Swimming in Brass

[billt]

And I hit a small jackpot this week.   Somebody left 20 rounds of 45LC.   I bet they were tying out a Taurus Judge.  Now if I can just get them to leave me the other 30 rounds. 

I had something like that happen last year. I just got to the range and a bunch of cops were finishing up shooting their AR's. They were shooting Federal XM-193 Factory Ball, and left about 300 rounds laying everywhere. I picked up every case after they left. I'm still shooting that brass.  Bill T.

[fullautovalmet76]

I use these to seperate the different calibers.  It goes quickly:




They also make a metal plate that has even smaller slots that seperates the .380's from the 9mm's.

I picked up a set from Midway this week for $30 +shipping. But they don't/aren't designed to solve the 9mm-in-40 problem though. They do a very good job and I recommend them.

[alfsauve]

I picked up a set from Midway this week for $30 +shipping. But they don't/aren't designed to solve the 9mm-in-40 problem though. They do a very good job and I recommend them.

I like the bowls but haven't bought them yet.  Still enjoy hand sorting on my bench.  The 9mm-inside-.40 and the .40-inside-.45 just requires a lot of vigorous shaking, it would seem to me.

Separating .380 from 9mm is tricky.  The case is smaller as well as shorter but not by much.  

The one I gave up on, is separating 9x18 from 9mm (9x19).    Most 9mm guns are sloppy enough they'll shoot 9x18 with difficulty.  At least my Glock and XD seem to, so I quit trying to check all the case heads and just load the 9x18 as though they're 9mm.

[mauler]

I got a few thousand rounds of picked up .40 brass that I would like to trade for 9mm brass.  Check the classifieds.

[GASPASSERDELUXE]

I like the bowls but haven't bought them yet.  Still enjoy hand sorting on my bench.  The 9mm-inside-.40 and the .40-inside-.45 just requires a lot of vigorous shaking, it would seem to me.

Separating .380 from 9mm is tricky.  The case is smaller as well as shorter but not by much.  

The one I gave up on, is separating 9x18 from 9mm (9x19).    Most 9mm guns are sloppy enough they'll shoot 9x18 with difficulty.  At least my Glock and XD seem to, so I quit trying to check all the case heads and just load the 9x18 as though they're 9mm.

When iI seperate my range brass i sort them by caliber and stack them together on my bench. after they are all sorted I just look at them,,carefully, looking for differences in hight. Even then I still ocasionallly miss one. This only takes 5-10 minutes with a 1 qt plastic baggie full of brass.

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

When iI seperate my range brass i sort them by caliber and stack them together on my bench. after they are all sorted I just look at them,,carefully, looking for differences in hight. Even then I still ocasionallly miss one. This only takes 5-10 minutes with a 1 qt plastic baggie full of brass.

Nice  process.   If you put a known tall case of the batch at one end and another at the other end, you can lay a flat edge on those two and easily spot any that are shorter.

Like the .380 and 9mm.   9mm at each end and any short ones between can be spotted.

[alfsauve]

I, too stand all of them up after sorting.  Part of the reason is looking for cracked cases and of course the other is to sort out the ones that don't belong.  I also run a magnet over the cases to catch any of the S&B brass-over-steel stuff.

I don't have any trouble spotting the .380s amongst the 9mm.   Even if you don't catch them when sorting, it's obvious when you re-size them, cause .380 is a little smaller diameter.   It's the 9x18s that are difficult to pick out, which as I said doesn't matter unless you really need the 9x18 cases for your Tokarev.

[dipisc]

Hi;

     I use to go to 2 different ranges twice a week minimum for brass, however due to the bad economy there are people coming out of the woodwork to the ranges for brass. I use to get 50-70 casings of different calibers as a minimum every visit/range. I even had it worked out as to how many casings I needed to get   vs  the cost of gas to get to and from  and if it was worth it.

     lately, I just go to shoot and take my brass back. I am fortunate that I have most of the quantity in most calibers that I want. Now I try to "specialize" in certain calibers and manufactures  and trade off excess/unwanted for the type/caliber I want/need.

     As soon as this economy gets back to pre '08, I expect to be "swimming back in brass". At 1 of the ranges is a young kid whose unemployment ran out and the only income is brass at the ranges. He even digs into the backstops for anything there. It's hard to take brass away when someone else really depends on it.