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I dont reload pistol ammo and some rifle calibers but I pick up all my brass and take home to give away. After a while I accumulate quite a bit but I dont really have anyone to take it. I just wish there was a convenient place to give it away locally near me, something like a bin at a gun store where another person can just take anything for free.
 
The range I'd go to back in my old hometown in Illinois would ask you to sweep your brass up in front of the firing line once you're done so they could collect it.

I don't reload but I tend to collect my brass and set it to the side for anyone who does. No sense in letting it go to waste.
 
your empty brass?

At the range recently, I looked in the garbage and saw a bunch of brass. What caught my eye was all the .30 carbine and USGI 30-06 brass. The attached photo is just part of it. There was even more in the dumpster. I'll dig into the garbage, but didn't care to go dumpster diving. One time I remember seeing a bunch of 45-70 brass in the dumpster, and yeah, I did go in for them. :oops:

I was just wondering how many shooters meticulously pick up their empty brass and deposit it into the trash. I know some people are very careful to clean up the range and leave it looking neat and tidy, and I know some others have a strong disdain for "range chickens". I even remember one guy who would carefully crush the neck of each of his fired hunting rifle cases before tossing them; when asked why, he said it was something his father had taught him, so reloaders wouldn't get them and hurt themselves.

Anyhow, I'm not a serious range chicken/brass hound, but I will pick it up when I find it abandoned, when it's convenient. If you take the time to pick up your brass just to toss it, be aware that if you just sweep it into a pile or leave it on the bench, the next guy is likely to thankfully grab it up and take it home.

I'm just doing my part to help the environment, by encouraging recycling. :)

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The only reason unknown range brass makes sense to y'all is because you haven't had a used case blowuptuate ... yet.
I reload for a number of calibers. I start with new brass. As I shoot and reload my own cases I keep track of the number of times fired. When I start seeing stressed brass I pick it up and toss it in the trash, or brass recycling bin if there is one.
One man's trash is not always another man's treasure.
 
The only reason unknown range brass makes sense to y'all is because you haven't had a used case blowuptuate ... yet.
I reload for a number of calibers. I start with new brass. As I shoot and reload my own cases I keep track of the number of times fired. When I start seeing stressed brass I pick it up and toss it in the trash, or brass recycling bin if there is one.
One man's trash is not always another man's treasure.
Why can't you look for the same signs of stress in unknown range brass?
 
The only reason unknown range brass makes sense to y'all is because you haven't had a used case blowuptuate ... yet.
With no blowuptuating in 35 years and tens of thousands of rounds loaded, I think I'm pretty safe. Why? Because I know what to look for and what to NOT reload. Yeah, I've found some pretty scary junk in range scrap, and if I blindly reloaded it, it would be really bad. Any brass I use gets at least a twice-over in the loading process, and anything questionable goes in the scrap bucket.

Why can't you look for the same signs of stress in unknown range brass?
Exactly!
 
Why can't you look for the same signs of stress in unknown range brass?
Because I like the assurance of starting with new brass and knowing what I'm working with thru the whole process of using that brass up.
Also, take one of my 7mm loads as an example. It stretches primer pockets. I know for a fact when I fire those I'm not picking them up to reload. If I left them behind there are plenty of folks who would pick them up and sell the bad brass to an unsuspecting reloader.
 
Because I like the assurance of starting with new brass and knowing what I'm working with thru the whole process of using that brass up.
Also, take one of my 7mm loads as an example. It stretches primer pockets. I know for a fact when I fire those I'm not picking them up to reload. If I left them behind there are plenty of folks who would pick them up and sell the bad brass to an unsuspecting reloader.
That's fine, if that's what you like to do. Like I mentioned before, one of my best friends in the world sees it exactly as you do. I respect his opinion (and yours), even if I don't exactly agree. My friend IS persnickety, an engineer and a very good one, or so I understand. :)

I've had magnum rifle brass that I've picked up that have had loose primer pockets. As a result, I gauge primer pockets on magnum rifle brass. Personally I wouldn't care to shoot a load that compromises brass like that; it pushes the limits a little too close for my own comfort.

Added: I've come across a fair amount of "used up" brass, as you describe. After handling so much brass, it's pretty easy to spot. It goes directly into the scrap bucket.
 
Because I like the assurance of starting with new brass and knowing what I'm working with thru the whole process of using that brass up.
Also, take one of my 7mm loads as an example. It stretches primer pockets. I know for a fact when I fire those I'm not picking them up to reload. If I left them behind there are plenty of folks who would pick them up and sell the bad brass to an unsuspecting reloader.
Yeah I probably wouldn't mess around with one off range brass for my bolt guns. I load them for precision so I keep records of everything. For blasting ammo, if it looks good, and everything seems fine, I'd have no problem with it.

I got most of my bulk blasting brass from a recycling place that gets it from the Spokane LE range. Mix of .308, 9mm, .223 and some .45 ACP for $30 for a 5 gallon bucket full.
 
My Dad used to pay my brother and I for brass we found at the shooting range until he figured out we were closer to the ground and had excellent eyesight.

A 5 gallon bucket of brass cost him around $20 and took us no time at all to fill. I think that it was a nickle a case. This was back in the day when no-one had many semiautos, let alone AR15s.

Later in life when we were shooting a lot by ourselves, we would drop off our empties to him and get back reloads. He was a great re-loader and we never had to buy range ammo.
 
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I bought a box of "new" 45 Colt blammo from Joe Blowhard at a gun show. You know the type ... "Don't open the boxes!" (Presumably because we might tear the lids.) Well, they were handloads in overworked brass. The case mouths were split on every load. Guess when I noticed? When I tried to sell them to another shooter and we opened the box to verify what he was buying. That helped me form my opinions on how I reuse brass.
 
I bought a box of "new" 45 Colt blammo from Joe Blowhard at a gun show. You know the type ... "Don't open the boxes!" (Presumably because we might tear the lids.) Well, they were handloads in overworked brass. The case mouths were split on every load. Guess when I noticed? When I tried to sell them to another shooter and we opened the box to verify what he was buying. That helped me form my opinions on how I reuse brass.
As soon as dude told you not to open the box that should've been a red flag.

Hell I typically open boxes of ammo in the store just to make sure it's all good. Same when I buy eggs.
 
The only reason unknown range brass makes sense to y'all is because you haven't had a used case blowuptuate ... yet.
I reload for a number of calibers. I start with new brass. As I shoot and reload my own cases I keep track of the number of times fired. When I start seeing stressed brass I pick it up and toss it in the trash, or brass recycling bin if there is one.
One man's trash is not always another man's treasure.
To each their own and definitely safety first...
Lots of shooters go a step further and will only shoot ammo from an established manufacturer. No handloads of any type.
 
Twenty years ago a buddy of mine went to a gun show and bought a couple boxes of factory made 45 acp ammo. I wasn't with him when he bought it or when he tried to shoot it. He showed it to me afterwards. He said it jammed terribly and some of the bullets pulled right out of the brass. That was when I found out about A-MERC ammo. To this day, if I find brass with that name on it, it goes straight into the scrap bucket, no matter what it looks like.

Speaking of range brass, here's a photo of one of the pieces that I picked out of a recent batch I was processing, along with a couple others even worse. They're cracked through the web. I assume an overload, and amazingly someone shot several of them. I wouldn't want to buy a used gun from that person. This brass stuck out like a sore thumb though. I picked them out easily on the first inspection. If someone was in a hurry and not paying attention, I could see how that would be bad. You just have to know what to look for and watch closely. There's no magic involved; if there's a defect that will cause a problem, knowing what to look for will find it.

I know I'm not the only one here who handles a lot of brass. You guys know what I'm talking about. :)

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Speaking of range brass, here's a photo of one of the pieces that I picked out of a recent batch I was processing, along with a couple others even worse. They're cracked through the web. I assume an overload, and amazingly someone shot several of them. I wouldn't want to buy a used gun from that person. This brass stuck out like a sore thumb though. I picked them out easily on the first inspection. If someone was in a hurry and not paying attention, I could see how that would be bad. You just have to know what to look for and watch closely. There's no magic involved; if there's a defect that will cause a problem, knowing what to look for will find it.

I know I'm not the only one here who handles a lot of brass. You guys know what I'm talking about. :)

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This is exactly why I don't automate, each piece of brass I load is handled and inspected at each stage of the process and all questionable are rejected.
 
This is exactly why I don't automate, each piece of brass I load is handled and inspected at each stage of the process and all questionable are rejected.
It's like the story of how bank tellers can pick out fake bills. They handle enough of the real ones every day that they can pick out the fakes instinctively.

I can find a piece of neck-cracked 9mm brass in a bag of a thousand, just by sound. They make a distinctive ringing sound that you can hear over the jingle of the rest. A minute of looking and listening, and I can pick out the bad one every time.
 
It's like the story of how bank tellers can pick out fake bills. They handle enough of the real ones every day that they can pick out the fakes instinctively.

I can find a piece of neck-cracked 9mm brass in a bag of a thousand, just by sound. They make a distinctive ringing sound that you can hear over the jingle of the rest. A minute of looking and listening, and I can pick out the bad one every time.
And if not that, on the press when sizing. That's an advantage on a single stage.
 

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