How do you store your brass?

[milktree]

How do you keep your brass sorted?

E.g. how do you keep the once fired from the twice fired, the clean from the needs-cleaned, different brands, etc.

I generally have two boxes per caliber, one for clean, one for needs-cleaned, assuming I don't care about headstamp. I mark the box with "once fired, clean" or "twice fired, dirty", as appropriate.

But it's less than an ideal system.

What do you do?

 

[mac1911]

I use the same system I used with my shotgun shells. I have five containers
1 fired
2
3
4
5 ect ect
I load the once fired until the box is empty, dump those in box 2, remove box one and start filling with once fired, box 2 is loaded until finished those spent cases go into box 3 ect ect....when I get to box 5 its loaded and put into scrap as I fire them. Of course I inspect at every resize/reload.
I have a lot of boxes.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

If you get into the habit of throwing the brass into the tumbler once you get home, you won't have to worry about keeping it separate.

 

[JohnFH]

lots and lots of folgers coffee containers

 

[ARowley]

I have one bucket with all my dirty brass. I don't have any clean brass. I don't have anything to clean brass. I hope to reload so I started saving brass.

 

[Fixxah]

I clean and label all my reloaded brass.
My steel plate ammo is always in circulation in plastic ammo boxes with the label for that load and number of reloads. My NES brass is near its end and I leave it at the range.

5.56mm from group buy gets run through compete loading of all cases before I load it again and is prepped in 4k lots.
Sadly, I am going to be on the hunt for brass once I get my shop set up.

Just finished mounting my press and cleaning guns after pumpkin shoot.

 

[drgrant]

1 Gallon Ziploc Freezer bags.

I don't bother tracking reload intervals for pistol brass, because nothing I load currently is in any of the calibers or pressures where you're likely to wear the brass out in any typical amount of reloads. There is "once fired" and "everything else". Often sorted by headstamp, just for consistency sake. (For example, 85% of my brass is winchester, so I'd rather just have boxes full of winchester stamped output, and then use the other stamps for the one offs). Sometimes if I have really crappy looking brass in a given caliber I will set it aside and load it up for North Leominster pin shoots or NES shoots, where I commonly just leave the brass or a rat takes it.

With rifle brass or massive caliber handgun brass (eg, like .460/.480/.500 ) it's probably a wise idea to track the number of reloadings, which can be done by putting a piece of tape on the ziplock bag with a number. When you get home throw it in the tumbler and take it out and increase the number by 1. Then you know what you are dealing with.

-Mike

 

[M1911]

Kitty litter buckets. We've got a bunch now will always have more in the future.

 

[Jamie]

1 Gallon Ziploc Freezer bags.

I don't bother tracking reload intervals for pistol brass, because nothing I load currently is in any of the calibers or pressures where you're likely to wear the brass out in any typical amount of reloads. There is "once fired" and "everything else". Often sorted by headstamp, just for consistency sake. (For example, 85% of my brass is winchester, so I'd rather just have boxes full of winchester stamped output, and then use the other stamps for the one offs). Sometimes if I have really crappy looking brass in a given caliber I will set it aside and load it up for North Leominster pin shoots or NES shoots, where I commonly just leave the brass or a rat takes it.

With rifle brass or massive caliber handgun brass (eg, like .460/.480/.500 ) it's probably a wise idea to track the number of reloadings, which can be done by putting a piece of tape on the ziplock bag with a number. When you get home throw it in the tumbler and take it out and increase the number by 1. Then you know what you are dealing with.

-Mike

This is the system I use for most calibers (the Ziplock treatment). For .223 I use a few different 5 gallon pails simply due to volume of brass. As noted above for the big bore handgun brass I keep track of number of times fired.

 

[Knob Creek]

Lots of Domino Sugar containers.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I store my .223 in trash barrels. I have six that I use. One each for: range brass, polished, processed (sized, trimmed, primer pocket reamed, and primed), twice fired (but already processed), and more-than-twice-fired (but previously processed). The rest of the brass is stored in about 40 large floor standing, interlocking Accro bins.

 

[Jamie]

I store my .223 in trash barrels.

.

 

[Fixxah]

If anyone can wear out their Giraud trimmer, my bet is on Eddie Coyle.

 

[SheepDog_B]

I have one bucket with all my dirty brass. I don't have any clean brass. I don't have anything to clean brass. I hope to reload so I started saving brass.

+1 for me. I've got hundreds of .223's, 9's and 380's that I've just threw in the cellar once back from the range.

**I've been wondering if they are safe to use after sitting like this for 1+ years. (plan on reloading but not high on the priority list yet)
**Can someone chime in on whether this is OK?

Thanks

 

[swampy]

I store my brass in anything that'll hold it. Zip loc bags, coffee containers, plastic buckets, cardboard boxes, paper bags, akro bins, drawers, my range bag, ammo box trays, coat pockets, pants pockets, etc. My basement is like a brass hoarder's wonderland. I bought a stack of plastic organizer bins that apparently came from a pharmacy because they are marked with names of drugs. Neatly arranged they will hold 460 pcs of 5.56 brass. They are handy for sorting and storing range brass until there is enough to fill the small tumbler to clean them. I have scrap brass and scrap aluminum sorted in cardboard boxes.

 

[Kicker96FS]

Plastic 2.5 gal. yellow pails, lots of yellow pails.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

I use Kicker's yellow 2 1/2 gallon plastic pails, with covers. I have them in sets, marked (Sharpie on the outside and on the lid) with caliber and then Dirty and Polished. So, two buckets per set, and I have many multiples. I have like 5 sets of .40 S&W.

My raw feed for 5.56 is a 55 gallon barrel. That's the once fired. After my second firing, they go into the yellow bucket system, and there's a bunch of those sets.

The problem for me is the small qty calibers. Those are everywhere. In bags, in boxes, in acco bins, and a couple in bags within yellow buckets (in bags to separate the dirty from the polished).

The buckets stack well, which because there are so many, takes up less space than it would otherwise. It still takes up a lot of space.

BTW, I have two 55 gallon fiber drums of 50 BMG. I don't have a gun for that (yet).... and so have some brass available. PM me for details.

 

[stoneypete]

Coffee cans. check
Kitty litter bucket. check (just got it and intend to use it for that purpose.)
Zip lock bags. check
Trash barrel. not worthy

I also have some in a .50 cal ammo can.

 

[Bob J]

1 Gallon Ziploc Freezer bags.

This is what we use as well with the bags stored in large bins grouped by caliber for most of the regular stuff we shoot.... Larger quantities (9mm, 40, 223 etc) go into the 2 1/2 gallon buckets that Kicker has been good enough to Karma a number of times.... All the stored brass for calibers we reload is stored already sized, deprimed, trimmed and tumbled so it is ready to load...

 

[Dnotarianni]

3 gal plastic totes for each caliber. All I have is pistol though so once fired verses ready to split isn't really a concern. I use coffee cans for dirty until I get a full can to tumble then it's all in the same tote. 99% of the time I'm loading mild to mid range loads and full power loads (pins) I normally leave behind depending where I am. Could really use smaller totes for what I have but I also spray case lube on the clean brass so the larger tote gives me more room to shake the brass around. Case lube works well on straight wall cases and makes them run easier on the re size and deprime station. .40S&W I do an extra step to get rid of the Glock bulge and that is a small arbor press with a cut down sizing die and a punch that I made. Quick push thru and the bulge is gone. Any .40 that goes thru hard gets tossed.

Dave

 

[IPSC_DRL]

+1 for me. I've got hundreds of .223's, 9's and 380's that I've just threw in the cellar once back from the range.

**I've been wondering if they are safe to use after sitting like this for 1+ years. (plan on reloading but not high on the priority list yet)
**Can someone chime in on whether this is OK?

Thanks

No problem. Brass does not go bad.

I use plastic coffee "cans" with pieces of masking tape on top and side to identify the caliber and state of cleanliness. I've probably got more than a dozen large containers of cleaned .45 brass ready to lube/load. It's a good winter project.

 

[Sig Al]

I sort mine by head stamp and store them in zip lock bags after I process them. That way, there de-primed and tumbled when I want to load them. I also sort by how many times they were fired.

 

[EDD]

Lots of instant coffee jars.

 

[copterdoctor]

lots and lots of folgers coffee containers

Yup.... Me too.....

 

[milktree]

Jesus, I feel like such a lightweight piker compared to y'all.

 

[swampy]

If you put 2000 40S&W brass in a bucket all cleaned and ready to load and leave them for a year you're likely to find the've multiplied like bunnies. I'm surprised the ones that get buried in the ground don't sprout limbs and bear more brass. If I could only get .357mag to do that.

 

[EDD]

If you put 2000 40S&W brass in a bucket all cleaned and ready to load and leave them for a year you're likely to find the've multiplied like bunnies. I'm surprised the ones that get buried in the ground don't sprout limbs and bear more brass. If I could only get .357mag to do that.

Exactly!

 

[rewster]

All brass is kept in zip lock bags (either quart or gallon size). An index card is enclosed with the brass. It lists what the headstamp is (mfg) is, number of times fired, where it came from and what stage of the reloading process it is in - meaning, sized (full length or neck only), trimmed, run thru the casemate, belled (pistol), primed, etc. All fired brass is tumbled clean before it goes in the bags.

 

[msdamato]

rewster, I use the same system then store the bags in empty 12 pack boxes. Somehow I never have a problem finding a new Sam Adams box.

 

[rewster]

rewster, I use the same system then store the bags in empty 12 pack boxes. Somehow I never have a problem finding a new Sam Adams box.

And do those 12 packs come with a "tray box" on the bottom holding them together ? My wife's 12 packs of Harpoon come that way and I save the trays for my sizing operation. I put the rifle brass in the tray leaving enough room for it to move around, spray with lube and then roll'em around for 10 or 15 secs. Then wait a couple of minutes for them to dry enough to put in the press.