Scrap Bullet Casings And Shotgun Shells?

Hey everyone, I have been doing a little research on this but figured you all would be able to best give me a little more insight to this. I live about 10-15 miles from a popular shooting area, where I visited today and it is littered with bullet casings and spent shotgun shells. I picked up mine as they will be given to someone to be reloaded (.45ACP) but there was so much other casings and shotgun shells (probably a 10 shell to 1 casing ratio, but we were in what was probably about 1/20th of the area, and there were thousands lying around. So this had me thinking about the economics of recycling these.



From what I have read so far is that with brass casings that some recycle places don't deal with them, other with primers removed (which I guess is just punching them out), and I should get somewhere near $1.70/LB. what about the condition of the brass? some look like they have some corrosion, will they only take "shiny" brass?

As for the shotgun shells, what is the best way to do this? separate the plastic (would that carry any value?) and what about the different types of metal they have (brass or steel I think)?

Just wondering if there is any money to be made in this. Thanks in advance guys.

If I were in your position I would be out there all day picking them up. If any of the casings (excluding .22's) are still in good condition you should sell them to reloaders. Cut the plastic off of any brass shotgun shells and put the brass in a bucket. My yard buys bullet casings just like any other brass. The condition of the brass shouldn't matter either as long as its "clean" brass meaning no steel or anything.

The yard I use takes brass whether it is shiny or corroded at the same price. With shell casings, there are several problems to overcome. The first is unfired ammo getting mixed in is a nono, they will turn down the whole load if one is found. Second, the brass with plating on it (nickel, I think) is sold at a different price and has to be sorted. This is also true with the aluminum casings that I have seen in .38 and .45. Third, while lying around, many of the casings will get dirt in them. This could knock the grade to dirty brass at my yard and I've seen that as low as 15 cents. I haven't had enough to worry about trying to clean them out, but I've seen other people bring in 55 gallon drums full of casings.

If there is a dirt pile or other stop in the target area, you might find lots of lead lying around too.

You have to check the shotgun shells because a lot of them are now made of steel and plated. They used to be brass or copper. If they are steel, you probably can find a yard that will take them as is with the plastic on.

All this is assuming you find yards that buy them at all, as you know many don't.

I am in a very large city, So I hope I can find somewhere that will take them.

As far as the shotgun shells, how much per pound can you expect for the steel shells?

Thanks for the help guys.

Originally Posted by newattitude

The one time I took in a bucket of shells the yard paid lower than the regular brass price.

Do you remember how much lower?

For all you that get less for brass shells couldnt you flatten them all and call them something else? so you could get full brass price.

around here shell casings pay the same as normal brass.....i re sale alot of brass to reloaders,,,prices vary greatly by caliber and brand....also when i have brass that i can guarantee has never been reloaded it will fetch the best prices....i deal with a couple gun stores and 1 of them will only buy brass that has never been reloaded.

there are several factors that determine the life of brass..2 obvious ones are the brand name and if the shells have been kept clean and dry ( no corosion ) all the other ones have to do with the way they have been reloaded, how they were sized,crimped, and how hot they were loaded....

we have never had a catastrophe due to reloading, but we have had a couple shells split inside our guns, its no big deal. you just have to have a gun cleaning kit to knock the hull back out cause they get stuck....

just make sure if you decide to resale shells you find that you specify the fact you cant guarantee how many times they have been shot....it will bring you a bit less money but that way folks know what they are getting

Does anyone have experience with Blanks? Will scrap yards take these? It would take forever to sort through these to make sure they were fired.

Description:
3,300 lbs (Approximate) Mixed Fired 5.56 MM Brass Ammo Shells. All mixed blank and expended 5.56 MM brass ammo shells. Shells have head stamp marking LC-04 and LC-05. Lot may contain shells with other markings. All placed in (17) wooden crates and (1) triwall box. Weight includes crates, triwall box, pallets and strapping material. Triwall box may not be fit for transportation. Customer can/should provide better means for transportation/containment.






Has anyone bid on large loads of these spent brass shells? At scrapmonster, some of the scrap brass is listed as 70/30, 80/20, and 85/15. What category would these shells fall under? Also, what is a good percentage to bid, say the price of 70/30 is $1.40 a pound and there are 3,000 pounds. Would a $2,000 bid not be worth the headaches? TIA.


Description:
3,200 lbs (approx.) Fired 7.62 MM brass, shell casings contained in (1) cardboard box, sitting on a wooden pallet. Ball casing head stamp is PMJ09. Lot may contain casings with other markings. Box may contain blank and ball, fired shell casings. Box may contain a mixture of calibers. Box and pallet are included in weight and sale. (I'd imagine 200 lbs should cover box and pallet so we'll call it 3,000 lbs for safety sake).

I would expect that the straight 5.56 mm (.223) and 7.62 (.308) casings would bring higher than scrap value from someone who bulk reloads. I always suspected Black Hills Ammo got their military brass to reload for the civilian market from Elllsworth or some other AFB in the region although don't know if Barry's BATF is cracking down on such companies than what was done in the past?? Your big boxes are probably on someone's radar screen for bidding. As for blanks, I'd call around to the places were you might sell to and ask them. It would be a pain but probably worth separating out the blanks from the straight 5.56 mm cases. Good luck if you decide to bid!!

The range is good for scrap