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How do you store your pistol brass?

I'm storing it for whenever I start reloading. I've been keeping mine in gallon size ziplock bags, but the bags are getting pretty beat up. I had one bag break and spill all over the garage. Took forever to pick them up. Coffee cans are good for small amounts, but I don't really know what to do with the 3000+ .45, 9mm, and .40 brass I've got in zip locks.

Ziplock freezer bags are much sturdier than the regular ones, so if you are going to bag it, go for the freezer bags.

But, better than that, go to Home Depot and get yourself some 5 gallon buckets. Hold lots, lasts forever.

I've found that leftover cat litter buckets and jugs are perfect for large amounts of brass.

If you're anywhere near Austin, I've got LOTS of the jugs and a few buckets available to anyone who wants them. I go through cat litter much faster than I collect brass, presently.

For smaller amounts, I have my wife keep various foodstuff containers. My favorites are the plastic containers rice and nuts come in, like those here:

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These carry somewhere around 500 pieces, depending on your caliber. They're good for sorting brass by headstamp into, if that's the kind of thing you do. I've also found them great for storing bulk bullet purchases. By volume they'll hold around 1000 9mm bullets comfortably, but it's easier to move them from shelf to bench at around half capacity.

I also keep large pasta sauce and fruit and peanut jars. Here's a photo of my humble little reloading setup. You can see the jars, small jugs, and other plastic containers in use on the shelves:

NcongruNt wrote:I go through cat litter much faster than I collect brass, presently.

You either don't shoot nearly enough, or you feed your cats WAY too much!

Crossfire wrote:

NcongruNt wrote:I go through cat litter much faster than I collect brass, presently.

You either don't shoot nearly enough, or you feed your cats WAY too much!

The former.

Also, my range stopped allowing members to pick up their own empties once they hit the ground, so my collection rate has dwindled to nothing. That situation will be remedied once I get joined up with Austin Rifle Club here in the near future.

I've found 5 gallon buckets work well for large amounts. Swing by your local USPS, those flat-rate boxes come in multiple sizes and work well. I just pick the size I need and ask for a couple and that's that. I believe they are still free until you pack them and return them for shipping.

I also use the boxes if I have a specific amount I need to keep separate for when they are in various stages of the reloading process or if I am sending them to someone. Ziplock freezer bags will work also, but they don't stand to the abuse as well.....and they cost $$$.

Hope this helps.

Coffee cans. The renewable resourse at this house.

Only problem is I don't drink coffee!

dcphoto wrote:Only problem is I don't drink coffee!

I don't either, so I get mine from church and my in-laws. They're the same kind LT uses (the Folgers plastic ones), and they do come in handy.

You can't reload if you don't drink coffee. It's a requirement.

NcongruNt wrote:

About time to upgrade your Mac, too, huh?


And, that is quite some enclosure for that 'other' computer.

dcphoto wrote:Only problem is I don't drink coffee!

You really dont have to. The lesson is to look around & see what your reknewable resourse is. Notice the 2 containers I use in the loading room are coffee cans & peanut butter jars.

NcongrueNt has several quart canning jars & he has not been loading very long. The 2 on the top shelf look like they may be roasted peanut jars. His loading table & storage shelves are neat & orderly. He can put his hands on what he needs.

Use what you have rather than buy stuff. Also using all the same containers is good organization & neatness. (neetness counts here).

I use mostly plastic rice containers, with lids that seal well. Texamati I think is the brand.

Works good for storing cleaned, and even primed brass can be kept in them and sealed. You can see what caliber is through the clear plastic, and what stage of reloading they are in.

lancermit wrote: About time to upgrade your Mac, too, huh?

It works fine, I see no need to spend money replacing it.

lancermit wrote: And, that is quite some enclosure for that 'other' computer.

Dell PowerEdge 4300, and that's the factory chassis. It's designed for rack mounting, taking up 7U, has triple-redundant power supplies, 6-disk hot-swappable SCSI backplane, and Dual PII 266MHz processors. It was built around 1998. I stopped using it as a file server a couple of years ago after I decided it wasn't worth the cost of the power it consumes. It now holds the desk down to the floor and serves as the pedestal for my powder scale. It is slated for replacement (as a server, not as a powder scale pedestal) by a smaller and more efficient server I will be building with roughly 40 times the storage capacity, vastly superior speed, and roughly 1/5 the power consumption.