What do you find at your range?

ScottRiqui · February 5, 2012, 11:36 AM

The range where I shoot sells used brass by the pound and lets you pick out the calibers you want, so I've spent a fair amount of time scrounging through their brass barrels. It's a military range, so 9mm and .223 make up a HUGE fraction of the discarded brass. In fact, I'm excited when I find .38 Special or .380 ACP.

What seems to make up the bulk of the discards at your range?

JACK308 · February 5, 2012, 11:40 AM

I cant belive all the 40 and 9mm I found now I have an excuse to buy a 40 cal. I wish I could find 45/70 as easy.

ps I throw at all 380

sc928porsche · February 6, 2012, 01:13 AM

For many years, I would frequent public ranges and picked up all brass in my area. I have my own range now, so it what I shoot.

chris in va · February 6, 2012, 02:03 AM

Knob Creek has every caliber you can think of. Mostly 40, 9mm and 223 though.

FrankenMauser · February 6, 2012, 03:21 AM

The only public range I occasionally (very rarely) visit is also a police training range. I regularly find lipstick rounds, blanks, SMG-specific ammo, and other "oddities".

Uncle Buck · February 6, 2012, 09:54 AM

Quote:

What seems to make up the bulk of the discards at your range?

At my range it seems I am still finding shotgun wadding. I walk it almost every day and I still find the plastic wads. No one has fired shotguns since Thanksgiving. (Sorry, I know you meant public

)

At the Public Range: I stop by there once in awhile and mostly find steel cases and rim fire. Once in awhile I will find some .40 or 9 mm. And lots of trash that people bring to shoot, but never take home. I usually put it in a trash bag and leave it by the garbage barrel.

CrustyFN · February 6, 2012, 10:12 AM

My range is a private club. When one of the Police departments are qualifying I find a lot of 40 and 223. When I RO a match I find a lot of 9mm and 40 with some 45 thrown in. A couple of time there were some 1911 classes and I picked up a bunch of 45.

savagelover · February 6, 2012, 12:46 PM

I found a nice spotting scope once.....A week or so went by and a guy was up there..Said he left his scope here and will never get it back..I walk over to my truck and say hey,is this the one..his eyes bugged out and he offered me 20 bucks..I said no way...I was waiting to see if and who lost it....some guys would have kept it.....and one time I found a 22 rifle and I knew whos that was...Boy was thay little boy glad to see that..I was surprised his dad didn't miss it when they packed up....oh well

Mike1234 · February 6, 2012, 12:56 PM

^^^ I'm Genuinely Impressed. ^^^

Too many other folks these days would have been gleeful to have gotten something for free at others' expense. That's no better than thievery, IMHO.

serf 'rett · February 6, 2012, 01:05 PM

At the law enforcement range the majority of the brass is 40S&W, with some 9mm, .45ACP, 380 Auto, .223 and other.

Our gun club has to many reloaders; therefore, the pickin's or slim or none.

rclark · February 6, 2012, 01:13 PM

Mostly, 40 and 9mm. I bring home and toss in a bucket. Once in awhile I find some .45ACP. That I keep to reload. In all my years, I have never ran into rimmed cases on the ground (.38/.44/.45 etc.). People keep that and never let it hit the ground (box to gun, gun to box)

.

dickttx · February 6, 2012, 02:14 PM

After being a member for six months at my range I just last week got my 50th. round of .38 spl brass. I have accumulated 20 10mm, all Starline. Also 37 .38 Super, and a few odds and ends.
Gobs of 9mm, a bunch of .40, couple of hundred .380 (suprisingly quite a bit of Starline), and much more .45 ACP than I lose (probably 400 rounds.)
Can't imagine someone buying Starline brass and leaving it lay. I wounder if maybe some ammo manufacturers use Starline brass for their .380 and 10mm?

PoorRichRichard · February 6, 2012, 02:40 PM

+1 Savagelover. This nice old guy left one of his old Henry Boy's rifle and a nice Browning .22 hand gun at the range one day by accident. I was the only one there when I found them and could have easily walked off with them. I ended up staying at the range for about a extra 2 hours that day because I knew he would probably come back to pick them up. When he did, he was overjoyed that I kept an eye on his guns. If felt good to do the right thing. We ended up talking, and he invited me over to his house the next week and taught me how to reload.

m&p45acp10+1 · February 6, 2012, 02:51 PM

This is what I find at the range on a weekday after a busy weekend.

BigJimP · February 6, 2012, 04:18 PM

Probably half of what I sweep up at my local indoor range is 9mm...some .40S&W or .357 Sig ( especially if local police agencies have been in training) ...and some .45acp .../ but the other day, I swept up 200 cases in .357 mag...

The range I go to ....rents 40 or 50 guns ...so cases laying around depend on what's being rented...

Mike40-11 · February 6, 2012, 07:32 PM

I shoot at a private club that's infested with brass hounds. Like me.

So I don't find a whole lot unless the police have been out. Then .223 and .40

ScottRiqui · February 6, 2012, 07:37 PM

I don't think very many people scrounge brass at the Marine range I'm going to. The "brass barrels" are 55-gallon drums, and when one gets full it gets sealed and moved into storage. When they've accumulated enough drums to fill the bed of a stake truck, it all gets carted off to the recycler.

I think that there's probably a lot of everything in those barrels if I were willing to spend some time looking. I just got some of those nesting shell sorting bins, so maybe that will help me winnow away the 9mm and .223 chaff and see what else is in there.

Mike1234 · February 6, 2012, 07:52 PM

All the ranges I've been to around here sweep at EVERY cease fire so we don't have the chance even to collect our OWN unless we can catch it somehow. The public range (still a fee) is on dirt so collection is by finger, not sweeping.

joe45c · February 6, 2012, 09:00 PM

our range lets us look though the buckets pick out what we want, but for some reason there is never any .45colt brass. either noone shoots it at our range, or everyone is like me and scarfs it up as fast as possible,

orionengnr · February 6, 2012, 10:42 PM

I find a bunch of 9mm and .40, which I give away to people who load those cartridges.

I find a bit less .45 acp, which I keep and load. Once in a while I find some .45LC, which I keep and load. If I find some .380 or .357 Mag, I clean it and put it away, and will load for those one day soon.

rdmallory · February 12, 2012, 09:09 PM

I used to buy mine at a place in Louisville that no longer sells range brass.
40% 40SW
20% 9mm
20% 45acp
20% the rest 357sig, 10mm 380, etc

Out of a 5gal bucket I would sometimes get 50 5.7x28 and a hand full of 45LC.

I would exchange the 40SW at topbrass for credit on 5.7x28 brass.

Don't own a 40sw and after looking at all the bulged cases not sure I would ever want one.

Doug

dunerjeff · February 12, 2012, 09:39 PM

I started going to a local gun club($20 yearly membership fee)and the first half of the summer I could find 50+ of.40,maybe 100 of 9mm,50 of 45acp,here and there 10-20 of 45LC or 357mag,then 20 of 10mm.Suddenly the buckets were empty and stayed empty except .22 ,shotgun,and .223 sometimes, till winter now(even though I would go there and people were shooting everyday).One day I even helped a guy with his newly aquired 8mm Mauser and he had 50 once fired empties he was leaving there,others were there so I didn't take them out so I went back first thing the next morning,empty

jal5 · February 13, 2012, 02:23 PM

I will try to go to the public range right after ice has melted, lots of 9mm, 40's, and 380s then. Rarely any 38spl or 357mag brass. Sometimes 223 or other rifle brass but in very small quantities. My private club has lots of reloaders so very little brass is ever missed there!
Joe

Poodleshooter · February 13, 2012, 02:36 PM

The rifle range:
Mostly .223 steel case
then 7.62x39 steel and berdan brass mixed
then .223 brass
then .308 berdan primed brass
then 7.62x54 steel and berdan brass
then 8mm berdan primed brass
a smattering of hunting calibers in various small amounts
Any boxer primed commercial stuff doesn't even make it to the brass can, much less the trash can these days.
.22lr is far more common now, but I see less .22Mag and .17HMR.

The indoor range uses a sealed drum, so I can't scrounge it or evaluate it anymore.
The outdoor pistol/plinking range is mostly 9mm and .40S&W. The 9mm is mostly steel cased. We get a few .38 and .45ACP, but not many.

TheWanderingRed · February 13, 2012, 03:05 PM

My LGS has a range attached, and one is supposed to police ones own brass, but a ton of people don't. It's mostly 9mm from the carbine they rent out, but last time I was there I saw a ton of 380 auto, and six or seven shotgun shells. If they’ll let me collect this stuff can I make some money or credit off it to buy more ammo? Cause you can never have too much ammo

And FrankenMauser what are

Quote:

lipstick rounds

February 5, 2012, 11:36 AM	#1
ScottRiqui Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 2,905	What do you find at your range? The range where I shoot sells used brass by the pound and lets you pick out the calibers you want, so I've spent a fair amount of time scrounging through their brass barrels. It's a military range, so 9mm and .223 make up a HUGE fraction of the discarded brass. In fact, I'm excited when I find .38 Special or .380 ACP. What seems to make up the bulk of the discards at your range?

February 6, 2012, 01:13 AM	#3
sc928porsche Senior Member Join Date: May 29, 2008 Location: now living in alabama Posts: 2,433	For many years, I would frequent public ranges and picked up all brass in my area. I have my own range now, so it what I shoot. __________________ No such thing as a stupid question. What is stupid is not asking it.

February 6, 2012, 03:21 AM	#5
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,421	The only public range I occasionally (very rarely) visit is also a police training range. I regularly find lipstick rounds, blanks, SMG-specific ammo, and other "oddities". __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

February 6, 2012, 10:12 AM	#7
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	My range is a private club. When one of the Police departments are qualifying I find a lot of 40 and 223. When I RO a match I find a lot of 9mm and 40 with some 45 thrown in. A couple of time there were some 1911 classes and I picked up a bunch of 45. __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

February 6, 2012, 01:05 PM	#10
serf 'rett Senior Member Join Date: June 25, 2009 Location: Stuttgart, AR Posts: 1,569	At the law enforcement range the majority of the brass is 40S&W, with some 9mm, .45ACP, 380 Auto, .223 and other. Our gun club has to many reloaders; therefore, the pickin's or slim or none. __________________ A lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part.

February 5, 2012, 11:40 AM	#2
JACK308 Junior member Join Date: July 10, 2011 Posts: 377	I cant belive all the 40 and 9mm I found now I have an excuse to buy a 40 cal. I wish I could find 45/70 as easy. ps I throw at all 380

February 6, 2012, 02:03 AM	#4
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	Knob Creek has every caliber you can think of. Mostly 40, 9mm and 223 though.

February 6, 2012, 12:46 PM	#8
savagelover Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2011 Location: Alpine,,NY Posts: 254	I found a nice spotting scope once.....A week or so went by and a guy was up there..Said he left his scope here and will never get it back..I walk over to my truck and say hey,is this the one..his eyes bugged out and he offered me 20 bucks..I said no way...I was waiting to see if and who lost it....some guys would have kept it.....and one time I found a 22 rifle and I knew whos that was...Boy was thay little boy glad to see that..I was surprised his dad didn't miss it when they packed up....oh well

February 6, 2012, 12:56 PM	#9
Mike1234 Junior member Join Date: June 30, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 356	^^^ I'm Genuinely Impressed. ^^^ Too many other folks these days would have been gleeful to have gotten something for free at others' expense. That's no better than thievery, IMHO.

February 6, 2012, 01:13 PM	#11
rclark Senior Member Join Date: February 12, 2009 Location: Butte, MT Posts: 2,618	Mostly, 40 and 9mm. I bring home and toss in a bucket. Once in awhile I find some .45ACP. That I keep to reload. In all my years, I have never ran into rimmed cases on the ground (.38/.44/.45 etc.). People keep that and never let it hit the ground (box to gun, gun to box) . __________________ A clinger and deplorable, MAGA, and life NRA member. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Single Action .45 Colt (Sometimes colloquially referred to by its alias as the .45 'Long' Colt or .45LC). Don't leave home without it. That said, the .44Spec is right up their too... but the .45 Colt is still the king.

February 6, 2012, 02:14 PM	#12
dickttx Senior Member Join Date: May 29, 2011 Location: Fort Worth Posts: 500	After being a member for six months at my range I just last week got my 50th. round of .38 spl brass. I have accumulated 20 10mm, all Starline. Also 37 .38 Super, and a few odds and ends. Gobs of 9mm, a bunch of .40, couple of hundred .380 (suprisingly quite a bit of Starline), and much more .45 ACP than I lose (probably 400 rounds.) Can't imagine someone buying Starline brass and leaving it lay. I wounder if maybe some ammo manufacturers use Starline brass for their .380 and 10mm? __________________ Education teaches you the rules, experience teaches you the exceptions (Plagiarized from Claude Clay)

February 6, 2012, 02:40 PM	#13
PoorRichRichard Senior Member Join Date: April 13, 2011 Location: San Berdoo Posts: 269	+1 Savagelover. This nice old guy left one of his old Henry Boy's rifle and a nice Browning .22 hand gun at the range one day by accident. I was the only one there when I found them and could have easily walked off with them. I ended up staying at the range for about a extra 2 hours that day because I knew he would probably come back to pick them up. When he did, he was overjoyed that I kept an eye on his guns. If felt good to do the right thing. We ended up talking, and he invited me over to his house the next week and taught me how to reload.

February 6, 2012, 02:51 PM	#14
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	This is what I find at the range on a weekday after a busy weekend. __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

February 6, 2012, 04:18 PM	#15
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	Probably half of what I sweep up at my local indoor range is 9mm...some .40S&W or .357 Sig ( especially if local police agencies have been in training) ...and some .45acp .../ but the other day, I swept up 200 cases in .357 mag... The range I go to ....rents 40 or 50 guns ...so cases laying around depend on what's being rented...

February 6, 2012, 07:32 PM	#16
Mike40-11 Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 841	I shoot at a private club that's infested with brass hounds. Like me. So I don't find a whole lot unless the police have been out. Then .223 and .40

February 6, 2012, 07:37 PM	#17
ScottRiqui Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 2,905	I don't think very many people scrounge brass at the Marine range I'm going to. The "brass barrels" are 55-gallon drums, and when one gets full it gets sealed and moved into storage. When they've accumulated enough drums to fill the bed of a stake truck, it all gets carted off to the recycler. I think that there's probably a lot of everything in those barrels if I were willing to spend some time looking. I just got some of those nesting shell sorting bins, so maybe that will help me winnow away the 9mm and .223 chaff and see what else is in there.

February 6, 2012, 07:52 PM	#18
Mike1234 Junior member Join Date: June 30, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 356	All the ranges I've been to around here sweep at EVERY cease fire so we don't have the chance even to collect our OWN unless we can catch it somehow. The public range (still a fee) is on dirt so collection is by finger, not sweeping.

February 6, 2012, 09:00 PM	#19
joe45c Senior Member Join Date: January 22, 2012 Location: peru ny Posts: 218	our range lets us look though the buckets pick out what we want, but for some reason there is never any .45colt brass. either noone shoots it at our range, or everyone is like me and scarfs it up as fast as possible,

February 6, 2012, 10:42 PM	#20
orionengnr Senior Member Join Date: July 9, 2004 Posts: 5,173	I find a bunch of 9mm and .40, which I give away to people who load those cartridges. I find a bit less .45 acp, which I keep and load. Once in a while I find some .45LC, which I keep and load. If I find some .380 or .357 Mag, I clean it and put it away, and will load for those one day soon.

February 12, 2012, 09:09 PM	#21
rdmallory Senior Member Join Date: February 10, 2009 Location: Deltona FL Posts: 953	I used to buy mine at a place in Louisville that no longer sells range brass. 40% 40SW 20% 9mm 20% 45acp 20% the rest 357sig, 10mm 380, etc Out of a 5gal bucket I would sometimes get 50 5.7x28 and a hand full of 45LC. I would exchange the 40SW at topbrass for credit on 5.7x28 brass. Don't own a 40sw and after looking at all the bulged cases not sure I would ever want one. Doug

February 12, 2012, 09:39 PM	#22
dunerjeff Senior Member Join Date: March 31, 2011 Location: central Wisconsin Posts: 440	I started going to a local gun club($20 yearly membership fee)and the first half of the summer I could find 50+ of.40,maybe 100 of 9mm,50 of 45acp,here and there 10-20 of 45LC or 357mag,then 20 of 10mm.Suddenly the buckets were empty and stayed empty except .22 ,shotgun,and .223 sometimes, till winter now(even though I would go there and people were shooting everyday).One day I even helped a guy with his newly aquired 8mm Mauser and he had 50 once fired empties he was leaving there,others were there so I didn't take them out so I went back first thing the next morning,empty __________________ sent via telegram

February 13, 2012, 02:23 PM	#23
jal5 Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2009 Location: NE Ohio Posts: 419	I will try to go to the public range right after ice has melted, lots of 9mm, 40's, and 380s then. Rarely any 38spl or 357mag brass. Sometimes 223 or other rifle brass but in very small quantities. My private club has lots of reloaders so very little brass is ever missed there! Joe __________________ We live in the greatest country on Earth- always be thankful!

February 13, 2012, 02:36 PM	#24
Poodleshooter Senior Member Join Date: August 7, 2000 Location: Floating down the James River in VA Posts: 2,599	The rifle range: Mostly .223 steel case then 7.62x39 steel and berdan brass mixed then .223 brass then .308 berdan primed brass then 7.62x54 steel and berdan brass then 8mm berdan primed brass a smattering of hunting calibers in various small amounts Any boxer primed commercial stuff doesn't even make it to the brass can, much less the trash can these days. .22lr is far more common now, but I see less .22Mag and .17HMR. The indoor range uses a sealed drum, so I can't scrounge it or evaluate it anymore. The outdoor pistol/plinking range is mostly 9mm and .40S&W. The 9mm is mostly steel cased. We get a few .38 and .45ACP, but not many.

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