Ridiculous Brass Auctions @ govermentliquidations

[Dr Strangelove]

Greetings:

I was following an auction for 1,000 pounds of once fired 5.56 brass at Vandenberg AFB.

A few hours before auction end, the bidding went nuts. It closed at $10,100 for 1,000 pound of brass.

I think this works out to $0.24 per unprocessed unit. Additionally, my experience with this brass is that 1% (or so) are FUBAR.

Is this nuts? Does someone know something I don't?

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[Mark W.]

Scrap brass is around $2.20 per pound X 1000 Lbs = $2200 SO they are certainly planning on processing it as reloadable brass. Or stupid.

 

[MountainBear]

Well at 75 pieces of brass per pound (based on a case weight of 93 grains, 7000 grains per pound), there should be approximately 75,000 pieces of brass in 1000 pounds. Given that once fired brass seems to be going for around $100 per $1000 rounds, that would make the value based on selling as brass maxed out at $7500. So in order to recoup their money they'd need to get $134 per 1000 rounds of brass.
I would have to assume this was a ammo manufacturer like black hills that sells remanufactured .223/5.56 ammo. Loaded ammo would be the only way they could recoup their investment...

 

[Dr Strangelove]

I don't think it'll be possible for an ordinary guy to purchase 100 pounds of brass anymore. The typical lot size is now 1,000 pounds. At $10 per pound, it will take a group of reloaders to pool their resources.

 

[deadshot2]

At $10 per pound, it will take a group of reloaders to pool their resources.

Or someone with $10k. I think it's safe to say it went to a "remanufacturer". Probably going to eventually be sold back to some government agency or Law Enforcement at an inflated price.

 

[MountainBear]

I don't think it'll be possible for an ordinary guy to purchase 100 pounds of brass anymore. The typical lot size is now 1,000 pounds. At $10 per pound, it will take a group of reloaders to pool their resources.

Do you need 100 rounds?

 

[Dr Strangelove]

I could handle 100 pounds fairly easily. Could do 200, if the economics were right.

 

[PMB]

I read in an earlier thread that the government bakes the brass to detonate any unfired rounds that made it into the pile... They called something like Popcorn, or Shake and Bake.

The thread also mentioned that the baking was such that it changed the metallurgical properties of the brass in an undesirable way.

I haven't read up on it, and it seems like even if it was heat treated improperly that it could be reheated and cooled properly. Does anyone here know the truth on the heating - baking - cooling issue?

Regards, Mike

 

[Dr Strangelove]

I think they refer to it as popping. It is primarily used to detonate any unfired rounds.

I haven't found such brass yet. The brass I've purchased is pretty much as is from policing round at the range or in the bush. Some dirt and grass.

Additionally, the auction that closed in Kalifornia was for just over $10 per pound. NO ONE would pay that high for scrap brass.

I simply question paying about $0.14 per round for unprocessed brass. Considering the additional processing operation to remove the military crimp, this becomes a bigger problem. The only press that I'm aware of is the Dillon 1050. It can resize, decap, swage, prime, charge, seat, and crimp. Pricey tho @ @1700.

Anyway I look at it, reloading 223/5/56 just got a lot more expensive.

 

[deadshot2]

I think they refer to it as popping. It is primarily used to detonate any unfired rounds.

I haven't found such brass yet. The brass I've purchased is pretty much as is from policing round at the range or in the bush. Some dirt and grass.

Additionally, the auction that closed in Kalifornia was for just over $10 per pound. NO ONE would pay that high for scrap brass.

I simply question paying about $0.14 per round for unprocessed brass. Considering the additional processing operation to remove the military crimp, this becomes a bigger problem. The only press that I'm aware of is the Dillon 1050. It can resize, decap, swage, prime, charge, seat, and crimp. Pricey tho @ @1700.

Anyway I look at it, reloading 223/5/56 just got a lot more expensive.

Why buy a Dillon 1050? The super swage from Dillon can process the crimps just as fast if you add the "rubber band" mod.

As for cost, just get used to paying "new" prices for "used" brass. That is unless you want to import some once fired brass from Afghanistan I hear that there was a lot of 5.56 rounds fired over there Maybe we could get the "cartels" to include some with their regular shipments.

 

[Gunner3456]

What is so terrible about paying around $.14 per once-fired brass? Maybe that is the new normal? At least for a time?

In any event, it only has to be swaged once for primer crimp, and I average about 7 reloads per case, making the brass cost about 2 cents a round.

Compared to the horrible prices I see asked for plain jane PMC .223 much less Federal 5.56, I still think it's a bargain.

It hasn't been that long ago that I was buying 1,000 round cases of Federal 5.56 from Jack in Sweet Home (bless him) for $375 per thousand.

Today I couldn't buy brass and reload for that if I paid today's asking prices. Thankfully, I'm stocked up.