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Range pickings

So I went to the range today to test out a batch of 7.62x54r that I reloaded. Worked beautifully.

There was one other person up there, so naturally we started friendly conversation. He shot my guns, I shot his (which he insisted on me doing a 10 round mag for accuracy, and one as a mag dump), and generally had a good afternoon.

Most of the ammo I brought was either cheap plinking ammo or handloaded, and he brought a few boxes of 223.

At the end of this, he handed me ALL OF HIS BRASS. I confirmed that was what he meant, and he told me that it was better off in my hands to be reloaded than melted down for scrap. I don't reload for 223 yet, but I plan on getting a rifle in that caliber at some point.

Then we took a look around the range and decided to clean up a bit.

This was my haul. 1st photo is of the 9mm and 45auto I picked up, the second is of the 223 I was given (in the bag), 6 380 shells, and a single 40S&W.

Not a bad day!
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nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
The scrounging begins! A common ailment for reloaders. I wonder how many new gun purchases occur because a reloader scrounged some brass of a caliber he didn't already have a gun for?
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Brass is money! Never leave it, especially once-fired.

Some ranges have a sign saying any brass on the deck is theirs.Si they can have the Berdan-primed ...

AA
 
Brass is money! Never leave it, especially once-fired.

Some ranges have a sign saying any brass on the deck is theirs.Si they can have the Berdan-primed ...

AA
My range is much more agreeable in that matter. They have buckets set up for used brass, and the club president said that if anybody wants to use someone else's leftovers it just helps to keep the range cleaner.
 

shoelessjoe

"I took out a Chihuahua!"
So I went to the range today to test out a batch of 7.62x54r that I reloaded. Worked beautifully ... There was one other person up there, so naturally we started friendly conversation. He shot my guns, I shot his ... Then we took a look around the range and decided to clean up a bit...
Congrats on your 7.62x54r reloading & range success, Philly! You bring back a couple memories ... I began shooting & scrounging brass as an 18-year-old, knowing that one day I would delve into the world of reloading. What I didn’t realize at the time was that twentysome years would come & go before the plunge & well, suffice it to say that I had accumulated a lifetime of brass. Nowadays, when processing cases, I still run across some old-time Super Vel, Hansen & Speer .45 ACP 200gr ‘Flying Ashtray’ brass, to name a few, & they never fail to bring a smile to my face...

One weekday back in the early ‘90s, I found myself sharing an indoor range with a LEO, who was putting his 9mm W. German P226 service piece through its paces. I had heard about, but had never handled a Sig Sauer. The same held true for him and the Beretta 92-FC import I was shooting that day. We swapped 9mms and a few magazines later, discover that all we had heard about Sigs & Berettas wasn’t hype at all. And so began my journey into Sig ownership...

...I wonder how many new gun purchases occur because a reloader scrounged some brass of a caliber he didn't already have a gun for?
Just prior to the turn of the century, I was scrounging brass at an outdoor range & came across some odd-looking, bottle-necked Federal empties. Turns out they were .357 SIG cases & after much long pre-internet research & discussion, I purchased my first of far-too-many .357 SIG pistols. To this day, the .357’ remains my favorite cartridge.

And speaking of bottle-necks, I stumbled into the world of 7.62 x 25 ownership in the exact same fashion, though much more recently.
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
Scroungers, I say! Y'all are scroungers!

Has anyone, after some pistol shooters have got done, dug through the backstop berm for the lead bullets and then melted them down to cast new ones?

That's not scrounging...that's recycling. :biggrin1:
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Congrats on your 7.62x54r reloading & range success, Philly! You bring back a couple memories ... I began shooting & scrounging brass as an 18-year-old, knowing that one day I would delve into the world of reloading. What I didn’t realize at the time was that twentysome years would come & go before the plunge & well, suffice it to say that I had accumulated a lifetime of brass. Nowadays, when processing cases, I still run across some old-time Super Vel, Hansen & Speer .45 ACP 200gr ‘Flying Ashtray’ brass, to name a few, & they never fail to bring a smile to my face...

One weekday back in the early ‘90s, I found myself sharing an indoor range with a LEO, who was putting his 9mm W. German P226 service piece through its paces. I had heard about, but had never handled a Sig Sauer. The same held true for him and the Beretta 92-FC import I was shooting that day. We swapped 9mms and a few magazines later, discover that all we had heard about Sigs & Berettas wasn’t hype at all. And so began my journey into Sig ownership...


Just prior to the turn of the century, I was scrounging brass at an outdoor range & came across some odd-looking, bottle-necked Federal empties. Turns out they were .357 SIG cases & after much long pre-internet research & discussion, I purchased my first of far-too-many .357 SIG pistols. To this day, the .357’ remains my favorite cartridge.

And speaking of bottle-necks, I stumbled into the world of 7.62 x 25 ownership in the exact same fashion, though much more recently.

Ah, another x25 fan. The "Commie Automag." That and .357 SIG will never jam on you … bottlenecks feed so well.

I would buy a Glock in x25!

Both rounds are too loud, though.


AA
 
Scroungers, I say! Y'all are scroungers!

Has anyone, after some pistol shooters have got done, dug through the backstop berm for the lead bullets and then melted them down to cast new ones?

That's not scrounging...that's recycling. :biggrin1:
Sure, I do that a couple times a year. Probably have a couple hundred pounds of lead in my basement waiting to be melted into new bullets. I have enough range lead to last me for a long time at this point.
 
I do, especially after a rain, kinda' like prospecting. I zone in on .45 and 9mm jhp's, to repurpose in my 35-55 Highwall for BPCR matches.
Did get a visit from the 'tinsel fairy' last Winter, assume some water got pocketed in a void and blew when dumped into the lead pot. Sometimes strange things happen.
Cheers,
R
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
I do, especially after a rain, kinda' like prospecting. I zone in on .45 and 9mm jhp's, to repurpose in my 35-55 Highwall for BPCR matches.
Did get a visit from the 'tinsel fairy' last Winter, assume some water got pocketed in a void and blew when dumped into the lead pot. Sometimes strange things happen.
Cheers,
R

Scary word, that. Casting is fun and rewarding, but you have to be soooo careful.

I wear elbow-length welder's and a full-face ... boots and jeans. Make some boolits ... and sometimes find little bits stuck to boots or shirt. When the mold's hot, you just start knockin' 'em out fast.

AA
 
Agree, no shorts and sandals.... And I have a small fan blowing across the bench, fumes, ya' know.
Cheers,
R
 
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