How much brass is enough brass?

[cbass]

I've been collecting brass and was wondering how much is enough?

How much brass do you have for each caliber you reload for?

P.S. I know that someone will say that if you can count it you don't have enough...(or something like that)...I am just wondering what is a good beginning mark to shoot for?

THANKS!

 

[contender]

I think it's a relative number. For instance, if you shoot a lot of semi-auto's, you will want more than say if you just occasionally shoot an oddball loudenkickenboomer. I shoot a lot of 45 ACP in USPSA matches, so I try & keep several thousand pieces of brass. Yet, I have a Ruger Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger in where I have less than a thousand pieces.

 

[mike7mm08]

I currently have at least 500 for every rifle caliber. Pistol calibers at least a three to five thousand. That said most of what I have was bought when things were much cheaper.

If your just getting into things you can easily get by with a 100 rounds for rifle and 500 rounds for pistol. Might seem like a lot for pistol but if are at all serious a couple hundred rounds in one range trip is very common to shoot. If you have any "plinking" type rifle calibers say 223 or 7.62x39 500 cases would be a good number for those as well.

If you have any oddball calibers buy as much brass as you can afford. Never know when it become obsolete and you can always sell it for way more than paid for it down the road.

I have more 350 remington mag 375 winchester and 358 brass than I could ever possible use. But go and try to find it. I could at least double or triple my money on it if I sold it today.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

How much brass do you have for each caliber you reload for?

A hundred cases is enough to start with. I have at least 1K for every handgun caliber I shoot and reload for and I don't shoot that much, maybe 250 rounds a month total. 8) 8)

 

[JEFraze]

The true answer is you can never have to much brass.
I keep as much as I can in the calbers that are semi-auto. I will usually lose 10% when I am out plinking. That is something that you should keep in mind. Also brass dosent last forever depending on how hot you load and the quality of the brass you start off with will determin the number of times that you will be able to reload the brass. Thats why you need to keep as much as you can. Another thing that you can do if you reload handgun ammo you can get Nickled plated brass this type of brass will last longer than no plated brass. Also it looks good.

 

[Lee Martin]

For rare cartridges I buy all I can. For instance, I've accumulated 2,200 pieces of 414 SuperMag. I shoot the round a lot and Starline won't commit to another run.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

When I was shooting trap competitively, my "rule of thumb" was to keep a month's worth of ammo loaded, and an equal number of empties ready to go. So at an average of 500 rounds/week, I had 2000 loaded, another 2000 empty at most times.

Those days are gone and I only keep enough around for hunting season now.

But the "twice as many as I want loaded rule" seems to have stuck: w/ my rifles, about 100 loaded and 100 spare cases per caliber is usually enough. For the handguns, about 500 loaded and another 500 empties per caliber cover most of my needs, except for 9mm. It seems one can never have too much loaded, or too much brass, for an autoloader.

Regardless, if one must err, it's better to have too much than too little. It doesn't take that much room, doesn't eat anything and lasts forever just sitting there.

Rick C

 

[Lefty SRH]

My auto calibers, .40 and .45, I have several thousand along with .38spl even though its not an auto but I shoot alot of it because its my revolver match gun.
The The big bore revolver calibers I have 500 or less of each caliber, .44spl-500, .44mag-350ish, .45 colt-300ish, .480 Ruger-100
For rifles I have a few hundred in .308, couple hundred for 7x57 and 150-200 for .35 remington

 

[WESHOOT2]

The other year I stumbled across 7,000 bagged once-fired 40 S&W cases in my shop......know what I mean?

I gotta lotta brass.

 

[tomisu]

The amount to collect depends on the purpose. I shoot a lot of M1 Garand, M1 Carbine and M14 - I have several thousand rounds of once fired military brass for those. For hand guns I have about a thousand for each caliber. Brass for hunting loads (expendable) I keep three to four hundred on hand.

Other than for the military rifles, I have not purchased brass for 15 years because I have had enough on hand. The time will come soon to buy brass for hand guns and I know I will choke at the price as I still have a couple of bags left with a price tag of less than $10 on a bag - those days are gone!

 

[MADISON]

You never have enough brass...

 

[steve b]

If a scoop shovel and 55gal barrels have entered the picture, you got enough. steve b

 

[Jimbo357mag]

If a scoop shovel and 55gal barrels have entered the picture, you got enough. steve b

No but those plastic coffee cans and 3 gallon pails come in mighty handy.

 

[I_Like_Pie]

If a scoop shovel and 55gal barrels have entered the picture, you got enough. steve b

True there is no reason I should have a 55 gallon drum of 9mm and 40s&w in my shop. But you never know - it may be hard to find one day.



I thought that was a joke and now my 55 gallon drum of lake city .223 has only a couple thousand in it.....It paid off very well saving it to sell.

 

[Mobuck]

If you know how much brass you have-you don't have enough.

 

[Kho]

For 9mm and .45, I have a 5 gallon bucket full of clean brass for each. For my other calibers, I have 1-2K (so far).

 

[FergusonTO35]

For me I keep around 2,500 each of 9X19 and .38 Special in stock be cause thats what I shoot the most. I just got into .32 Auto so I hvae around 500 of those so far. My cases last a long time because my loads are mild, also I'm a real Scrooge when it comes to leaving brass on the ground. I belong to a local private range, so any usuable brass I find goes home with me. I think everybody else reloads too 'cause I don't find nearly as much there as I did when I went to the old public range.

 

[Desertdog]

I try to keep a minimum of 1000 rounds for each caliber.

 

[mattsbox99]

I don't count them.

 

[anachronism]

He who dies with the most brass, wins.