What to do with all this brass.

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

Hey, bit of a prior lurker but this is my first post here. I've been saving up brass and currently have a couple buckets of it and I'm not sure what to do with it. As my username implies, I have lots of toys and not very much space (I'm sure that sounds familiar).

It's a mix of 9 and 223 and a little bit of other stuff mixed in. I shoot mostly 9 and 223, but I find really good prices - I only buy a few times a year and really shop hard for it, use any promos/coupon codes/discounts etc then buy several cases at a time. For example, my last ammo purchase was brass cased lead 9mm for 15 cpr.

I've always wanted to get into reloading and I think *maybe* it could potentially save some money, but IIRC last time I looked at the total cost of consumables it was pretty much as expensive as buying new, and that's before the gear but it's been a while since I did that research and I don't know what current prices are like.

I don't shoot distance or precision, so there's no benefit to being able to make super great quality rounds ... I would be reloading just to save money.

Think it's worth it or should I just try to sell it ? We're still allowed to buy and sell brass here in Md right ?

Squaregrouper · May 6, 2018

With the current prices for "common" rounds, You will need to reload quite a bit of ammo to see a return on the money spent for reloading equipment.
Obviously, the next time an ammo panic/shortage happens, the above goes out the window.

K31 · May 6, 2018

What's your time worth to you? If you're on a fixed income then reloading may save you money. If you work for a living and you're only reloading to save money, then volunteer to do some OT or get a job at McDonalds, either will pay you more money to buy ammo for your time than reloading and that's after your equipment costs are re-couped.

During ammo shortages, power and primers become scarce also.

ohen cepel · May 6, 2018

9 and 5.56 are both very available and cheap now, if those were what you're looking to reload it will take a LOT to break even with reloading so I wouldn't do it.

I rarely load for those 2 rounds even though I can as it just doesn't make sense for me unless I'm loading something odd.

Alan3413 · May 6, 2018

Freedom munitions will take brass turn ins and give you credit for future purchases.

AlanInSilverSpring · May 6, 2018

Alan3413 said:
Freedom munitions will take brass turn ins and give you credit for future purchases.

Considering what it would cost to ship, would that get you a better deal than just taking it to a scrap yard ?

Alan3413 · May 6, 2018

USPS has flat rate boxes. You can pack them to the brim and ship it in. Its been a while since I did this but I got $30+ back after deducting shipping. I have another box filling up now.

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

Thank you. I figured the break even for those would be quite a while. If I were shooting large hunting loads or longer distance or precision loads I figured *that* would be a no-brainer (Man, I bought a box of 30-06 once to feed my 1903 and couldn't believe how expensive it was).

Edit: this reply was to Ohen-Cepel. Sorry, I didn't realize the message board don't thread the messages.

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

Thanks Alan - when you ship can you just ship mixed dirty ? Or do they want sorted ? Clean ? I don't know if I've bought from Freedom but I'll check them out.

WeaponsCollector · May 6, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS949QQDtWQ

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

Alan3413 said:
USPS has flat rate boxes. You can pack them to the brim and ship it in. Its been a while since I did this but I got $30+ back after deducting shipping. I have another box filling up now.

Alan thanks, I checked them out. Although I haven't priced ammo recently, right now they're running 7 cpr and up over my last purchase price. That would be a 280 dollar difference on my last purchase had I purchased from them ... so I may explore other alternatives like selling the brass.

Or, as the other comment mentioned if I don't sell it to a reloader, I'm sure the scrapyards would give me *something* for it. Could even be fun to melt down and craft with.

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

WeaponsCollector said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS949QQDtWQ

That video's awesome ! Unfortunately I don't think I'll be making those ...

AlanInSilverSpring · May 6, 2018

I don't know how casings are classified but minimum price for brass right now is 75 cents/pound

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

AlanInSilverSpring said:
I don't know how casings are classified but minimum price for brass right now is 75 cents/pound

Thanks Alan. I went ahead and did a little bit of research too ... just based on bullets, powder and primer just using the quickest prices I could find, not really searching for best prices it looks like I would save maybe 120 dollars per 4k rounds, and if I spent around 600 bucks on a new progressive press I could crank out maybe 500 rounds an hour once I got good at it, which means I'd save like maybe 14 dollar per hour of labor.

I think for now I'll either keep holding onto the brass or sell it. Seems like for these common cheap calibers it only makes sense to reload if you're on a fixed income or have a lot of time on your hands as someone pointed out. Since I'm still working and don't really have much spare time it doesn't seem to make sense for me. In fact once I sell the brass that could end up making up the difference in the cost savings.

Now all I have to do is figure out what I need to do to sell it, and what a fair price would be. I guess at minimum I have to sort it, wonder if I would have to clean it too.

So now I'll have to figure out how to rig up a home sorter.

GolfR · May 6, 2018

The only real reason to reload 223 is if you are working up a specialized load. I have looked at it a bunch of times and I can’t figure out how to save enough money to make it worth it. You could think about cutting down the 223 brass for 300blk. You can definitely save money reloading for subsonic rounds. I’ve been reloading subs for under 30 cents a round which is close to half of what the cheapest factory stuff costs.

I have been reloading 9mm but toy with the idea of stopping while the prices are so low. I reload 9mm for 10-11 cents a round so I can still beat even the mail in rebate prices but not by much.

If you are looking to save money reloading, the best place to start is 357 or 44mag. Makes the lever action even more fun that I can shoot it cheap!

Ammo Jon · May 6, 2018

Everyone I know that reloads does it first and foremost because they enjoy it and secondly to save money. I wouldn't do it myself because I'd rather be doing something else and I get all of it for cheap :lol2:

GolfR · May 6, 2018

Ammo Jon said:
Everyone I know that reloads does it first and foremost because they enjoy it and secondly to save money. I wouldn't do it myself because I'd rather be doing something else and I get all of it for cheap

For me, it has nothing to do with saving money...it allows me to shoot a lot more for the same money! The reality is that I end up spending far more than I would have if I didn’t reload but I feel like I earn the reward of putting 750 or more rounds down range on an off Friday

Squaregrouper · May 6, 2018

My press is a single stage, so I'm making <30 rounds per hour- still being careful. Thus, I only load: oddball calibers, .300BO subs and 6.5 Creedmoor precision loads.
As many of us have posted and you have realized, in our current state, loading 9mm and .223/5.56 for plinking isn't going to save you any money.

AlanInSilverSpring · May 6, 2018

This reminds of changing the oil in a car. If there's a particular reason to do so, or you just enjoy it, go for it. But for most people when they can take it to someplace like Mr Tire and get it done for about $20 it makes no sense to do it yourself.

SoMuchGearSuchLittleSpace · May 6, 2018

Thanks Alan, I've come to the same conclusion and have decided I will sell it to reloaders.

What to do with all this brass.

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