Shooting range brass collector - GIF

[Altair]

Shooting range brass collector.




Previously:

Rifle and shotgun ammunition lineup - photo
Artillery ammunition comparison - video
Shotgun shells in slow motion - video
Different handgun and rifle ammunition in ultra slow motion - GIF
How smart bullets work - video

[schuylergrace]

Can that brass be used for anything other than reloading? Just curious if it can be cast and forged or machined.

[odd one]

Now if they could make a version that would pick it up out of the grass, dirt, sand, etc without picking up the rest of the environment, then we would have something.

[Frank S]

Now if they could make a version that would pick it up out of the grass, dirt, sand, etc without picking up the rest of the environment, then we would have something.

They do, but they are called a couple of 6 year olds

[piper184]

Can that brass be used for anything other than reloading? Just curious if it can be cast and forged or machined.

They make dandy hole punches when making gaskets.

I believe they can be melted down and re-cast but until they become unsuitable for reloading, they are much more valuable as they are. We used to just discard brass that wasn't re-loadable but since building a forge I am encouraging everyone I know to save those empties for me. But old habits are hard to break and the bucket is not very full.

[mklotz]

Can that brass be used for anything other than reloading? Just curious if it can be cast and forged or machined.

Take a spent rifle cartridge and press/hammer the bullet end flat. This makes an ideal tool for removing "pills' from files. Push the cartridge parallel to the file grooves and it will quickly take on the groove pitch for that file, sweeping all the grunge out of the grooves.

No, the average shop doesn't need pounds of spent brass for this application but this is a genuine alternate use.

[Hoosiersmoker]

I saw a number of unfired rounds being picked up. I wonder if they just polish them up and resell them?

[NeiljohnUK]

Now if they could make a version that would pick it up out of the grass, dirt, sand, etc without picking up the rest of the environment, then we would have something.

One that could work in a foxhole would be useful, I regularly pickup spent 5.56 brass that the military have 'lost' (here in the UK they're supposed to log out and log back in the same number of rounds/cases), the range wardens have given up of their 45 gal 'burn-barrels' for found ammo, now it all has to be handed in at the guard-house. Cheap steel cased ammo's easy, just use a big magnet!

[mccwho]

This is another source of income for some shooting ranges. They frown on you picking up your own brass. The can sell the sorted brass and the stuff that is obviously used to many times or brass that can't be reloaded is sold as scrape metal. Same with steel cases.
I always use a brass catcher, even with steel cases, (specially with the price of steel now days, all the small stuff add up over time. Heck I even keep all my spent 22 cases, over time that is somewhere around 40lbs of brass now. Price out the price for 40 lbs of brass and you quickly know why it's worth the small amount of effort.
It's an expensive hobby so ever bit of offset helps to maintain the sport.

[mccwho]

I saw a number of unfired rounds being picked up. I wonder if they just polish them up and resell them?

Those have to be pulled apart. The projectiles can be reused, as well as the cases after the primer has been removed (or should be, since it has the potential of having been a misfire. the powder has to be put into a sealed grounded drum and later disposed of (makes a good fireworks display if you lay it out in cool designs on the ground in a safe place. <wink>)