Ktokto Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I am trying to determine the best way to sort the large quantities of range brass I pick up. I am mostly reloading 9mm and .223. I have a busy life and hand sorting or using the shell plates becomes too time consuming when trying to reload large quantities. Does anyone have good solutions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intheshaw1 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 What I did was buy some large quantities of sorted brass and then sorted the buckets little by little when I had time. For a while brass was super cheap so I just bought it and kept my unsorted range brass for later. Outside of using the shell plates, if that's off the table, I would think you need to find someone with an optical sorter or send it to someone that does. I haven't used the shell plates but Ive seen the videos of them modified and attached to old tumblers and they seem to go pretty fast. For me, I sometimes just need some thoughtless busy time and I'm not a huge TV fan so I just sort brass for a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsykes Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 When you say shell plates, I'm assuming you're talking about the trays that nest inside each other with slots of different sizes to sort brass. I use these and they are very quick and easy to use and if you're really only looking for .223 and 9mm it is a breeze because both calibers are caught in the same lower tray and virtually nothing else (except some .380). Anyone can find the time. I work at a range and so I can sort through all our used brass. When I'm only after 9mm, I just scoop a bunch in the nested trays, shake for about 30 seconds, dump out the first two trays and I get a lower tray full of .223 and 9mm. I sort out the .223 cause I don't want those, so it takes a few extra minutes per batch to pick those out, but in about 20 minutes (even picking out the 223) I was able to gather about 28 lbs worth of 9mm, which is roughly 3000 cases. So in your case, in less than a half hour at a time, you could have thousands of 9mm and .223 sorted very easily using the trays. I'd highly consider this and its probably the fastest and easiest route for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigarmsp226 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 +1 on the trays...I sorted over 25 gallons of range brass thru these trays and they are a great tool for any reloader that picks up mixed range brass.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Except they let 223 and 9mm fall into the same bucket. The only saving grace is that even with my blind eyes, I can see the difference between the two......my final stage of sorting is when I apply case lube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anbrumm Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Depends on how much you are wanting to spend. For around the 1k mark you can look into ultimate sorter machine. If you're looking to spend quite a bit you could look into roll sorters. Otherwise only other option is the trays pretty much. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m700 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 You could do 1 of 2 things in my opinion. 1) buy your brass cleaned and sorted.Many of the places that sell this will buy unsorted dirty brass, It would take a long time to pay off a sorting machine over this method even if you shoot 5000 a month 2) setup your trays on a vibratory tumbler. it speeds up the process significantly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99mpower Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 trays are cheapest buying already sorted is nice ultimate sorter for home use and allows you to make some money back selling whatever you dont want buy 2 ultimate sorters on the tray system roll sorter (start at $4500) bowl sorter (start at $12k) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnVacation Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 4 hours ago, 99mpower said: roll sorter (start at $4500) bowl sorter (start at $12k) Who makes this equipment? Most stuff I've seen is reloader manufactured. I.e. they make their own sorters. Or they order bespoke equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmg1 Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 $10 bucks for some Pokemon cards, Xsmall gloves and let the kids at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99mpower Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 On 5/22/2020 at 8:48 PM, OnVacation said: Who makes this equipment? Most stuff I've seen is reloader manufactured. I.e. they make their own sorters. Or they order bespoke equipment. plenty of companies make the roll sorters and bowl sorters. When you get in to the commercial processing/sorting business, they are everywhere. I even know of a few for sale currently on the used market. I want a roll sorter and bowl sorter pretty bad. I sort about 600# of brass a month right now on my custom sorting table and Ultimate Sorter setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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