What is your recovery rate for spent brass?

[Big_Red]

I've been collecting my brass from the very first trip to the range. I knew that some day I would start to reload and it would then come in handy. With that said, I continue to struggle with collecting all of my brass. It seems like my recovery rate is somewhere around 80% - 85% so for every 100 rounds I lose 15 - 20 casings. I am actually thinking of building a stand-alone brass catcher for my pistols.

What is your recovery rate? Do you use any nifty techniques/devices to collect your brass?

 

[lord1234]

I belong to an indoor range, my recovery rate is usually in the 200% range since I often offer to pick up other people's spent brass for them.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Probably 70%...higher when shooting 5.56 or .44 mag as I shoot less and pay more attention to where it goes.

 

[jkelly]

In a noncompetitive environment I think I recover about 100% of my brass. In competition I'd guess I recover perhaps 10% which is okay as I have a friend who funnels me large quantities of "once fired brass".

Respectfully,
jkelly

 

[drgrant]

Probably 90% on handgun calibers. This is mainly because I load mostly 9mm and .45 ACP, and most of my guns in either of these calibers throw brass in relatively predictable locations.

In reality its probably better than that, because usually when I'm at the range I see other people's brass that they've left behind, and I scoop that up, so on a really good day, I might be at 120%.


-Mike

 

[JRyan]

.38 - 100%
.357 - 100%
9mm - 75%
5.56/.223 - 95%
.22 - 0%

 

[wahsben]

They are like the socks in the dryer that disappear.
Mine is somewhere around 90%

 

[center442]

My shooting is usually at an outdoor range. The ground is uncovered dirt and grass. If there aren't too many other shooters around my recovery rate is usually around 80 to 90%. If it's a busy day, many of the cases get stepped on and disappear by being ground into the dirt. OTOH, if it's a busy day there are usually some shooters who leave their cases behind....

If I see someone not collecting their brass I've been known ask them if they want it or else I'll "linger" if they look like they're getting ready to leave.

Does that make me a "stalker?"

 

[Bugs100]

I never count it and I usually recover every thing that's behind the line. I won't go sweep up any thing in front of the line, I figure that's for the guy who cleans the range. He has a hard enough job cleaning it and what he finds is well deserved.

but I do check the brass barrel when I get there. Brass barrels are a hit and miss thing and if you hit it at the right time you can find all sorts of wonderful things.

On my last visit I found a 100 .357, 50-60 38's and walked out happy. I left about 400 pieces of 40 caliber because I don't reload it.

But with the sudden popularity of reloading days, brass buckets are getting picked through real fast.

What really irks me is me is the old guys who don't shoot any more and stop by almost daily to grab all the brass and don't care what it is because their saving it to sell as scrap, when they take the 22's too, that's a good tip off, that's what their up too..

 

[eisenhow]

When I shoot my Garand I consistently only find 7 out of 8 in a clip. If I shoot 9mm indoors it's probably 95-100%, outdoors it's probably around 80%. If I feel like scrounging I can still usually leave with more 9mm than I arrived with though.

 

[Ninsho]

When I remember my brass catcher my .223/5.56 is 100%. Sometimes I come home with more if I scrounge. On average I probably loose some pistol brass, but I try and scrounge that when I can.

 

[Tim111]

5.56-95%
9mm-100%
.22-0%

Now I just need to start reloading.

 

[TonyDedo]

When I'm indoors, I recover about 90% of my .45, .223 and 30 cal. I'll refill whatever box I used to carry my ammo with the used brass, and I find I'll usually lose about 5 pieces/box of 50. I tend to be less vigilant about 9mm, and obviously I keep 100% of my revolver brass.

Outdoors, I think that number drops under 70%. Again, I'm more vigilant with stuff like .308 as opposed to 9mm.

Usually I'll give the brass bucket a once over as well, and if there's any valuable brass I'll snag that as well. .44 mag and .308 are high on my list right now.

I've found, however, that my brass collection is getting to the point where I don't need to pick up extra brass for certain calibers. I probably have close to 10k pieces of .45 brass in various states, most of it sitting in buckets in my workshop. Since I never reload more than 1k rounds at a time, and .45 brass lasts so long, I really don't have much motivation to scrounge anymore.

 

[bostonasphalt2]

Mine greatly varies on the calibre. Anything shot out my AR is always grabbed as I have a brass catcher.

After that, I hunt for my 10MM the most religiously, then for my spent 45ACP and then my spent 40/357sig equally.

For 10MM I have had a 60% return rate only because since Ive started collecting it back up, Ive only gone to the range once. That stuff flies far and I get fed up running up and down the firing line getting my brass and one other time someone was collecting my 10MM and when I asked them to stop, they laughed.

For 45 - 50%
40/357sig - 45%

 

[terraformer]

There's a telemark joke in here somewhere, just too distracted to come up with it.

 

[zzrider]

My 9mm recovery rate is >100% since I always end up finding a few pieces of brass that someone else missed.

My youngest stepdaughter is an awesome brass-finder (and a good shooter too). I love taking her to the range.

 

[gerrycaruso]

More than 100% because I pick up what ever I find including calibers I don't load. I clean it,label it and put it on the shelf. I can then trade it or give it away.

 

[m44]

I get every thing that I shoot when its reloadable, not only that but my club is small and no one reloads. I have so much brass for guns I dont own, one of these days I will karma off the 223 brass.

 

[Uncle Fester]

For my .45's and 9mm's I'd say 80-90%. 10mm I'll put in a llittle more effort 90-99.9999% (always seem to lose at least one). My .458 SOCOM however, I will scour the earth for. It's not that it's expensive (it is though), it's that it's really hard to get. Starline seems to only do a small run every few months, and they're the only company making brass for it.

 

[cekim]

~85% of "my" 9mm casing make it home with me, but I usually end up with 100+% as I just pick up everything around me that is my caliber as I go...

Unless there is someone dumping shells right next to me and then I try to make sure I am not bogarting their brass

While we are on the subject - I am new to .22 shooting (which is quite fun), but silly me, I pick up my 22 brass and either toss it in the bucket or keep it in case I need to melt some brass at a later date

But, as evidenced by the ground, I seem to be completely and utterly alone in this...

WTF? Why do 22 shooters not clean up after themselves? I understand that they get into cracks and crevices, but I am talking about plain old LITTER...

I don't care if I fire 400 rounds of 40, 45, 223, 9 or 22, the end result is the same - I will leave with the same number of shells I came with unless there is a safety reason I can't get to some of them, or I simply could not find one (after looking).

Leaving them around is not an option...

Anyone care to explain some other philosophy here that would justify .22 litter? Or a memo I ignored prior to taking up 22 plinking?

 

[Fixxah]

99.9%. I don't leave until I find it all.

 

[RustyFN]

I usually go to a match and shoot 100 rounds and come home with 2,000 pieces of brass.
Rusty

 

[TY43215]

I've been collecting my brass from the very first trip to the range. I knew that some day I would start to reload and it would then come in handy. With that said, I continue to struggle with collecting all of my brass. It seems like my recovery rate is somewhere around 80% - 85% so for every 100 rounds I lose 15 - 20 casings. I am actually thinking of building a stand-alone brass catcher for my pistols.

What is your recovery rate? Do you use any nifty techniques/devices to collect your brass?

After sorting brass most of the day, I may never pick up anything except 40S&W and 9MM All the rest you can have

 

[dagwag77]

one other time someone was collecting my 10MM and when I asked them to stop, they laughed.

Assclown, I was trying to pick them up for you!

 

[BoB13]

100%

Nothing gets by.

 

[sdavid]

I've staffed shoots and I will usually go home with more than I came with. If I'm at the range when it is slow I'll dump the trash barrels, in the dumpster, most of it is just used targets and ammo boxes, but I have come across about 500 rounds of spent .45 acp this way.

 

[nickortizzle1035]

90% or so

 

[Jose]

Revolver calibers: 99%. Sometimes I lose a few when hurrying off IDPA stages.

.223: 75%. I get it all back in practice but I lose a lot during training.

.308: 100%. I use that caliber only for target shooting (prone slow fire) so I get it all back.

9x19: about 60%

 

[meth0d]

I used to dump most everything, but now I'm collecting 100% of rifle (especially 7.5 Swiss) and ~95% of pistol brass. Sometimes I'll pick up some of the fresher stuff from other people, but I don't go crazy for it...yet, haha.

 

[Chuck Would]

100% of my training pistol brass. There is a trick to it. I shoot Semi Auto at the indoor range and Revolvers at the outdoor range.

My cowboy ammo ends up around 90%.