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Thread: value?

  1. #1
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    Question value?

    any value for all the .22 all over the place?

    or all the berdan brass out there?
    even thought about the alu junk?

    cost ver return,- pick up and scrap out?

    i know if you have a "special" (read very pricey) press one can make jackets for some other calibers.
    Last edited by packnrat; 12-05-2015 at 10:18 PM.

  2. #2
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    Well, reloading .22 LR is just too tricky, and as the firing pins leave semi crushed rims where they impact the case you could only reload them so many times anyways. So the best use other than just selling the shot cases as brass scrap is the guys that do make bullet jackets out of them. Likewise Berdan primed stuff can be reloaded, but it's a plain pain in the butt, and Berdan primers can be hard to come by in this country. Also a lot of the Berdan cased stuff is not really brass. It could be zinc plated steel, copper washed steel, etc. I tried reloading some steel cased 223 just because it did have boxer primers once, I kept getting neck tension problems. I think the steel kept rebounding back a bit after I would full length resize them. Steel seems to have some sort of memory of where it was. I gave up after half of the ones I reloaded I could pull the bullets out of the loaded case with my fingers. Imagine what they would do in full recoil of prior shots.
    Last edited by gandog56; 12-12-2015 at 05:55 AM.

  3. #3
    Administrator DukeInFlorida's Avatar
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    I have that"special" press, but already have tons of the brass I need for all the bullet sizes I swage.

    The Berdans are NOT WORTH reloading.

    The steel stuff just gets thrown away. Nothing you can do with it, it rusts easily and iron rust is harder than steel, and will damage your reloading dies.

    Aluminum cases are NOT reloadable.

    So, save your primers from reloading, and include all the "junk brass" you can collect, including the 22 LR, and bring that to the scrapper. The current price for 70-30 cartridge brass (that's the grade of brass that cases are made from) is about $1.40 a pound. Well worth scrapping or trading for lead (if you are a caster.)

    Likewise, the aluminum can get scrapped along with aluminum cans, etc.

    I trade everything I bring to the scrapper for lead! They are happy to get the lead off property, and I usually get a better deal doing a trade that I would get if I just sold the brass, and bought lead.

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  4. #4
    Brass Trader LEP's Avatar
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    If you have the tools and primers, Berdan is worth reloading for hard to acquire cartridges. In this case, I beg to differ regarding Berdan reloads.
    I will, and have, traded for GP11, 8x56R, and some other Berdan brass.
    Load and shoot: 6.5mm (Dutch, Jap., Carcano, Swede), 7x57, 7.35 Carcano, 7.5mm (Mas, Swiss), 303 British, 7.65x53, 7.7 Jap, 7.62x51, 30-06, 8x50R & 8x52R Siamese, 30-40 Krag, 8x57, 7.62x39, 7.62x54R, 8x 56R, 30 Carbine, 450/577 Martini, 300 Win Mag, 45 LC.

  5. #5
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    was not planning on reloading any of this junk.
    just kinda looking at mostly scraping out. if i could afford the "special press" ( i say special as i do not know the manf name, looks like a reloading press but handle psi far greater then needed for reloading).
    with all the .22 laying around...maybe i will start picking it up. for scraping trade. can use the lead.
    steel can rust in place.
    but someone likes to shoot some commie stuff. maker unknown for the cartages but is (looks like?) brass, some are boxer, some berdan primed (then the steel trash). will check if coated steel.
    alu is just junk. but in this day can use a bit more cash / lead.

    is this "selling" to scrapers with the spent primes in place? or would i have to pop them out first?


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  6. #6
    Member Shooterontheline's Avatar
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    We have a few scrape yards in our area the accept spent cases. There requirements related to the condition of the brass are all different. Some yards want the cases deprimed and crushed. Others will take them as is. Price per pound also depends on the yard. Around this area it is .95 to $1.60 per pound. A phone call to the yard and ask for the current rate could mean the difference of taking the stuff in or waiting for a better price. Generally the yard want the cases sorted out separately (ie brass, steel or alum). I've noticed that recently some of the yards deduct for tare even though they are using their own containers (administration fee).
    Bottom line, call and ask questions BEFORE you get there.
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  7. #7
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    Aluminum cases can be reloaded also. I get two reloads with cast bullets from each case. This is in 9mm and they were Boxer primed.

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    i have heard alu cases can not handle getting reloaded, something about the walls crushing, splitting. and i have only seen them as berdan primed.
    but no mater will start picking them up. metal is metal to a scraper.

  9. #9
    Administrator DukeInFlorida's Avatar
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    I've had some conversations with scrappers about this silly deprimed and crushed thing.

    Their answer : " We have known felons working for us, and they are not allowed to handle ammunition. Under Federal law and definition, even empty cases are catagorized as "ammunition" .

    Solution to save yourself all that work........... take your brass somewhere that doesn't hire known felons, or doesn't care. I would never do all that extra work.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shooterontheline View Post
    We have a few scrape yards in our area the accept spent cases. There requirements related to the condition of the brass are all different. Some yards want the cases deprimed and crushed. Others will take them as is. Price per pound also depends on the yard. Around this area it is .95 to $1.60 per pound. A phone call to the yard and ask for the current rate could mean the difference of taking the stuff in or waiting for a better price. Generally the yard want the cases sorted out separately (ie brass, steel or alum). I've noticed that recently some of the yards deduct for tare even though they are using their own containers (administration fee).
    Bottom line, call and ask questions BEFORE you get there.
    You are courting danger reloading aluminum cases. Aluminum work hardens much faster than brass does. The first time the aluminum is fired, puts the aluminum in a hardened state, with no normal stretchiness. The sidewalls will BLOW OUT, and hurt your gun and you.

    It doesn't matter that you haven't had it happen yet. It will happen at some point, and you have been warned.
    There's enough brass around to reload. Don't risk life, limb, and your guns reloading NR = Non Reloadable aluminum cases.

    Quote Originally Posted by Brasso View Post
    Aluminum cases can be reloaded also. I get two reloads with cast bullets from each case. This is in 9mm and they were Boxer primed.

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  10. #10
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    not along the lines of brass, but of felons.
    strange a scrapper would care about this. (felons handling items) seeing as they buy known stolen items. (another crime for a known felon, and for free people, having known stolen items in there hands).

    but not wanting to cause a problem will check out scrappers, but it has to wait till i get a couple hundred pounds each, and time to stop in at a distance scrapper. where i live they are all distance. closest i know of is at least 80 miles away.


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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by DukeInFlorida View Post


    Aluminum cases are NOT reloadable.
    Duke, going to have to argue a bit with you on that one. The old aluminum cased Blazer stuff used to have special sized primers that you couldn't get, but they switched to normal primers now. I have reloaded successfully aluminum cased .45, .40 cal, and 9mm cartridges and they cycle and shoot fine. How LONG they last I really haven't had to test yet, so I have no idea how many times you can reload them.

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BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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