of the cans and if it smelled OK gave them a try. Full 20 round packs of cigarettes as well but the contents were so dried out the tobacco just fell out of the tube. Big mistake in throwing those away. I wonder what collectors would pay for a pack of Lucky Strikes in the original green packs? Probably the best eating was the roast beef or pork steaks. A couple of the wing tanks had bandoliers of ammo for the M1 Garand. Me and my buddy split that between us to feed our hunting rifles. The surprising thing though was how well that old canned food held up over the years. Paul B. __________________ COMPROMISE IS NOT AN OPTION!

June 24, 2022, 03:23 PM	#15
oldbear1950 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2022 Posts: 205	Went into the US ARMY RESERVES 1968 were still carrying M-1s. transitioned to US COAST GUARD JULY 1968 full time active duty and were still shooting M-1s. Retired from US COAST GUARD, 1989, and were still using M-1s for drill and funerals.