I am a brass scavenger.Yes, I'm that guy at the range who walks around with his head down, looking for gold amongst the weeds.
There's not a single time I go to the range that I don't come home with more brass than I started with. A few years ago... before E-bay lost their corporate integrity, I sold brass on-line through their auctions. Sometimes.... I sold it in ten pound lots.
When I bought my S+W M+P 9c, I was shopping for a 9mm carry pistol because 9mm brass was free. Not only free, but I had already sorted and polished a thousand rounds of free 9x19 brass, waiting for a pistol to feed.
Even now, when I probably have all the brass I will need for just about everything I shoot, I still brass hunt. Only now, I don't get on my knees unless it really looks worth it.
Today... it was the usual haul of overlooked 9x19, .45acp, .40 win, and even a few .380's. Thanks to recent State Police training at our range, add in a few handfuls of .45 GAP, 5.56mm, and .38 nickel. Twenty more 30-06 cases to add to the hundreds I already have, and I no longer own a 30-06. A few 7.62x39 reloadable cases too.... and soon I'll have enough of those to make buying dies worthwhile.
I'm pretty sure my next 'new caliber' pistol will be a .40 Winchester or a .357 Sig, just because I already have all the cases I could need (g).
Yes, I am a proud member of the 'Brass Scavengers International'. Now you know one of my secrets.
5 comments:
I used to, but I can't reload where I live now...sigh...
Jim,
When I was 15, I loaded my ammo in my workshop in the barn. Dad was a man of few words... all he said was "Don't burn the place down, and don't blow yourself up".
With a buddy, I loaded thousands of rounds of 12 gauge, 30-30, and .38 special.... all on Lee Loaders. When I graduated to a Lee hand press I thought the world was my biscuit.
Later, at the grand age of 18, living alone and self supporting... buying ammo was almost out of the question. It was load it or don't shoot. All my reloading gear lived in a drawer, under the coffee table. A lee hand press, powder scoops, some dies, and a book.
Not long after, a bullet mold and a lead pot came on the scene.
It can be done, without using much space or causing much fuss. I think it would be a good topic for a Carteach0 article.... a reloading kit in a box.
Amen brother Carteach0!
I scrounge brass, and I don't even reload.
Yet.
Once my two darling little distractions are, well, less distracting, then it's on like Donkey Kong. For now, I amass...
I need to scavenge some .357 Mag. brass. Most of what I have is very tired. Some of it dates from the 70s.
I pick up my own brass, but I'm always kind of paranoid about what other folks' brass has been through before I get to it. Even if there's no flattened primers or anything, a case that's been loaded 15 times can look just like it got fired once. Is it worth the risk, not just to the firearm, but also to the shooter? Is there a better way to mitigate that risk than the Mk. 1 eyeball inspection?
One other note. I pick up all the .22 brass I can get as well. I put it into a five-gallon bucket when I get home. When the bucket gets filled, I take it to the scrap yard. With what brass is worth these days, it helps.
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