How much brass do you keep on hand for recreational shooting?

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When I was shooting 38 special a bunch I would load in batches of one to two thousand at a time. This would be enough to shoot two or three matches and a pactice session before getting too low. Now I shoot less and 500 would be about right for me.
 
I'm a bit of a hoarder.

I have about 30K 45ACP, 25K in 223, 20K in 308, 20K in 38/357 combined, 10K 40S&W, 15K in 9mm, 1500 pcs in 38Super, 1000 in 44Mag, 1000 in 44Sp., 1000 in 38WCF, 300-400 in each of about 10 rifle rounds, and a couple of hundred in each of probably 10 more pistol calibers.
 
I don't consider myself to be a master reloader by any means, but of my favorite pistol calibers, have 3000+ for .45 auto, 1500 for .357 magnum, 2000+ for .38 Special for a rough count. For my rifles other than .223 Remington (2000+) I have something on the order of around 200-500 per caliber (30-06, 30/30, .270 Winnie and .243 Winchester.
Most of my pistol loads are mild range loads for shooting fun for me and my cadre of son, daughter and future son-in-law. I have plenty ready to go when we want to shoot.
 
A few K of 9MM, .40, & .45. A couple K of .38 Super, & .38 Spl. A few hundred of .357, .41 Mag, & .44 Mag. Less of other calibers. A few K .223. Less of other rifle calibers.

For most shooting/shooters, not counting competition needs, all you need is a few hundred of each to keep from needing to reload a batch too often.

200 of some calibers will hold me for a while. Of course, having over a dozen pistol calibers to shoot helps any one caliber last longer.
 
Not sure.

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IIRC the 20MM cans will hold 4-5K of 5.56 brass. The .50 cal cans hold about 1K. This is mostly .45ACP, 5.56 and 7.62. I have more in the attic I need to bring down.
 
win1892 has it. Its never too much, but empty brass is like money in the bank, don't cost anything but the energy to bend over and open ammo. Leaves you with warm fuzzy feeling.
 
I have no idea how much each cat litter container holds by number. I know that they weight about 40lbs when full. I usually try to keep 40-50lbs of each of my common shooting calibers (9mm, .45, 5.56), and 10-15lbs of the others.

-Jenrick
 
500 pcs is cool if you don't need more at one time. How much do you shoot?? If you shoot about 200 rounds of 45 or so, the cycle of 500 pcs would work fine.

Bottom line, if you don't shoot more than 500 rounds at each range trip, you should be okay.

Basically shoot, refill, shoot, refill, etc...

As you can see by other members, they have a few thousand or so on hand of the calibers they shoot. Give yourself some time, you will eventually get to the point of having a few 1k pcs of brass for each caliber as time goes by without even trying. It just kinda happens.

LGB
 
It all depends on how much you to shoot and how much time you have to load. For some 500 rounds could be a years supply. For others it is a drop in the bucket and an excuse to hoard. :D

I do have a fraidy hole that is empty. Wonder if the wife would mind having fifty thousand rounds of ammo the next time we have a tornado warning? :evil:
 
I tend to keep about as much as I can find. I like to have a full bucket of each of hte major calibers I reload for. Problem is I then go reload about a thousand, then I fill the bucket up again, then I have more and more.

There's nu such thing as too many, unless you are in impending structural failure or something. If you need cash, sell some of it.

Right now I am up over 40K of .45 acp, and I am selling off a few buckets of it to pay for Christmas.
 
I no longer shoot pistols, but I do keep 500 to 1,000 for each different rifle caliber. And I use all of them in turn. That way I can shoot a lot before I have to anneal and trim them. And as someone mentioned, over time we all seem to collect cases from one source or another. I especially like guys that shoot from the next bench over and don't reload. :D
 
Just running through looking at the boxes, I estimate somewhere around 80-100 thousand pieces of brass. Like said earlier, it's like a savings account. I pick up all I can at the range and wherever I shoot, if the SHTF - it's going to be the new money cause Uncle Sam greenbacks are going to be useless except for maybe TP.
 
Hmmmm, you sure that's going to be enough Griz44?
Click to expand...

Yea, I know that sounds like a lot, but I have a small gunshop that I run from my home. I have a dedicated shop area for customers and equipment. I also teach reloading and sell supplies, so a lot of this gets sold and replaced on a rotating basis. That said, if the SHTF, then these supplies will be much better than useless paper money.
 
I was just kidding ya. I should have put a smilie on the end there. I figured you had a reason. And you're right. Brass doesn't lose value. Only paper money does that. And unfortunately, it's about to do it again real soon!!
 
It really depends on how long your brass lasts with your loads, and how many pieces you get back after whatever you engage in that counts as your recreational shooting.

I shoot USPSA, and get out to about 4 matches a month and shoot between 400-500 depending if i get in some practice and round counts of the matches. I did this with various rigs with .45, 9, and .40. With 9mm and 45, I could get away with having about 2000 pieces of brass on hand. This is mainly because with 9mm, I could always go home with more brass than I produced because all the guys who didn't reload use it and leave it/give it away. With .45 I could always go home with more brass than I produced at one match because that match seemed to have a lot of people with money to throw away, and thus lots of once fired .45 brass. Heck, even when it wasn't that match, if I marked my brass in .45 I could almost always get about 80% of it back. .40 on the other hand is the most popular cartridge at our local matches, and almost everyone who reloads shoots it. So the brass vanishes. If i get below about 3000 pieces, I know i have to start looking for some once fired .40 online. With lots of diligence and scrounging, 6000 pieces turns into 3000 pieces in about 12-16 months.

.308 form my bolt action? I can account for every piece ever, and a couple hundred pieces keeps me supplied sufficiently compared to my free time and access to rifle ranges. My semi- autos in .308 and .223 are bit more problematic and I didn't bother reloading for them until ammo prices skyrocketed.
 
I shoot two calibers that take one die. 38 spl and 357 mag. I have about 2K of each and it seems to be more than enough. I cannot seem to wear any out. I toss the occasional split case out and that's about it.
 
I try and keep loaded ammo, and supplies to reload. I dont like unloaded brass. Then again that is me..
 
It really depends on how much I shoot a particular firearm. 9mm, 40S&W, and 45ACP I try to keep several thousand pieces of brass and one to two thousand loaded rounds. Other stuff like 380ACP or 38Special that I don't shoot as much 500 are probably more in line with what I keep loaded and about that much brass. Rifle brass I usually have a few hundred for each caliber but 223 I treat more like pistol brass and keep several thousand on hand. If you shoot more then you may want more brass on hand.
 
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