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 8milimeter |
Scrap Brass Prices |
Lead | |
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Posts: 12 (04/15/08 06:57 AM) |
I called a couple of scrap dealers in my area and was disappointed in the prices they qouted me for scrap rilfe brass.
. Frederick, Md $1.00 lb Rockville, Md $0.55 lb Whats the going rate in your area ??? |
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richp41 |
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Posts: 1398 (04/15/08 11:13 AM) |
$1.50/ lb in Tuscaloosa, AL. Copper was $3.00
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Rich42 |
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Posts: 466 (04/17/08 02:11 PM) Veteran member |
http://www.scrapindex.com/metal.html
Scrap dealers will give the lowest they can get away with. Depending on the customer. The shart shows the daily metal prices. Local dealers will vary. Some pay more for larger quantities. |
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Recoil spring |
Would I be better off waiting on mine? | ||
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Posts: 161 (04/20/08 12:26 PM) active member |
I know this sounds like speculating, but shouldn't we wait longer before selling, will the price go up more? I have around 30 lbs and growing, of picked
up brass, but would like to sell later this year.
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m1 talker |
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Posts: 5795 (04/20/08 03:30 PM) Veteran member |
Some places won't take it, thinking some rounds may be live, which we all know is nonsense, but they are the ones with the cash registers. So I would check
out your local recycler or scrap dealer first before making big plans about selling spent brass.
Curt |
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Rich42 |
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Posts: 467 (04/20/08 04:20 PM) Veteran member |
Anyone that wants to sell brass. Look in the yellow pages under scrap dealers.
Call first to see what they will accept. Some will not take ammo brass. Most will. Prices differ by quantity brought in. Call around to compare prices. Watch the dealer like a hawk, they will screw you anyway they can. 30lbs is not a big deal. Better to save up several hundred pounds. Prices have gone so high, it is causing problems in our club. People fighting over the spent brass at the range. Metal prices are very fluid, so no telling if selling now or later is better. Check the metals price chart I posted above. There are also yearly charts to give an idea of price fluctuations. Side note: People are getting arrested and doing time for stealing copper and other metals, that before was never noticed. I see people removing the copper grounding cables from telephone poles, as well as units that have grounding cables. Big business for the illigals in our area.
Last Edited By: Rich42
04/20/08 04:26 PM.
Edited 1 times.
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mikew24 |
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Posts: 22 (04/21/08 06:42 AM) |
Hi,
There are many reasons why yards don't buy shells. Reason #1 is that 85%-95% of the mixed yellow brass scrap in the U.S. is being exported to China or India. Brass shell casings are forbidden in this export brass. I have to sign a declaration guaranteeing no shells in every load we ship out. This leads to reason #2 why people don't like shells: What to do with 30 lbs. of shells (or some other quantity less than a truck load). To sell shells as a separate commodity (which is ACTUALLY better brass than mixed yellow brass) you have to guarantee no live shells. To do this they must be "popped". This means run through a furnace at a minimum of 1000 degrees. Being a large scrap yard we do this, and unfortunately we have never incinerated shells that didn't have a few go off. This may be anything from a primer in a case to a live round. (I could tell an unfortunate story of some type of cannon shell blowing our furnace doors open, but since I couldn't ever find a piece larger than your finger nail, who knows what it was.) When you incinerate live small arms, the cases just explode since there is no barrel holding the shell together. The bullet doesn't travel anywhere. But this is why a final consumer does not like "unpopped" shell casings. When they charge brass into the furnace these "pops" can throw molten brass on their employees. Even primers can do this. As to price: We are currently paying anywhere from 1.35-1.75 depending on quantity. Why is this? Why are gun dealers allowed to price guns at such varying prices? This is a free capitalist country, and businesses are allowed to price things where they feel comfortable to make the profit they need to. Scrap yards are not some new "green" industry to satisfy the environmentalists. Most have been around for years. Our yard opened in 1902, and we are there to make money. If the prices are not acceptable, don't sell your scrap. As to screwing customers: As with any business there are dishonest dealers, but for the most part they are honest. We have state-certified scales, and are checked frequently. There have been instances of dealers going to prison for cheating customers. But to be honest, most have no reason to cheat you or anyone else for brass shells. Other than large ranges, or military bids, lots of shells are normally very small (few hundred pounds at most). Saying scrap dealers will screw you any way they can is a sterotype like saying any gun owner is a nut waiting to crack and start shooting. Sorry for the long rant, Mike
Last Edited By: mikew24
04/21/08 06:44 AM.
Edited 1 times.
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8milimeter |
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Posts: 13 (04/21/08 08:03 AM) |
Mike, thanks for the reply. That answers a lot of question.
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Japlmg |
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Posts: 260 (04/21/08 08:32 PM) |
The local scrap yard I deal with, runs all the shell casings through a shreader first.
Any live cartridges are normally ripped apart before being set off that way. The shreaded stuff goes through a oven, that sets off any primers that survive the shreader. They do ship most of their scrap brass to China or India. The last time I took a bucket full over there, I received $1.45 per pound. Gregg |
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Rich42 |
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Posts: 468 (04/23/08 02:18 PM) Veteran member |
Mike, I don't mean to trash scrap dealers here.
My comments are from personal experiences with three of our scrap dealers. We have a fair amount of scrap brass from our range and the experienced brass folks have cautioned some of our members about finer points of getting less than they should from "some" dealers. We have also tested these dealers, by sending experienced scrap guys with a certain amount, then sendind a female or obviously novice person in with the same amount. The results weren't nice. That is the reality of selling brass in small lots by people who are not familiar with the business. I won't go into details here. Will just start controversy. We were amazed at the tricks they use to give the least amount they can to those that are to selling brass. Nothing agains the law, and it is the American way. "Getting screwed" may have been a bit harsh. Lets just say, like in any business deal. Be well informed, and watch closely when your product is handled. Or people who want to sell brass can just go in wide eyed and accept whatever price the dealer will give them. Its your money folks. I'm just relating our experiences. I'm just relating factual experiences here. Since we have over 700 members, plus public users, we have quite a bit of brass and a few cents add up. The range donates the money to charities for kids with med. problems. It is not just scrap dealers, but all business transactions. It would be naive to think otherwise. I sell quite a bit of silver and coins to various dealers. Same story. 'Some shops I wouldn't deal with at all. Yes the scales are certified, so are gas pumps. I got a pump awhile back that gave me 40 gal. of diesel for $5. On a side note. Scrap dealers in our area are subject to a very large Criminal investigation as we speak. All dealers in our area. Seems they have been buying obviously stolen copper and other metals, no questions asked. Sign of the times. Our mayor Oscar Goodman, ex mob lawyer, is having the police investigate the scrap yards for criminal practices. Yep, we are talking Las Vegas here folks. Pure twilight zone. Yes, I know, I know, how are the dealers supposed to know that the illigal with a truck full of copper didn't pull it out of his own bathroom walls. But, like you say. Don't paint them all with the same brush. Fact is, if your selling brass in small amounts, be well informed and know what you are doing to get top dollar. Of course I would expect anyone in the industry to defend their turf. The complexities of processing the brass, doesn't have much to do with the small time brass seller, since all scrap yards would have to process it the same, and adjust prices accordingly. If you as plant manager know what the guy at the scale is doing on a daily basis with the small time sellers. You are a rare breed of manager indeed.
Last Edited By: Rich42
04/23/08 05:30 PM.
Edited 5 times.
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svspa |
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Posts: 263 (04/24/08 05:39 PM) active member |
Local yard in Hbg PA, tri-state, $1 per pound for spent gun brass. They pay $1.60 per pound for regular brass. I got $3.10 for No 1 copper, made $8,400 for the
company I work for!
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southpaw |
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Posts: 6 (04/27/08 05:50 PM) |
Heres a darn good reason why scrap yards worry about taking anything involving ammo/ordinance:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2429105/ |
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cosmo05 |
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Posts: 145 (04/28/08 03:49 PM) active member |
southpaw wrote: I really don't think that was spent brass that may have still had a live primer somewhere. More like a mortar or arty shell. Scrap-yards in Delaware take spent brass without a problem. |
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Cisco |
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Posts: 1655 (05/07/08 01:04 PM) Veteran member |
I have never saved any brass in my life that I did not want to reload. I would pick it up and throw it in the trash when I got home. Last weekend, before
I read this thread, I started throwing my spent brass in a bucket to sell. No use wasting money, I started saving beer and soda cans about a year ago.
On another note in the state of WA where I live they just passed a law where if you sell scrap metals you have to provide ID and that is recorded. So when some contractor has all the copper wiring ripped out of his contruction project one night there is a good chance of tracking down the thieves when they try to sell it. Good law I think. Paul in Eastern WA |
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ebyt7 |
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Posts: 39 (05/20/08 09:03 PM) active member |
excellent rundown of the brass scrap business considerations, it explains a lot. As with any business there are hidden costs that must be absorbed within the
supply chain. Not a long rant but rather an interesting description of the ammo/brass scrap business for those of us not familiar with it.
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Shielyboy |
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Posts: 1 (08/01/08 06:38 AM) |
If a spent ammo has been mutilated does that mean that it is "safe" Also if an EUC certificate if filled out can the brass then be resold to a scrap
yard?
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mrbullets |
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Posts: 973 (08/12/08 01:45 AM) |
"On another note in the state of WA where I live they just passed a law where if you sell scrap metals you have to provide ID and that is
recorded."
Same here in Florida, effective Oct. 1st. We have had an explosion in scrap/metal thefts over the past year or so, thousands of dollars worth every week. And all the stolen stuff goes to local recyclers. Wonder what they think when someone turns up with a truckload of brand new aluminum siding or new rolls of copper wiring .......... |
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m1 talker |
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Posts: 6021 (08/12/08 07:36 AM) Veteran member |
We have the same law now in affect in Idaho since the first of July. Two weeks ago I was at the recyclers and ahead of me was a guy and his young son, maybe
eight years old. They had a small pickup the the bed of the pickup was less than half full of bits and pieces of copper wire that the guy picked up at
construction sites, as he is a contractor and electrician. The guy knew copper was worth some good money, but he did not have any idea it was worth that much.
The guy at the recyclers opened up the safe and paid him $562.80 in cold cash for his load! The guy with his son figured he would get maybe a hundred dollars
for it, but you should have seen the smiles on their faces as he left, tucking the money in his wallet!
Curt |
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mikew24 |
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Posts: 28 (08/13/08 06:49 AM) |
You would be amazed at what people sell for scrap. We have contractors & electricians sell us brand new wire on spools, just because the outside wrap is
slightly damaged. At one wind farm, they had an engineering error and had 75,000 lbs. too much of high voltage alum. cable. Since it was specially made for
this sight, it for some reason was unusable else where. (It helps to note that at the time this wind farm was owned by "Enron Wind." Yep, the same
Enron we all read about) One other time we processed over 2.5 million lbs. of telephone wire because the manufacturer put the trademark "Lucent" on
the wire, and then lost the contract they had with Lucent. It's very hard to look at scrap metal and say "that's stolen". We do our best
job, and have a good relationship with the local police. If we find out we have purchased stolen scrap, we ban the customer. Sometimes law enforcement
doesn't understand that it is hard to locate. We will get the description such as: "stolen, 200 ft. of #4 copper". What does that mean? Was it
insulated, and if it was, what color is the insulation? Was it bare, and if it was, was it multi-stranded or solid? What happens when the thief who stole the
wire burns the insulation off? How do you make that indentification? Now when we get a good description such as "stolen, 3 spools of black insulated 500
MCM, approx. 1" in diameter. Spools weigh approx. 1500 lbs. each." With a description like that, I've helped police arrest theives. I actually
spent 1 hour in court one day testifying that we purchased a alum. wheel that was stolen. Police that aren't local will call and say "Have you bought
any copper wire in the last week?" It's hard not to laugh, since we are such a large scrap yard and process insulated wire, they don't know what
to think when I say, "Sure, about half a million lbs." They ask to come look at our wire, and I'll say, "No problem, our inventory is
around 1 million lbs., I'll be glad to show you our piles." Anyway, keep collecting and sellling your brass shells, it's still good money.
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Trezevant06 |
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Posts: 62 (08/14/08 01:47 AM) active member |
Is this Berdan or Boxer primed? Might advertise if it's the latter and get a better deal from someone who reloads. Reloading is becoming the only way to go
in some calibers.
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Jacks308 |
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Posts: 794 (08/23/08 12:24 PM) Veteran member |
The last time I took my range scrap in I got about a buck thirty a pound for the two five gallon buckets I had . They do look them over very close before they
accept it , but usually once they know that I am not willing to allow live ammo in the deal they accept it without problem .
Jack |
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