Brass Sorter review

[RandyP]

Dreading the thought of hand sorting a large bin full of mixed brass I decided to hit up Amazon Prime for those colored slotted tubs called Shell Sorters.

http://www.shellsorter.com/

Many of you may already have these and know how great they are, but it was a new concept for me and I felt it worth sharing.

The process that by hand would have taken hours or maybe days was done in under an hour while I watching some TV.

I am so impressed with this product that I just now placed another order for their .380 shell plate which will then quickly separate the .380 from the 9mm cases.

The tubs look like they're too simple a thing to really work, but work they do. I kinda wish I had more unsorted brass - lol

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thank you for the report...

 

[ReloaderFred]

I used them for a couple of years to sort the brass I buy from our club, but I found them cumbersome. I didn't like the way they stack, leaving very little room between each tub, so they jammed up rather quickly. It may have something to do with the amount of brass I sort, since it's several 5 gallon buckets each time, depending on how busy the ranges have been.

I've put the sorters away and now use something more efficient, the Berry's Rotary Brass Separator/media sifter. https://www.berrysmfg.com/item/rotary-brass-sorter

The louvers are adjustable for the size of the cases you want to sift out, so I set it at the smallest for the first sort and get all the .22's separated. (I now know where all those .22's are going) Then I adjust it for the 9mm sizes and run them through again, etc., until I've just got the big stuff left. It's a whole lot easier than the sorting tubs, and it doubles as a covered media sifter for the tumbler, but you have to clean the dirt out before using it for media......

Hope this helps.

Fred

PS: With the brass sorter tubs, I bought the .380 aluminum plate, but never had to use it. The bottom tub also held the .380's, along with the 9mm's.

 

[rondog]

I had a set, sold 'em. Between the cases nesting, dirt/rocks/sand/.22's, and other issues, I usually ended up hand sorting anyway. I can do it better and quicker just dumping them all out on an old card table.

But that's just me. They DO work, just something I found to be more of a PITA than useful.

 

[PCFlorida]

I am actually a big fan of them and bought the .380 as well. But what works for me may not work for someone else.

 

[RandyP]

I will add that thankfully I do NOT have to sort 5 gal buckets worth at a time -lol - I'm just a recreational shooter, retired and REALLY lazy.

As to capacity, it concerned me too until I did the first sort. You stack them Yellow-blue-black onto the empty 5 gallon bucket, Fill the yellow, then lift it up and 'almost' out while shaking. All the .45s stay in that one. Then repeat the process with blue that catches .40s and revolver rounds, then black which traps the 9mm and .380s. Debris and .22s end up the bottom of the bucket for dumping..

Easey-peasey. I hand sorted for 7 years......never again.

As soon as the .380 plate comes in I'll separate them from the 9mm.

 

[dragon813gt]

I used them for a couple of years to sort the brass I buy from our club, but I found them cumbersome. I didn't like the way they stack, leaving very little room between each tub, so they jammed up rather quickly. It may have something to do with the amount of brass I sort, since it's several 5 gallon buckets each time, depending on how busy the ranges have been.

You don't use them all at once when sorting a large quantity. I never I use them all at once. Use one plate at a time starting w/ the largest. You have to handle the brass multiple times but they work great.

Don't overload them either. It's best to do a moderate amount at a time. If all the slots are blocked by larger cases then the smaller ones can't fall through.

The 380 plate is great. Sorting those two by hand is a big hassle. No matter how hard I tried I would always end up w/ some mixed together when I did it by hand. Haven't had a single 380 end up in a 9mm batch since I got the plate.

 

[Hamish]

My IDPA club uses them after every practice and match. They work very well for quickly sorting the variety of 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP the guys regularly shoot. After practice the bins quickly sort about 1500 rounds in a few minutes for the guys to collect their brass. We still have to sort out the marked brass by hand for the reloaders, but with many hands it only takes a few minutes.

I think they work well, and they are durable. We've been using the same set for 10 years and they just need to get rinsed off from time to time.

 

[Captaingyro]

I hand-sort, but then use the .380 plate to separate .380's from the 9mm's. Here's a problem though: a lot of guys at my club shoot 9mm Mak. Has anyone come up with an easy way to separate Mak from Luger?

(Yep, I know the occasional Mak case shouldn't cause problems in a 9mm Luger pistol; I'd still like to separate them though.)

 

[Rule3]

Been using the sorter since they first came out. I find them very useful and work well.

Was not aware of the NEW Berrys media sorter, I have a plain version of those. That looks really cool. The next sliced bread!

 

[jmorris]

I went through many methods including the one they use (the shell sorter didn't exist back then).

This is the best I have come up with so far. Takes 15 min to sort a 5 gallon bucket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFw7IcQUmgs

 

[SCC]

I have a set and like them. I normally only use the .40 and 9mm sifters.

I run them stacked over a single bucket with a spacer between the two levels. The spacer is made from the top 5-6" of a bucket with part of the circumference removed. This increases the space between sorters to about 3" and prevents jamming up. Small batches still.

The .22, .32, 5.7, other smaller cases and most dirt fall through. I don't have the .380 screen and don't bother separating the .380 or the makarov from the 9 at this point. I catch them after cleaning and lubing. I just shake them in a large pan so that they stand on end, pick out the short ones and only load the long ones into the press.

Having the spacer between the two sifters makes this set work much better.

---Scott.

 

[RandyP]

LOTS of great ways to achieve the same goal without doubt. And at about $60 it isn't the cheapest accessory I've purchased, but I'm retired, single, my kids are all grown and gone and as I often say.."I've spent a whole lot more on a whole lot stupider in my day."

I find that giving in to most buying temptations frees the soul for other tasks. lol

 

[mstreddy]

Randy,

I have the sorter set with the 380 plate. What I did for the 380 plate was I made and attached some spacers to it so it sits a little higher in the 9mm pan. That way it's easier for the 380s to fall through and the 9mm to stay behind.
I'll second the thoughts on not over filling them. They work better with moderate amounts at a time.
I like the ideas above on having more separation between the layers. I've thought of it several times, but haven't built any spacers for them yet.

 

[RandyP]

The sorter plate came this evening, and my shoe box full of mixed 9mm/.380 brass was sorted in a jiffy. Really a fine product. Worth every penny saved in eye strain and fumble fingered piece work. I wish I'd bought the full set years ago. I hate sorting brass - lol

 

[berettaprofessor]

You don't use them all at once when sorting a large quantity.

^^^This. I love the things when I have mixed brass.

Brass CATCHERS are also the cat's meow when they work.

 

[RandyP]

380 plate mod

Took a trip to Menards and picked up 5, 1-1/4" posts with screws and a pack of 8-32 x 1/2" machine screws. I used a small dab of red loctite on the posts then snugged them down, EZ standoffs for under $6. Plenty of room now for the .380s to fall thru.

 

[mstreddy]

Randy,
Nice, I took some 40 S&W aluminum cases. Cut off part of the head, drilled pilot holes in the plate and screwed some sheet metal screws through the plate and into the cases. I'll snap a pic of them sometime. I gotta get the sorters back from my buddy.

 

[rodinal220]

I like mine,have the 380 plate too.