Volume Processing of .30 Caliber Brass.

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USSR

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Here is the situation: I have an agreement to process (clean, resize, trim, remove crimp, etc.) .308, .30-06, and .30 Carbine once-fired brass coming off of a large New York range. I get to keep a percentage of the brass for my labors and send the rest on to the guy who has the contract with the range and sends it to me. He then reloads his brass by running it thru his progessive reloader. I take zero shortcuts in processing this brass and use only the best equipment. Crimped primer pockets are swaged using a Dillon Super Swage 600. Both .308 and .30-06 brass are resized using Redding Competition Die Sets and the case headspace is checked with a RCBS Precision Mic. The .30 Carbine brass mouths are belled using a Lyman Type M die. I am curious as to whether there is much of a market for fully processed or semi-processed (and to what degree if semi-processed) brass for the 3 cartridges listed above? Also, what headstamps are your favorites, and what ones do you like to avoid? I am not going to low-ball this brass, and it will be sold tumbled clean at a bare minimum. Also, since this brass is coming from a NY range, you are assured that the 7.62x51 (.308) once-fired brass has been fired out a rifle and not a machine gun. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated. Thanks.



Don
 
Having recently lost my job I was given old brass by friends to clean and resell to make money. Different country different market different buyers but I would doubt if the drivers to buy would be different.

The brass I got was .222 / .243 / .308 / 30-06 / .375 and .458. These are my observations;

Everyone has their own particular preferences when it comes to head stamp. The most popular were the brands that were reasonably priced but that were recognized brands. These included Winchester, Remington, Privi Partizan. I also found that people would pay more for Norma and Sako while Lapua brass NEVER came of the range.

I also found that there was a premium to be charged for cleaning and prepping.

I sold some 1700 assorted cases and pocketed just over US 600.

I did everything by hand as I had the time but not the equipment, it was not pleasant, my hands suffered and I often got cramp.

My recommendations would be that you get / make a decent high volume wet tumbler that uses stainless steel media. This will help considerably with tarnished cases (I used steel wool manually) it also presents a clean case for the dies and speeds up the process considerably.

Depending on the amount of rounds then a RCBS case prep station would be invaluable.

Also experiment with graphite as a dry lube for the cases. It goes a long way and avoids the time consuming wet lubing.

Trimming to length and chamfering was for me the worst part of the operation.

I set my sale prices for once fired brass, fully prepped, at 65% of new brass prices and they moved like hotcakes.
 
The steps you are taking Don pretty much parallel what I do using the RCBS Precision Loading Dies and RCBS Case Mic. Using for example common new brass Remington or Winchester) from a retailer like Cabela's or similar small lots of 308 (100 new cases) run about $50 give or take. Roughly $.50 per case new. Larger bulk quantities obviously sell for less.

Taking once fired brass and doing it right can be a time consuming process, including inspecting each piece and primer pocket swage of the military brass. I guess what it really comes down to is what would the processed brass you are producing be worth verse someone just buying new brass?

308/7.62x51 - Reamed and Polished - Cleaned, Polished, Deprimed, Primer Pocket Crimp Reamed - Needs to be Sized and Trimmed before Loading - 1000 Units $260.
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If I could buy the above and it was LC brass, including the sized and trimmed maybe $.35 a piece is what I would pay ($350 per 1,000 pieces) of 308 (7.62 X 51).

My favorite would be LC or WW I guess.

Just My Take
Ron

The case prep you are doing is what I would load for match ammunition. Running for example 1,000 cases is a heck of a lot of work and time.
 
Thanks for your comments, Andrew Leigh. Regarding wet tumbling, I gave it some consideration, but in the end elected to go with a second dry media tumbler. I don't get a lot of heavily tarnished cases, and I have found that crushed walnut shell with some Nu Finish polish and a little mineral spirits in the mix does a great job. In any case, the tumbling is not the bottleneck in processing large amounts of brass. As you noted, "Trimming to length and chamfering was for me the worst part of the operation". My trimming is handled by a L.E. Wilson trimmer with a power attachment. While a Giraud it is not, I do find I can accurately trim 6 or 7 pieces per minute. Chamfering will be handled by my newly purchased Lyman Case Prep Center. Perhaps the biggest decision I had to make was what lube to use. While I refuse to use Hornady One Stuck for my personal resizing for bottleneck cartridges, it is really the only viable option for resizing on a high volume basis. That being said, I am VERY careful when using it, and whenever I run into abnormal resizing resistance (once about every 15 to 20 cases), I immediately stop, apply a little Imperial Sizing Die Wax to that case, and I am back in business. Right now I am resizing commercial .308 brass, and I have found the PPU brass to be the ones that will give me resizing problems. Since I use bushing dies and don't use an expander ball, I don't have to apply any lube to the necks at all. Again, thanks for your comments.

Don
 
Dillon Spray lube has treated me well, even sizing MG fired 7.62 through a SB die. I use a large flat rate box that's had the seems taped w/ duct tape. Place brass in box, light spray, shake it around and repeat. Let it sit for a while before sizing.
 
Good luck Don,

sound like you have an awesome setup, I could have done with that when doing the bulk

Picked up another 60ea .375 cases on Saturday and 29ea .458. The .458's will be sold and the .375's kept for personal use. The larger calibres sell at about US1 each.
 
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I was gonna say.

One-Shot is not the only game in town.

I have had nothing but complete success with both RCBS and Midway spray lubes.

rc
 
The question in my mind is, how much brass at what price will you have to sell to pay for all that equipment?
 
USSR said:
I am curious as to whether there is much of a market for fully processed or semi-processed (and to what degree if semi-processed) brass for the 3 cartridges listed above? Also, what headstamps are your favorites, and what ones do you like to avoid? I am not going to low-ball this brass, and it will be sold tumbled clean at a bare minimum. Also, since this brass is coming from a NY range, you are assured that the 7.62x51 (.308) once-fired brass has been fired out a rifle and not a machine gun. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated. Thanks.



Don
Click to expand...

Personally, I wouldn't pay any more for once fired brass that had been cleaned or processed than I would for dirty brass right off the range. I know I can get the brass pristinely clean with stainless steel media and I wouldn't pay for something I could easily do myself. I also presume you're not checking each piece of brass for incipient head separations which is something I do with brass the origin of which I'm not absolutely sure of.

As for the other operations you mention doing; I prefer doing them myself but I'm sure others feel differently.

One item of concern. You get them from a guy at the range and the brass is supposedly once fired. Your guy reloads or perhaps sells the brass to someone else and they then fire the brass at the range. You now are processing twice or more fired brass thinking it's once fired brass.

If I get "once fired" brass with crimped primers, sealent around the primer or marks from bullet crimping I know the brass is once fired. After you've resized it and swaged the primer pockets, I no longer know.

The brand of brass doesn't concern me much as the brand being consistent. I also don't usually bother with buying lots of 100. I usually buy anywhere from 500 to 2,000 pieces at a time.
 
Don, I reload for all 3 of the calibers you listed and I truly don't give a hoot what stage the brass is in when I get it. I certainly wouldn't pay more because it was more shiny. Headstamps don't matter to me either. I haven't run across any bad brands, although admittedly all my .308 brass is Lake City at the moment.

I also love my Giraud and would highly recommend it to you for large quantities of brass if your budget permits.
 
Personally, I would not buy processed brass, tumbled yes, sized, swagged and trimmed no.

I load on a Dillon 650, have the 600 swagger and a RT1200 trimmer, so to me buying processed brass is pointless, plus it no longer guarantees the brass to be once fired and that to me is far more important then sized and trimmed...Eric

P.S if you or your buddy wants to sell some of that once fired non processed 30 carbine and 30-06 I'd like to buy some.
 
I have had nothing but complete success with both RCBS and Midway spray lubes.
Click to expand...

Will have to try them when the One Stuck runs out, RC, as I HATE that stuff!

The question in my mind is, how much brass at what price will you have to sell to pay for all that equipment?
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Actually, the only additional equipment I bought was the second tumbler and Lyman Case Prep Center, perhaps $175 total.

Your guy reloads or perhaps sells the brass to someone else and they then fire the brass at the range. You now are processing twice or more fired brass thinking it's once fired brass.
If I get "once fired" brass with crimped primers, sealent around the primer or marks from bullet crimping I know the brass is once fired. After you've resized it and swaged the primer pockets, I no longer know.
Click to expand...

This is predicated on the assumption that I can't tell the difference between once-fired and not. I'm not new to the game. The milsurp brass is easy due to the crimp which must be removed. As for not trusting someone to give you exactly what they say, I have a stellar record on delivering exactly what I say, and anybody that knows me knows that.

Don
 
This is predicated on the assumption that I can't tell the difference between once-fired and not. I'm not new to the game. The milsurp brass is easy due to the crimp which must be removed. As for not trusting someone to give you exactly what they say, I have a stellar record on delivering exactly what I say, and anybody that knows me knows that.
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I don't doubt it one minute, Don !

Downside is, I KNOW how much prep you're doing. I don't know how you value your time, but I would be hard pressed to make this profitable, great equpiment or not.

With that said, I would price them at 50 cents, for matched headstamps in 100 count lots, and see what the market will bear.

You may have to go up in order to keep them in stock- you may have to go down to sell them.
 
...I would price them at 50 cents, for matched headstamps in 100 count lots, and see what the market will bear.
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Thanks for your comment, blarby. Actually, I was thinking more in line with Reloadron's suggestion of $.35 per piece.

I KNOW how much prep you're doing. I don't know how you value your time, but I would be hard pressed to make this profitable, great equpiment or not.
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Profitable? It would no doubt be more "profitable" for me to take a part-time job at McDonalds.:D I do this simply because I am good at it and enjoy doing it.

Don
 
Don,
I would prefer to prep them myself, as I have my dies setup to size to the tightest chamber.

Sizing, trimming, crimp removal is not a big deal for me..
Clean brass would be ok depending on cost, that is not a issue either as I can put them in a tumbler..
Prefer lc brass in 223/308

But that is my preference as diffrent rifles have diffrent chamber dimensions.
 
I too would rather just process it myself just not military cases. I am not OCD so I just like my brass clean.
 
Have you considered a worlds finest trimmer? It is very quick. Makes doing several hundred pieces go quickly.
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Yeah, but the price tag quickly removed it as an option. I believe I eliminated the 2 bottlenecks I saw with the purchase of a second tumbler and the acquisition of the Lyman Case Prep Center.

Don
 
Well, if you're ok with making less than minimum wage, thats not certainly anything I can argue against- its your choice !

Bullets for money comes to mind...... anyway.

I think at 35c ea you could probably sell quite a few... to the point where you might consider raising the price. I don't know what your supply line is like, but with free brass- its just pure profit for you..... if I could make $35/100 for prepped cases, that'd be hard for me to turn down, too ! If you had to pay anything for these, it wouldn't be worth it.

I'd amortize your time prepping the other guys brass for what you get in return, and do the math.

Don't pay yourself less than $9/hour. Be honest, and get a stopwatch of some sort... if you grind your fingers into nubs for nickels, you will sour to it rather quickly. Believe me on this one, you will- as I've been right in that chair.
 
I'd amortize your time prepping the other guys brass for what you get in return, and do the math.

Don't pay yourself less than $9/hour. Be honest, and get a stopwatch of some sort... if you grind your fingers into nubs for nickels, you will sour to it rather quickly. Believe me on this one, you will- as I've been right in that chair.
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blarby,

Don't want to know the hours spent, otherwise I would never do this. I am sure at some point I will tire of this, but in the meantime, guys will be getting a good deal at a great price.

Don
 
Don't want to know the hours spent, otherwise I would never do this.
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And I quote.... ;

Never underestimate the amount of toil and angst a cheap SOB will put himself thru to save 50 cents.
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I wish you the best of luck !

Whoever gets those cases will be getting a great deal.
 
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