Keeping Used Brass

[baih777]

Pdq, thank for the info about tarnish and structural weakness. I am keeping my spent brass in my home office in the house so I think it should be dry. I was joking about your reload not going bang.

baih, if you don't clean out all the mold, would it cause problem?

It can get pretty thick. No way would anyone put it thru a die. I had to wet tumble the same batch 4 to 5 times.

[Eljay]

As folks have said, clean dry place.

That being said there's something to be said for getting a tumbler when you get a chance. They're not very expensive and if you tumble your brass every time you get enough of one caliber to make it worthwhile you won't have a giant pile of the stuff to deal with when you do start reloading.

[randomBytes]

I collected 9mm brass for about 4-5 years before I started reloading.
If dry its good, no point cleaning until you need to

[SweetPotato]

It can get pretty thick. No way would anyone put it thru a die. I had to wet tumble the same batch 4 to 5 times.

Thanks Baih. So in a way, it assume that it would impede the reloading.

[SweetPotato]

I collected 9mm brass for about 4-5 years before I started reloading.
If dry its good, no point cleaning until you need to

I probably be using my stash until I am low but they may go pretty fast. My boys like the 9mm more than .22 and we that is my wife, boys and I ran thru about 150 rounds in 30 minutes last weekend and 100 rounds in less than 30 minutes between 2 of us the previous weekend. If we were to spend a couple of hours each weekend I could burn thru my 4k stash in no time. That's what prompt me to start reading about reloading. I initially thought that I wouldn't have to think about it for a year or two

Another reason for clean or not clean question is that some says if you were to sell the brass (if I can't convince her that this is safe) then they prefer unclean brass and some want the original box. decision decision decision.

[SweetPotato]

As folks have said, clean dry place.

That being said there's something to be said for getting a tumbler when you get a chance. They're not very expensive and if you tumble your brass every time you get enough of one caliber to make it worthwhile you won't have a giant pile of the stuff to deal with when you do start reloading.

I was just watching a guy wet tumble. He said lead residue or dry tumble residue is a concern. You won't have to replace the aluminum media ever but you will have to punch out the primer first, seem a bit more tedious than dry tumble. And the Hitchcock guy said that you can reload 3-4 times before needing to tumble. I am running into info overload, I think.

[SonofWWIIDI]

I keep them in the original box so may be I should shrink wrap them at some point or discard the factory box and round them up in the zip lock bag. But some have dirt and grime from the pickup. I guess brass doesn't rush and the cap will just be punch out. Thanks.

Go to Home Depot and get some desiccant packs and some buckets (I use the 5 gallon ones, one to each caliber) put he brass in, desiccant on top seal and you're good to go for as long as the buckets last.

I have about 5 five gallon buckets full of mixed brass, all factory new...I'm just too lazy to sort them out.

[CSACANNONEER]

I have buckets of 50BMG brass outside where it has been in the weather for years. It was being stored like that before I bought it. Once I tumble it, it works fine.

[Eljay]

I was just watching a guy wet tumble. He said lead residue or dry tumble residue is a concern. You won't have to replace the aluminum media ever but you will have to punch out the primer first, seem a bit more tedious than dry tumble. And the Hitchcock guy said that you can reload 3-4 times before needing to tumble. I am running into info overload, I think.

I wet tumble, actually. There are tons of threads on the topic so I'll just briefly say that yes, one reason is to avoid any lead dust issues. It's stainless steel media. You don't have to deprime first, but if you do the primer pocket gets cleaned and it dries faster. I deprime rifle first but not for handgun. You don't ever HAVE to tumble, but if the brass has hit the ground most people just don't want the dirt and grit and stuff in their dies and eventually their guns chamber. With wet tumbling you can recover some really disgusting found range brass if you might want to do that eventually.

The big drawback is the up front expense.

If you think you might want to wet tumble eventually that would be an argument for just storing it for now. On the other hand a vibratory tumbler might still be useful if, say, you want to remove lube from loaded rounds (some rifle people do this). It's up to you.

[SweetPotato]

I wet tumble, actually. There are tons of threads on the topic so I'll just briefly say that yes, one reason is to avoid any lead dust issues. It's stainless steel media. You don't have to deprime first, but if you do the primer pocket gets cleaned and it dries faster. I deprime rifle first but not for handgun. You don't ever HAVE to tumble, but if the brass has hit the ground most people just don't want the dirt and grit and stuff in their dies and eventually their guns chamber. With wet tumbling you can recover some really disgusting found range brass if you might want to do that eventually.

The big drawback is the up front expense.

If you think you might want to wet tumble eventually that would be an argument for just storing it for now. On the other hand a vibratory tumbler might still be useful if, say, you want to remove lube from loaded rounds (some rifle people do this). It's up to you.

Thanks Eljay. Equipment cost isn't a concern. I just bought a caldwell brass catch for my AR so if it never hits the ground then I could use it a few times before it gets disgusting enough that I might want to tumble . I will read more about tumble to learn more about removing lube.

[Eljay]

You might also read up on trimming. Unfortunately rifle brass needs to be trimmed periodically...

[M1NM]

it won't rust per say but similar to rust brass tarnishes and it will weaken it. but you don't have to shrink wrap it, just keep it dry.

Tarnish won't hurt the brass. Heavy corrosion usually greenish black in color will if it has pitted the case.

[SweetPotato]

Tarnish won't hurt the brass. Heavy corrosion usually greenish black in color will if it has pitted the case.

Thanks M1, That is new info for me.

[SweetPotato]

You might also read up on trimming. Unfortunately rifle brass needs to be trimmed periodically...

Do you know why rifle brass is so? I saw a number of reload and yes, I never see handgun shell being trim.

[Eljay]

A lot of the differences between rifle and pistol brass just has to do with the bottleneck case. I've heard some people trim .357 Sig.