UW Mitch Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I try to collect all of my own brass on the rifle range. If I'm shooting near someone who is shooting all factory new ammo and doesn't seem interested in their brass I'll ask "do you reload and/or are you saving your brass" - if no - "do you mind if I collect it?". Usually the answer is yes I can have it It's a sweet way to get once fired brass. At the USPSA matches I leave my brass on the ground so that I can buy it back from Jan (BEForumite: L-10 Shooter). I do this mostly because of focus. When I started I spent some amount of mental effort worrying about my brass. And now that I'm shooting 9 major, and I try to only buy once fired, I'm willing to let someone else have it. Although I did shoot on a squad recently that assigned one person to be the brass tender, AND no one wanted 9 brass AND there were a bunch of production shooters who were shooting factory new ammo - SCORE! ~Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
empire12369 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 When I shoot at my public range the ROs main purpose is to sweep up my brass as soon as it's fired. When I ask them to leave the brass so I can pick it up they look at me like their purpose to be at the range has been taken away. I think my age (23) takes them by surprise or they really enjoy sweeping brass. I would rather not shoot there but I have no contacts with the local private range (Hansen in Port Charlotte) if anyone would be so kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmysterious Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I think Sandy Thalheimer is the person to speak with. He's a really nice guy, shoot one of the Sunday matches and chances are he'll be there. As far as the brass goes I pick up all of the once fired I can at the indoor range I shoot at, but I steer clear of match brass. I've had too many garbage cases throw off my Dillon's mojo in the middle of a session to deal with them. Keep in mind this is 9mm, if it was 38 SC I'd be singing a different tune.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E K Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Here were kids shooting an AR 15 at Rio Salado and their 223 was in the middle of my 9mm brass. As I was sweeping it all, I asked if they wanted their brass. Well, just because, you know, it's like dropping quarters on the floor, if you don't pick them up, someone will. The look I got. Total disbelief. I had to repeat the question twice. And when they saw me sweep it all into a heap and put it the used brass compartment of my gear bag, it was if I was stupid. Either they've never heard of reloading, or they are rich, or they think I am some sort of a hobo who will sell the brass along with soda cans for booze money. Most of the time folks understand why I pick up my brass and even tell me to pick up theirs, or sweep it in my direction, even some ROs do it. Does this weird reaction happen a lot? At least someone didn't come up and start taking your brass while you were still shooting! That happened to one of the guys I shoot with. When he asked him what he was doing the guy got an attitude about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Not everyone reloads, so take all that you can get! BTW, the word retard is not offensive, being told which words that we can and cannot say is offensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicVerAZ Posted April 21, 2012 Author Share Posted April 21, 2012 Not everyone reloads, so take all that you can get! BTW, the word retard is not offensive, being told which words that we can and cannot say is offensive. In a past life I used to foster and a few of the foster kids had mental retardation. Someone gave me grief because I was using the expression "mentally retarded"... in its proper context! Talking about a child I was taking care of.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 A couple of weeks ago, I was sighting in my AR at the local range and parties on either side of me were shooting theirs. Well, they seemed to have gone to Wally World or Sportsman's before coming to the range and went through 300+ rounds. I asked them if they were going to keep the brass. No, why do you want it when you can get XXX for $6 a box. I said that buying YYY match ammo was about $20+ a box and shooting multi-gun got very expensive with the round count. They actually policed their own brass and put it in MY bag I thanked them and came home with a 25lb shot bag full of once fired 223 brass. Most of the shooters at our club who don't reload are more than willing to give to those of us who do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicVerAZ Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 A couple of weeks ago, I was sighting in my AR at the local range and parties on either side of me were shooting theirs. Well, they seemed to have gone to Wally World or Sportsman's before coming to the range and went through 300+ rounds. I asked them if they were going to keep the brass. No, why do you want it when you can get XXX for $6 a box. I said that buying YYY match ammo was about $20+ a box and shooting multi-gun got very expensive with the round count. They actually policed their own brass and put it in MY bag I thanked them and came home with a 25lb shot bag full of once fired 223 brass. Most of the shooters at our club who don't reload are more than willing to give to those of us who do. What was XXX? I see a lot of unsuspecting fools spend a couple grands on a quality brand AR and feed it with crap ammunition from Wally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giant81 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 (edited) I asked the indoor range here in town what they did with their brass. They said they sell it to a guy that recycles it. I figured I'd give him a call and see if I could get some once fired 9mm and .223 from him. Then they told me that he melts it for brass weight. I almost started crying. Edited April 23, 2012 by Giant81 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicVerAZ Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 I asked the indoor range here in town what they did with their brass. They said they sell it to a guy that recycles it. I figured I'd give him a call and see if I could get some once fired 9mm and .223 from him. Then they told me that he melts it for brass weight. I almost started crying. Take this piece of trivia from an Arizonian: copper is the most recycled metal. Which makes me cry even more to see people junk it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I asked the indoor range here in town what they did with their brass. They said they sell it to a guy that recycles it. I figured I'd give him a call and see if I could get some once fired 9mm and .223 from him. Then they told me that he melts it for brass weight. I almost started crying. Sounds like you have a potential side business. Offer them a little more money than the scrap guy is paying. Sell all the good brass and sell the rest to the scrap guy at the original price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCBDoubleTap Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I've been shooting at the same indoor range for many years and just within the past two weeks they've established a policy of "no picking up brass". They have shooters sweep brass into the range beyond the firing line, and an RO that walks back and forth behind the line sweeping it out as he goes. Seems to me that the brass they expect me to leave behind was mine when I walked in - I should be able to take it with me when I leave. Looks like I need to find a different range... Oh well - their loss - I used to do a lot of business at that shop. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giant81 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I've been shooting at the same indoor range for many years and just within the past two weeks they've established a policy of "no picking up brass". They have shooters sweep brass into the range beyond the firing line, and an RO that walks back and forth behind the line sweeping it out as he goes. Seems to me that the brass they expect me to leave behind was mine when I walked in - I should be able to take it with me when I leave. Looks like I need to find a different range... Oh well - their loss - I used to do a lot of business at that shop. Tom Make sure you let them know why you are no longer spending money there, nor generating brass etc. Some shops implement a policy without thinking about the loss of business. Or they don't think the loss is great enough to worry about. The more people that speak up and call 'bull$shit' the better informed they are of their market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leas327 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I went to a local steel match this weekend. The range closes to the public at 4:00 and the match is setup and shot after that. In the last year or so business there has picked up and usually the rifle range is full of AR's on sand bags shooting 50 yard patterns. I stand there and watch guy after guy pack up his stuff and walk off without picking their brass. So after they leave I just pick it up and throw of in my brass bag. One of the guys I was shooting with helped me pick some up and in the the discussion while we were gathering it up we were talking about reloading and AR's in general. I throw my handfuls in my bag and he walks over and throws his in too. I asked why he didn't want any (because I know he reloads). He said he only reloads pistol calibers. I didn't really get it but I wasn't going to force the guy to take the brass. I probably lost 50-75 pieces of 40 brass in the mud and grass. But the 200 or so once fired. 223 will make up for it. Three years ago when I would go there you would have thought all that was ever shot was rimfire stuff. There were two or three older guys that would get to the range early and pick up anything centerfire before the match. Then during the match they would dig through the trash cans. I am not too proud to dumpster dive if something is sitting on top. But chewing tobacco and snuff are very popular where I live. It always made me cringe a little to watch a guy dig something out of the bottom and wipe it off on his pant leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 at our local range I'd say 75-90% of shooters dont want their brass. it seems the more novice a shooter is the more they question why we ask permission to grab their spent brass. simple shooters ettiquette that novices dont understand. I would never be able to afford my shooting habit if I didnt reload. I shoot close to 10k rounds annually of .40 major, and thats just in my Limited gun not including a few thousand in .38SC and a little 9mm. small numbers compared to others on this forum. If we were to share our annual round count with the newbs then they would understand why we are always looking for nice 1x fired brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giant81 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I really need to join a gun club locally so I can do just that, go shoot, and maybe help RO and pickup peoples brass that don't want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnburg Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 The range I use must be an exception. We have several very dedicated brass "collectors" that routinely clean the range. I have been there when the brass is still warm when they pick it up. Part of the reason I switched from 38 super to 9 major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinL911 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I occasionally hit up my local indoor range to fire off a few rounds. My main purpose, however, is brass collection. I take my old range bag, police my brass, and then when I'm ready to leave, I grab one of the 3gal. buckets (whichever appears to have the most concentration of 9mm/.223) they keep between every bay that's full of brass and dump 30lb. of it into my bag before leaving. They have yet to say anything to me about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmysterious Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I occasionally hit up my local indoor range to fire off a few rounds. My main purpose, however, is brass collection. I take my old range bag, police my brass, and then when I'm ready to leave, I grab one of the 3gal. buckets (whichever appears to have the most concentration of 9mm/.223) they keep between every bay that's full of brass and dump 30lb. of it into my bag before leaving. They have yet to say anything to me about it. Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bshooter Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Picking up brass is almost an obsession with me. I go to the range on Mondays and Thursdays to help set up for our nightly IDPA and USPSA matches. The first thing I do is walk the bays and pick up brass, maybe for an hour. Then while setting up stages I see how much brass I missed and think, are you blind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackey Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 indoor range 95% of people dont pick up brass, at practice or matches its the other way around. if i want to stock up, ill hit up the local indoor and plink around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKT1106 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 (edited) The range I go to, the rifle shooters seem to be all about reloading with a few exceptions. The pistol range is a different story. I usually find 200-300 total of 380, 9, 40 & 45 on the pistol range, plus all the stuff they throw in the trash can that I don't dive for. I asked the club president if I could supply a separate can just for brass because I know people can use it and I don't like seeing it wasted. I put a big yellow trash can out with the word "BRASS" on it and I hope people will put their brass in there instead of the trash can, which gets burnt. We also have several LEO agencies that qualify and have range time and they never pick up their own, which is nice. Either way, I hate to see brass get wasted. Edited May 6, 2012 by PKT1106 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 The range I go to, the rifle shooters seem to be all about reloading with a few exceptions. The pistol range is a different story. I usually find 200-300 total of 380, 9, 40 & 45 on the pistol range, plus all the stuff they throw in the trash can that I don't dive for. I asked the club president if I could supply a separate can just for brass because I know people can use it and I don't like seeing it wasted. I put a big yellow trash can out with the word "BRASS" on it and I hope people will put their brass in there instead of the trash can, which gets burnt. We also have several LEO agencies that qualify and have range time and they never pick up their own, which is nice. Either way, I hate to see brass get wasted. Go ahead and put out the bucket.. Make it easy for Austin L911..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round_Gun_Shooter Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 (edited) We also have several LEO agencies that qualify and have range time and they never pick up their own, which is nice. Funny, 2 local PDs pick up their 40 and 223 brass and save it for me Trying to get one town that shoots 357SIG to switch to all nickel ammo to make it easier to sort from the 40 when the SWAT teams train together Edited May 6, 2012 by Round_Gun_Shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AznDragon533 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Trust me you're not saving money. Just shooting more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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