A question about brass for sale

[insectguy]

No, I'm not offering to sell any here. I have a question:

Some of you know I have a daughter with cerebral palsy. Although she can't do a lot of what a typical teenager can do, we have found she loves to help me in my reloading room. I purchase buckets of mixed brass, and she separates the brass into rifle and pistol calibers. I keep the brass for which I have firearms, and sell the remainder, which then pay for another bucket of brass. It's been self-replicating, and I've gotten some good brass out of the deal. The only prep I do for the brass is clean/polish, and sort into bags. Then I ship it out to the purchasers.

Here's the question: what would be more appealing to you (assuming you were in the market for brass)-- getting the cleaned/polished brass alone, or having it further processed? We could deprime it, full-length size it, full-length small base size it, and/or trim it (on my Giraud)? Or are there other operations you would prefer?

I'm always trying to expand what my daughter can do, and she would love to do more than just sort, if that were an option. Of course, there would be a charge for any further operations on the brass, but still a great deal.

BTW, this is once-fired brass from .223s (typically Bushmaster or Colts), or .45 acp from Sigs.

Thanks!

Thanks!

 

[desertHK]

Re: A question about brass for sale

Of course, if you can provide a product that's ready to go for a reasonable price, I am sure that you will find potential customers. Always priceless, to have your kid (s) working with you on something that you love to do, at least IMO.

 

[BCP]

Re: A question about brass for sale

You're probably violating at least a dozen child labor laws. Sounds like when my father taught me to "Sit, here, put the brass there - see? The old primer pops out when you work the lever. Fun huh? Now do it five hundred times while I go watch football."

edit: Lots of brass sellers/dealers out there so I'm not sure you'd make money at it either, but I think people would pay a little extra for stuff that was 100% processed, sized, trimmed, ready to go.

A lot of the bulk LC stuff looks like a good deal until you sit there and trim 20-30 thousandths off a bucketful of them with a hand-cranked trimmer.

 

[zuke]

Re: A question about brass for sale

I'm sure there would be people here that would be willing to buy off you to support your daughter's therapy.
My mom has a son in the same condition and enjoy's the challenge of small task's.
It give's a sense of accomplishment.
If it were possible I'd send you the once fired brass I have.

 

[Cinch]

Re: A question about brass for sale

I would rather prep myself. I just feel better knowing exactly what I have and whats been done to it. Cleaned and sorted would be all I'd want.

 

[bohem]

Re: A question about brass for sale

I'd buy it from you. Can you remove the primer crimp from the 223's? It doesn't necessarily need to be trimmed or FL sized, but if you can knock the primer out and swage the pocket then I'd be up for it. The crimp is probably 1 of my 3 most hated brass prep steps.

 

[insectguy]

Re: A question about brass for sale

Please understand-- I am not soliciting to sell the brass here, only getting some valuable feedback (which has been given-- and thanks!).

As for the child labor laws, I do hope you're kidding. This is something we do together.

I'm not worried in the least if it makes money-- again, the purpose is spending time together, and giving the sense of accomplishment. It's just nice to have it pay for itself. If we never sold another batch, we would still do this (although I get pretty good traffic through Arfcom). To date, I've only sold .45acp, since I don't have a .45. Of course, I've got .40 coming out my ears (probably 15K), and have come to realize I have more .223 than I'll ever be able to afford reloading.

I would echo clinch's sentiments-- I know exactly hat has been done to my brass, and to my specs. But that's why I posted-- to see if others are as persnickety as I am.

If we further process, most likely it would be to full length with small base dies to increase the likelihood of fitting in most chambers, then trim to SAAMI specs. We would remove the primers as well. The vast majority (probably 99%) of the .223 we have is Remington green box. It comes from a PD range, and that's what they use. The only variation would be when other .govs would use the range and different ammo. The plan would be to use the Dillon 650 for resizing and depriming, then the Giraud for trimming (it's under the tree-- can't wait to use it).

We have a Dillon crimp remover, but that's a very slow process (hmmmm.... maybe I should have bought the 1050 instead of the 650....).

 

[bohem]

Re: A question about brass for sale

If the majority of it is 1x fired Green box then I would buy it in present sorted/tumbled form. If you went the extra step to trim and size the brass then all the better but it's up to you.

Please let me know what your shipped price on 1k pieces of the stuff would be in various forms. I have a couple buckets of mostly LC brass that I'm dragging my feet on dealing with because of the primer crimps.

We can go through PM's if you'd like. I'm happy to do that since public discussion may be against forum rules.

 

[9H_Cracka]

Re: A question about brass for sale

I prefer unprocessed, so I know EXACTLY what I am starting with.

The way I keep track of my batches, the last thing I want is some 5-6x fired case somewhere mixed into my brass I'm working as 1x. As I run 223 brass to 6 loadings before discarding, a few pieces of 5-6x fired brass mixed in there will ruin my day in a match. A case separation will let the bullet leave the barrel, so even if I get an alibi for the malfunction I don't get the 10 points back.

Multiple time reloaded brass is pretty easy to spot in a bunch of unprocessed 1x fired brass.

I buy from John Johnson of brassmanbrass as he is very good about knowing where his brass comes from, plus since he picks it up in the desert it is easy for him to sell unprocessed brass as it is hitting the ground in a dry environment.

Just a few things to think about. Anyone caught selling "Range Brass" as 1x deserves to have their balls cut off IMO.

 

[kwak]

Re: A question about brass for sale

If you have 40 S&W I am sure you could let her run it through a Redding GRX die to remove the bulge in the brass from the Glocks. You might even be able to teach her how to run a trimmer once it was set up. Scrap brass just paid me $1.90 a pound I can't fool around with the 9mm or 40 at that rate.

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: A question about brass for sale

Personally... I prefer to prep my own brass. Cleaned only.

 

[insectguy]

Re: A question about brass for sale

Good info guys-- thanks for your time.

 

[Mr.Kirk]

Re: A question about brass for sale

I would like to buy it trimmed but not champhered or primed.

 

[BigSoundRacing]

Re: A question about brass for sale

For myself, knowing that I am making a contribution towards an individual who is in need, and I intend that respectfully, is a major selling point. "Made in USA" goes a long ways, even further in what you describe. As a reloader I seek accuracy and consistency in rifle rounds - that means the same wall thickness for my competition brass equating to consistent neck tension. For pistol I could care less.

But for both, I'm willing to pay the extra to know that the primer pockets have been "processed" and are no longer crimped.

I would love to take this brass to the local sniper match, to be able to talk to the know it all BC bitches with a comment of "yeah, well my rounds help make an individual feel, as well as feel proud about who they are and what they are doing".

Keep up the good work dad, I'll support your efforts if/when I can.

 

[insectguy]

Re: A question about brass for sale

Mr. Kirk-- unfortunately, my trimmer also chamfers and deburs (Giraud) at the same time, so that would not be an option I could do.

Thanks for all the encouraging words. For now, we may just stay with the washed/polished. That seems to be the general consensus (which is exactly what I was wanting to know).

Bohem, I'll get with you on pm. Thanks for asking.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: A question about brass for sale

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cinch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would rather prep myself. I just feel better knowing exactly what I have and whats been done to it. Cleaned and sorted would be all I'd want. </div></div>

This^^^^.

Also, sort by headstamps if she's able. It's easier for you to sell cleaned brass that HAS been sorted by headstamp and of course, cartridge type.

For rifle rounds, I don't want to mess with somebody else's sizing chores and with the primers in tact, I'm more confident that it's been fired only once.

Chris