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What should I do with once fired brass?

11K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Sam Fidler 
#1 ·
I have a few hundred once fired brass in .45 ACP, .40 S&W, 9 MM, .38 special, & .357. They have not been cleaned or de-primed and mostly not sorted. Is there somewhere to sell or trade brass for cash or factory ammo? I have not ventured into reloading yet. I may try it in the future when I have more time. All of this brass is from ammo fired at an indoor range by myself and my sons. Anyone have any experience in trading or selling brass, advice appreciated.
 
#2 ·
I know there are some websites that will take your brass in for credit on their site.. I can't remember which site it was at the moment.. Maybe freedom munitions? I'm sure there are people on here or UGE that would buy your brass too. It's not hard to find a loving home for your brass.
 
#3 ·
Send it to me! At least the 9mm anyhow. I de-prime and clean .380 and .40 but I only reload 9mm right now. I don't do enough to be worth buying it right now though I just pick it up like you did. Like XS said I'm sure somebody would give you a few bucks for it. Where abouts are you located?
 
#4 ·
Put it on Utah Gun Exchange or other gun related forum classified section, someone will buy it. Word of advice though, do not deprime the brass as most reloaders like to see factory primers so they know its once fired. Might take a while to sell as most guys like to buy 500 to 1000 pieces to make shipping worth while but you might find someone local that needs a few 100 pieces.
 
#8 ·
glock fan said:
D-FIN said:
How can you tell a factory primer from a reloaded one?
Color of the primer and evidence of the sealant used by the factory is what I usually look for.
Yes by primer color but these days it's getting harder to tell as factories are using many different primers. You can also look inside the cases and get some indication by the amount of carbon in the case. Most once fired cases will have very little carbon build up depending on the powder used. This too is getting harder to use with guys using stainless media and wet tumbling brass. I and a lot of reloaders like to buy brass that's primed and dirty so we have as many indicators of once fired as possible.

Some guys think that if they clean, deprime and even size there brass its worth more well to me I feel it's worth less since I don't truly know if its once fired or not and since it's been full length sized I have to shoot it again before I can just start bumping the shoulder back to what I need and not over working the brass. There are a few reloaders who do like to buy brass that's been processed as it saves them time and work but the majority of use like to do this work so we know what we have.
 
#16 ·
I still have this brass available. I just haven't had time to do anything with it. I was planning on sending it to Freedom Munitions on their brass credit program. They pay the market value of $2.50 per pound. I have 30 pounds. If someone locally were seriously interested, I would sell it to them $75 or best offer. PM or email me if interested. Can be picked up in Riverdale/Ogden.
 
#17 ·
Anyone have 1000 casings in 9mm they can weight? I'm curious how much that weights and then compares to going rates around here. I've seen it anywhere from $25-$50 for 1000 fired uncleaned 9mm casings and most of that is just range brass.
 
#18 ·
D-FIN said:
Anyone have 1000 casings in 9mm they can weight? I'm curious how much that weights and then compares to going rates around here. I've seen it anywhere from $25-$50 for 1000 fired uncleaned 9mm casings and most of that is just range brass.
I'm finding about 8.5 pounds per thousand for 9mm is close to accurate. You will find that some brass can weigh more than others depending on manufacturer.

Edit: I hand counted these last year and weighed them again today.
 
#20 ·
Beretta96 said:
D-FIN said:
Anyone have 1000 casings in 9mm they can weight? I'm curious how much that weights and then compares to going rates around here. I've seen it anywhere from $25-$50 for 1000 fired uncleaned 9mm casings and most of that is just range brass.
I'm finding about 8.5 pounds per thousand for 9mm is close to accurate. You will find that some brass can weigh more than others depending on manufacturer.
So according to that $2.50 per pound then 1000 9mm would be about 21-22 bucks allowing for slight variations in weight. In reality I think $30 or is is about the cheapest I 've seen local. I saw some for $25 once but can't remember where. So far I have not bought any. I just pick it up at the range.
 
#22 ·
UPDATE: I traded my brass in and used it for credit for new ammo from Freedom Munitions https://www.freedommunitions.com/ I jumped on one of their specials and got a great deal. I shipped them over 70 lbs of mixed brass, I got 250 rounds .45 acp for basically the shipping charges. This was a good option for me as I am not set up to reload (yet). Maybe sometime in the future.
 
#23 ·
The ATF considers your brass the critical component of ammunition. As such, if you give me brass, I can load it for you as a service instead of a purchase. This means no Federal Excise Tax at 11% and no Sales tax at 6.85% besides the obvious cost for brass which is often the most expensive part of a bullet.

For example, I can load and sell .45 ACP for around $19 a box. With sales tax it comes to $20.30. If you provide the brass your price would be $15 a box or $14 per 50 if you don't need them boxed.
 
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