Bucket of .45 Brass

[chrisb]

I am wondering what you guys think a bucket of mixed .45 ACP brass is worth. The bucket in question is probably 4/5 full. It is all mixed range pickup. Any idea how many cases that would be approximately?

I have the opportunity to buy this brass, but am not sure if I want to. There is no telling what is in there. I would have to inspect every piece to make sure it was still worthy of reloading, and there are untold numbers of brands there.

The guy wants $175 a bucket.

[Erik]

I cant answer the question, but I might be able to give you a tip on estimating the value.
I have a bucket I drop spare change in, and I found out that the easiest way to estimate how much it was is to simply weigh it. I counted it once to get the weight/value ratio, and now I can just weigh it and get pretty close, usually within 1-2%.

So get some brass, maybe 50 or so and weigh it to get an approximate weight per brass, then you can roughly estimate the number of brass in the bucket if you weigh it. (You need to subtract the bucket weight though.)
Then guesstimate how much of the brass is useful, and then you should see what the asked price averages to per individual brass.

You could probably do most of this math at home, then just bring a scale to him next time and if the weight is over X lbs, you go for it...

That is, unless someone that knows brass better than me cant answer the question right away.

[Erik]

I have to confess, I'm a nerd when it comes to these sort of problems. I just couldn't leave it without doing some calculations.

So, I googled a bit and found out that the average weight of a .45ACP single brass is 85.7gr, depending on make. This means that 1000 brass casings would weigh around 12.25lbs. I then checked prices for brass online, and the cheapest I saw mentioned was $200/1000, even if that price was a bit old. It will serve for the purpose of doing a guesstimate though.

So, to make $175 a good price, you'd want it to be at least 1000 usable casings in there, given that you still have to clean them and so on. It then comes down to how many of the casings are usable. If the top layer looks ok, and if you dont immediatelly see lots of bad ones, I think 75% would be as good a guess as any. That means there would need to be 1333 casings in the bucket, or around 16.5lbs. (For 50%, you'd want 24.5lbs)

Add a few punds for the bucket, and you want the whole thing to weigh at least 20lbs to make it worth it. Given the weight of dirt, spent primers, the work to clean them, etc, you'd probably want more than that.


This is just a mathematical excercise though, I've never done any handloading, and dont know what other factors could play a part. Just couldn't resist giving it a try though.

[mekender]

guys here in NC are buying it for $.05 a round

[chrisb]

Yeah I have no idea how much one of these buckets weigh or how many pieces are in there. It is quite a drive to go check too.

I am leaning towards not doing this, as it will probably be nearly impossible to get much uniformity out of any ammo loaded from this stuff.

[mekender]

just check gunbroker, there is lots on there

[blackeagle603]

Maybe 4000 cases in that bucket?

...just guessing sitting here looking at 1000 cases in a box and visualizing it in a bucket.

[NVGdude]

No idea how much might be in there, but for mixed headstamp .45 acp I wouldn't pay more than 3-4 cents a piece.

[FelixEstrella]

It's worth more to the reloader than to the scrap metal dealer.

If you can SORT it by headstamp and then sell it in bags of 500 or 1000, you should be able to get at least $20 per 500.

[evan price]

It depends on the size of the bucket.

Scrap yellow brass is hitting $2/pound at most honest scrap dealers.

I know I can get 7000 9mm cases in a typical bucket. I would imagine that at least 5000 .45acp's fit in there too. You get about 80 .45 acp cases per pound. So figure at least 62.5 pounds of brass there. At scrap price that's $125 approximately, if it is all brass and no aluminum or steel junk.

Around here I get 5-6 cents each for tumbled .45 acp cases with the nickle, junk brass, scrap, and steel/aluminum removed. ($50-$60 per thousand) and headstamps matching are not that critical. $50 per K for mixed, tumbled .45's will sell quick. So to reloaders that's easily $250+ in brass if you tumble it and get it ready to sell. Is it worth paying $250 for the bucket? Not without a weight and knowing what is in it. It might be full of A-MERC junk brass!


As far as rifle, I am getting ten cents each for 30-06 and .308, the .223 is 7.5 cents each for .mil brass.

I get 4 cents each for .40 S&W or .380 or .38 spl, 3 cents each for 9mm Luger. Typically in thousand lots or more.

"Odd" calibers are more- ten cents each for .357 Mag, .41 mag, .44 spl & mag, .45 colt, FN5.7, .357 SIG, 10mm, most belted magnum rifle cases, etc.

When I find .50 Beowulf, .458 Lott, .300 WinMag, .460 S&W, .50 AE, etc. those are basically whatever people will pay.