Tumbling old, dirty brass

[UpTheIrons]

The range where I do my brass pickups has a significant 'drift' of old brass, some of it many years old. The owner has said that if I can figure out a way to pick it up and get it (relatively) clean, I can have it. This stuff runs from .22 LR up to .30-06 and everything in between. I'd like to clean it up just enough to get the dirt out of the cases so that I can take it to the recycler.

Any suggestions on how to do this? It seems easy enough to scoop it up with a shovel or some such and give it a cursory shake or two in a strainer basket to knock the loose dirt off, but I'm thinking of putting it in the vibratory tumbler for a short time to get the dirt out of the cases.

Should that be done with the bare brass alone? Should I use some sand instead of the usual tumbling media? Am I just dreaming that this will even work at all?

On a related note, has anyone ever tried to recycle steel or aluminum cases?

[PBratton]

you may end up having to wash in in a liquid.

[UpTheIrons]

That's what I really wanted to avoid. Having picked up some brass there after a rain, the mud/muck the dirt in the cases turns into is really a mess to deal with, as well as very time consuming. When it is dry, it comes out pretty easily.

I guess my question relates more to the feasibility of removing soil/dirt from brass cases with a vibratory tumbler, and if it will work without any tumbling media, or if I should add something to the tumbler. I don't want to preserve any of the cases, so I don't care if they get beat up, but I don't want to destroy my tumbler's tub, either.

I've never worked with more than 3-4 pounds of old, dirty brass before, but if I pick up all of the available brass, it will be on the order of 75 to 100 pounds, and that's quite a bit of work, even for $1.40/pound. I may just have to have a Redneck moment (hey, y'all, watch this!) and see what happens.

[O6nop]

Interesting question, but if the cases are filled with years of dirt, a solvent, like soapy water, is probably the answer. Try getting some 5 gallon buckets with lids, fill it with soapy water and the brass and put it in the back of your truck or trunk of the car and drive around with them for a whileso they get some vibratory action.

On the other hand, have you checked with a scrap dealer? If you can't get it in top condition you aren't going to get top prices out of it. You should be able to just haul it as is, as long as you can tell it's brass. Just make sure there's no steel cases in there. You can cull them out with a magnet.

I think scrap yards will take anything as long as it's relatively clean and recognizable. They may give you 50% of spot value, which means you'd need large quantities of steel. Aluminum should be pretty easy to sell.

[UpTheIrons]

Interesting question, but if the cases are filled with years of dirt, a solvent, like soapy water, is probably the answer. Try getting some 5 gallon buckets with lids, fill it with soapy water and the brass and put it in the back of your truck or trunk of the car and drive around with them for a whileso they get some vibratory action.

On the other hand, have you checked with a scrap dealer? If you can't get it in top condition you aren't going to get top prices out of it. You should be able to just haul it as is, as long as you can tell it's brass. Just make sure there's no steel cases in there. You can cull them out with a magnet.

I think scrap yards will take anything as long as it's relatively clean and recognizable. They may give you 50% of spot value, which means you'd need large quantities of steel. Aluminum should be pretty easy to sell.

I didn't think about that. I may just take a handful of it next time as a representative sample and see what kind of quote they'll give me, or what I'll need to do to make it sale-able. It is still recognizable as brass, it is just very tarnished from laying outside for several years.

If washing it is what it takes, then I guess that's what I'll do - unless I'm not going to get a good return on my time investment.

Thanks for the responses!

[ExMarlboroMan]

I was thinking to take an old 5 gallon bucket and drill some small holes in the bottom of it, dump the brass into the bucket in small/medium quantities, and hit it with a water hose with high pressure nozzle. That should get you to a point where most of the dirt is free from the brass. Then let it dry in the sun for a day maybe, and then tumble it.


Happy Halloween

[Mike1951]

If your time and energy are worth anything to you, not to mention cost of cleaners, electricity, water, etc., you should abandon this idea as it is a guaranteed money loser.

Second, any brass that could still be reloaded should never be sold as scrap. There was an uproar two years ago when our government decided to stop selling brass to ammunition companies and a smaller reaction since when it was learned that individual military installations were still scrapping brass. It could not be sold as once fired, but could be sold as range brass based on condition. I inspect my brass carefully, so am willing to use range brass. If nothing else, use it for loading milder practice ammo.

Check the scrap value of aluminum and steel and figure out an average number of cases/# to see how many you have to salvage to recover the pound price. Unless you also deprime the cases, you will probably not get the pure aluminum price.

I can only say that I would never consider doing this for scrap.

[UpTheIrons]

If your time and energy are worth anything to you, not to mention cost of cleaners, electricity, water, etc., you should abandon this idea as it is a guaranteed money loser.

Second, any brass that could still be reloaded should never be sold as scrap. There was an uproar two years ago when our government decided to stop selling brass to ammunition companies and a smaller reaction since when it was learned that individual military installations were still scrapping brass. It could not be sold as once fired, but could be sold as range brass based on condition. I inspect my brass carefully, so am willing to use range brass. If nothing else, use it for loading milder practice ammo.

Check the scrap value of aluminum and steel and figure out an average number of cases/# to see how many you have to salvage to recover the pound price. Unless you also deprime the cases, you will probably not get the pure aluminum price.

I can only say that I would never consider doing this for scrap.

While money is one motivation, it isn't the primary one. As my expanding waist testifies, driving a desk at 40 has its (numerous) disadvantages, and crawling around the range scooping up brass is cheaper than the gym. Also, that's why I was looking at just tumbling the brass. It is relatively cheap compared to the other options.

I know what you are saying about brass that's still reloadable not being sold. I participated in the letter writing campaign concerning the DOD's fiasco to get that fixed. In the end, though, brass is a commodity like many others, and its value is based on what others are willing to pay/trade for it. Having only several hundred of a dozen or more calibers isn't conducive to trade most of the time, so it goes into scrap. And I only have so much room to store the stuff, too.

At least some of the brass I'm picking up gets reloaded - the calibers I use, (or will use soon) and those that I know others are definitely looking for. Since the range is now only used for CHL classes and some DPS training, it is pretty easy to separate out the 'new/fresh' brass from the old stuff.

The .22 is useless as anything but scrap, and banged up brass isn't very useful either, which is what much of what I'm looking at picking up is. Basically, this stuff is a walkway and has been trampled for years into the gravel/soil rendering it useful only as scrap.

Thank you, though, for the tips on investigating aluminum and steel. I hadn't thought of the possibility of needing to decap the aluminum first.

[Gyrogearhead]

Since you mentioned you had 100+ pounds of brass to clean and exercise was part of your motovation why not really go for it. Get a 1# plastic coffee can and half fill it with brass & soapy water. Put on the lid and shake until the brass is clean. By the time you get 100# done you'll have arms like Arnold!

[pbwalker]

Fill up some paint cans with the brass and have a chat with your local hardware store paint department. Ask them to throw it in he paint mixer and presto...

[NcongruNt]

Since you mentioned you had 100+ pounds of brass to clean and exercise was part of your motovation why not really go for it. Get a 1# plastic coffee can and half fill it with brass & soapy water. Put on the lid and shake until the brass is clean. By the time you get 100# done you'll have arms like Arnold!

Old Arnold or present-day Arnold?

His arms aren't looking too great these days. Google "Arnold then and now" and you'll see what I mean.

[Gyrogearhead]

Yeah, governing a state full of liberal fruit cakes really takes it out of you!!!

Gerry

[OldCurlyWolf]

Since you mentioned you had 100+ pounds of brass to clean and exercise was part of your motovation why not really go for it. Get a 1# plastic coffee can and half fill it with brass & soapy water. Put on the lid and shake until the brass is clean. By the time you get 100# done you'll have arms like Arnold!

Old Arnold or present-day Arnold?

His arms aren't looking too great these days. Google "Arnold then and now" and you'll see what I mean.

You should still be in such good shape at 63.