what to do with brass.!

[ken792]

What's a reasonable price for brass?
Does the price change for brand of brass?
It is strictly by weight?

I also have some nickel-plated hunting ammunition.
I imagine that's more costly or worth more.

Yeah, it changes by caliber. I don't think nickle plated brass is worth any more. Apparently nickle wears out your tools faster, unless you are using carbide dies.

In my experience, these are some prices that I've successfully sold brass at, in large lots with shipping factored in.
-Once fired 5.56 $0.062
-Once fired military .30/06 $0.17
-9mm Luger $0.035
-.40 S&W $0.045
.45 ACP $0.05

 

[Traveler]

I wish I could get brass that cheaply. Lately, once fired has cost about double what you listed.

 

[ken792]

I wish I could get brass that cheaply. Lately, once fired has cost about double what you listed.

Really? I guess the CMP Forums have cheap brass then.

 

[kstone803]

What's a reasonable price for brass?
Does the price change for brand of brass?
It is strictly by weight?

I also have some nickel-plated hunting ammunition.
I imagine that's more costly or worth more.

Brass price varies by caliber, but google once fired brass and you'll see some prices. I just looked and 9mm is about 6 cents per case and .223/5.56 is anywhere from 7 to 10 cents per case. As for brand I have never seen once fired brass sorted by headstamp for sale. Nickel plated is sometimes 1 to 2 cents more per case.

 

[Second Amendment]

I hear tale of some people who exchange loaded rounds in exchange for brass. I.e i give you 100 rounds of 9mm you give me 50 rounds ready to go back.. is this the case..

or do I need to bite the bullet and get into reloading? or sell my brass? i dont have TONS..

BrowningGuy (Wes) probably could help you out. He loves brass.

 

[Traveler]

Yeah, I could only find lake city 5.56 once fire for 10 cents or more.

I am flush for 9mm for a long time now. A good friend gave me a bucket of brass.

 

[stu929]

Really? I guess the CMP Forums have cheap brass then.

They have fair brass prices. Everything around here is inflated.

 

[punisher12b]

Hmmm I'll estimate tonight what I have

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[lsw]

Don't want to hijack the thread but I looked at Freedom's brass trade program and it seems like a joke. $2.50 per lb for brass. Let say you can fit 1000 5.56 cases (15 lbs or so) in a large box. This box costs $14 to ship and the 15 lbs of brass nets you $37.50 from FM. So overall you make $23.50 on 1000 cases when you could sell them for 300-400% more. For my time I would sort them and sell them on MDS before selling them for scrap price plus paying to ship it.

I thought the same when i first heard about their trade program, but in their YT video about it their company rep says 40 to 50 lbs will fit in the large size USPS flat rate box. I thought that was pretty optimistic, but maybe they will hold that much... I've been saving my 223 brass. I'll pick up one of those boxes and see how much they actually hold. One thing wrong in the video, DON'T use duct tape to seal shipping boxes. It doesn't stick to cardboard as well as regular packing tape, and is more expensive too.

 

[kstone803]

I thought the same when i first heard about their trade program, but in their YT video about it their company rep says 40 to 50 lbs will fit in the large size USPS flat rate box. I thought that was pretty optimistic, but maybe they will hold that much... I've been saving my 223 brass. I'll pick up one of those boxes and see how much they actually hold. One thing wrong in the video, DON'T use duct tape to seal shipping boxes. It doesn't stick to cardboard as well as regular packing tape, and is more expensive too.

Either way you're still getting less than half of what you could get if you sold it as reloadable brass, not scrap. Great idea on FM part, get people to ship you a product you need on their dime then pay them scrap prices for it, but you won't see me doing it ever.

 

[Mooseman]

My uncle had buckets of 38 brass that sat for 20 years no joke. A few had corroded but i would say 95% were just fine. And they were in a damp basement.

I'll vouch for that. I have some of this brass and it is good to go.

 

[ken792]

I'll vouch for that. I have some of this brass and it is good to go.

Same here, I have some of his .38 brass.

 

[obiii]

There is a brass exchange program in this forum that may be of interest to you.
If you plan on keeping brass, and do not have tons to start, it's a good idea to start sorting them by headstamp. Some people will only want certain head stamps (and willing to pay a premium), while others don't really care.
As far as storing, make sure brass is clean (no sand, dirt clumps, rocks, etc.) and dry, preferably in plastic baggies. Also, be wary of any Corrosive Military brass. That will need to be stabilized prior to storage.
A lot of reloaders do not want brass that has been cleaned, as they prefer to do it themselves and know what they are getting. Some reloaders are willing to pay a premium for cleaned, de-capped, fl sized, primer pockets reamed, etc..

If you are going to reload, start into it gradually. Why dump a bunch of money into something that you may come to find is not for you.

Good Luck,
OB

 

[lsw]

I picked up the flat rate Priority Mail boxes and did some calculations. Kstone803 makes a good point about the economics of using Freedom Munition's exchange program, but I thought this info about volume of these boxes was interesting enough to post without getting in to that.

I weighed the .223 brass saved from my last few range trips and had 8.4 lbs. This only filled a small 7x7x6 (inside measurements) USPS Priority Mail box to a height of about 4 inches. (About 600 cases BTW) Extrapolating that volume a full small box, it would weigh about 12.7 lbs.

Projecting to the large flat rate box at 12x12x8 inches, when full of .223 brass it should weigh about 49.6, let's round it up a little and say 50 lbs. This is all calculated from my small sample but I'd guess it to be accurate within 5 or 10%.

The Postal Service charges a flat rate of $17.45 to ship the 12x12x8 box. If you do decide to mail these boxes, make sure to tape them up really good. The 7x7x6 box I used had a seam split open just from dragging the plastic bag of cases out of it.