What is this brass worth

[ClutchyMcClutcherson]

So I've been thinking of ways other than more overtime to fund my next rifle purchase, and hopefully I've come up with it. I'll attach some pictures but basically I have an assortment of 45, 40, 9mm, and some 357 sig brass. It's all once fired. It's a few thousand cases, probably 5000-6000 if I had to guess. First question is what would this be worth if just sold as a lot? Second question is what would it be worth if I decap and tumble everything? I have the frankford arsenal wet tumbler so the brass would come out looking new. I have pretty much an unlimited supply of brass so I'd be able to do this over and over. Third question is there any laws I'd have to be concerned about with selling brass privately since it's a reloading components? I can't think of anything but I'm sure there's more versed people here.

Thanks for the help guys! And merry christmas!

 

[Alphabrew]

I've seen tumbled but not deprimed 9mm brass for $30/1,000. Reloaders are frugal by nature, and brass is free if you pick it up at the range.

 

[ClutchyMcClutcherson]

Yeah that makes sense. I got the idea at the last gun show when I saw the guy was selling once fired for pretty high prices. I didn't think to write down how much though.

 

[LONGSHOT]

if you can't sell to a reloader,i got $55.00 for a 5 gallon bucket at the scrap yard .3months ago.

 

[ClutchyMcClutcherson]

I think rather than scrapping it I'd do a karma on here. Thanks for the heads up though. I was hoping that maybe with the extra work of cleaning and decapping it might be worth something.

 

[tdt91]

Find out what brass sells for new and then put it up in lots for 1/2 price and see how that goes. If all else fails selll it to a scrap yard

 

[dontpanic]

9mm is worth $30/1000 raw. Maybe $45 processed. The others are worth a bit more. (Actially have no idea about .40)

It is all about finding a buyer.

At gun shows they sell once fired for about $30/500 unprocessed.

 

[EKing]

My guess is, the 9mm and .40 won't move, but the 357 Sig and 45 might. The thing with the 45 Auto brass is, some of it now has small primers. Reloaders are leery of bulk range pickup 45 Auto brass because most people don't want to get saddled with small primer 45 brass. If you separate it, small primer from large primer, you may have a decent chance of moving it.
The other consideration is, if you separate the nickel plated from the regular brass, you may be able to work some trades for the nickel plated stuff.

 

[BUFF7MM]

I just gave $59/1000 for 357 sig mixed once fired that was cleaned not decapped and mixed with some nickel from Grafs. That's about as high as I was willing to go as I can usually scrounge up enough range pickups on most calibers, but some you just have to bite the bullet and buy it sometime for the less popular calibers.

 

[dontpanic]

Take a look on Etsy. There are a lot of guys on there selling brass. Just an example

https://www.etsy.com/listing/272628834/raw-1000-pcs-once-fired-brass-all?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_b-jewelry-other&utm_custom1=6d674d29-2441-4636-bad0-c7448616bf2a&gclid=CjwKEAiA1vjCBRDd-9q3w4OF6WUSJACWv_sV6JZqHpqabxb8Grt4L9vBeamGYFpoaarAiMNcsY2H0BoCoNLw_wcB

 

[Pinecone]

Is the 9 commercial or military?

Military is typically crimped.

 

[ClutchyMcClutcherson]

I'm guessing it's mostly commercial. I just went through and sorted between the 4 calibers. Holy crap that was alot of sorting. So I ended up with this:

9mm 18.2 lbs
40 cal 24.6lbs
357 sig 7.8 lbs all nickel
45 auto 2.6 lbs

Everything except the sig is mixed between nickel and brass. A good bit of it is nickel. I also get 223 brass. I looked online and it seems like it's mostly people just naming their price with no real rhyme or reason. I'm still trying to decide if it's worth it to invest in sizing dies so I can decap and size all in one shot, and then wet tumble to make em look new. It's tedious work but it's not terrible. I also have a swager so the primer pockets wouldn't be a big deal to just run them through. Decisions decisions. Until then I'll keep researching.

 

[StickShaker]

I'm still trying to decide if it's worth it to invest in sizing dies so I can decap and size all in one shot, and then wet tumble to make em look new.

Handloaders are frugal bunch with common brass. I did this with about 1300 pieces of 40. They eventually sold but not for what I wanted with the extra labor. I used a .45acp die to decap and even ran them through a Lee bulge buster. It may be worth it for the .357 Sig however.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Sort by cal, bag by either 500 or 1000.

If you have capability to easily tumble bulk amounts, you can do that, but don't bother to deprime.

 

[ihriec]

Earlier this year a friend of mine bought me a bag of 1000 45acp range brass from Heritage for $35.

 

[ohen cepel]

Less common brass tends to go faster it seems. If sorted well, ideally by headstamp, it will move but not a big money maker. That said, I think I would do as little to it as possible to save your time and increase your return on investment. If you buy tools just for the brass and put much more time into it you may not really get ahead.

 

[yellowfin]

Why not reload it yourself?

 

[ClutchyMcClutcherson]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll go through and tumble em and put them up and see what happens. Makes sense to not deprime and resize them.