Brass sorter options

[Lead Waster]

The big question is, is there anything BETTER than the plastic sorter trays?

Nothing near the price of the sorter trays. I mean, for $40 bucks ... that's a lot for 3 plastic bins, but they work well. I mean, if you are handy, you could certainly cut slots in a $3 5 gallon bucket. I think a heated up box cutter could do it (even if you didn't heat it up!).

I made wooden sorter boxes, but bought the plastic ones anyway on a whim.

I think you could make them better if you built a rack so you could hold up the bins vertically in a row, then just pour brass into the top and vibrate the rack.

But for the hobbiest reloader, I think they work pretty good.

[the86d]

A sorter won't help separate .38 SPL from .357 Magnum brass, and since 40 still fits 9mm just fine, and 45 fits 40 brass just fine, I sort manually.

[JackEllis]

I sort manually. Thought about the sorter trays or building something myself but as the86d points out, trays don't help when different size cases fit inside one another.

[tonyjr]

I should have said at least 2 of us go to range at a time .
If 2 lanes open , you chase your own brass .
Most of time only one open and 2nd person chases and puts cases
in the right plastic box .
The range brass is put in a 2 1/2 - 3 gallon pail [ right size holes ]
and then into a 5 gallon bucket [ a paint stirer stick will hold up bucket ]
We /theystop to eat on way to my house and when stopped buckets
switched to larger caliber .
Missed or wrong size are found when we deprime by hand .
The really hard ones are when you shoot the 30 calibers [ 30-06 , 30 carbine ,
30-30 , 308 but most of time it is just the 308 and maybe a different
30 cal in range brass .

[ar15barrels]

I was just wondering if anyone had experience with another good commercial option.

My friend uses a Scharch sorter for his brass business.
I could not find them online anymore, but here are some others I found:

http://www.ultimatesorter.com/

https://www.cdsmanufacturing.com/product/case-sorter/

https://www.hasgrok.com/?product=sortinator-1000

[MrElectric03]

I've often thought of building one like the cds manuf. above or camdex also makes one. I have no need for sorting that much brass but like to build cool stuff. I just line all my buckets up and sort by hand for now. I keep looking at those three trays but haven't bought them yet.

[prc77]

I sort manually. Thought about the sorter trays or building something myself but as the86d points out, trays don't help when different size cases fit inside one another.

yes they do,, its not like ALL the 9 is in the 40, and ALL the 40 is in the 45

[Lead Waster]

A sorter won't help separate .38 SPL from .357 Magnum brass, and since 40 still fits 9mm just fine, and 45 fits 40 brass just fine, I sort manually.

Ugh, I just went through that process! What I did was find a plastic lid with a ledge (an angle iron would be better) and I just picked up brass from the bucket and placed them on the ledge, and I could easily see which ones were .38 and which were .357 ... though you actually can tell fairly easily just by looking. So tedious!

[Lead Waster]

I've often thought of building one like the cds manuf. above or camdex also makes one. I have no need for sorting that much brass but like to build cool stuff. I just line all my buckets up and sort by hand for now. I keep looking at those three trays but haven't bought them yet.

OMG, stop hand sorting and immediately buy the trays. We all start of hand sorting. Believe me, the trays are a touch overpriced for what they are, but they are worth it over hand sorting.

[Lead Waster]

Nested 9's in 40's in 45s actually do seperate nicely in the trays. I mean some escape the sorting process, but you get rid of like 95.73% of the nesting brass. It depends how vigoriously you shake them. The brass doesn't just flow through like water, you have to shake and twist them one or two handfuls at a time. With just that amount, you can visually see nested cases, then empty that tray into your sorted buckets.

Some nesters will escape, but that's just a few.

[tonyjr]

We try to keep them separate when firing , but range brass is free .
If all you shoot is 9's , 40's and 45's , you need more guns .
We shoot from 25 ACP [ YES 22'S ALSO ] to 50 AE's.
From 223's to the 308 , so if not steel , we pick up .
While Nested cases do sometimes make it into the press [ bottle necks ] the pistol cases are hand deprimed and very easy to find .
[ I have had both thumb joints replaced and not enough strength to hand deprime bottle necks ]
Kind of like the small 45 primers -

[ugimports]

I do something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4YO5qp6CGo

[tonyjr]

ugimports
Real close to what I did for nut , corn and pins .
Works good for pins - but worthless for corn / nut .

[Lead Waster]

I do something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4YO5qp6CGo

I like the idea of using the top of 5 gallon buckets as spacers!

[ugimports]

I like the idea of using the top of 5 gallon buckets as spacers!

I wasn't doing that part, but will be now I have a bunch of 5 gallon buckets that I store the brass in so trimming off that top section should be just fine to re-use for the sorters.