Cartridge Brass for hardware

R

Rob!

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Feb 9, 2000
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Mete posted a response to a hardware question and mentioned cartridge brass. It ocurrs to me that I have about 50 lbs of once fired -06 brass that I am never going to get around to reloading.

I was wondering if anyone had tried melting it down. If so, did you remove primers? Check closely for any live rounds in the bin? What did you use for a container / mould? I was thinking of fashioning a tray out of HT foil?

There is a theme possible here - 22 rimfires for handle pins (don't peen the brass side) :D

Rob!
 
I have considered 22mag brass for thong hole liners, but never done it.

As for melting it, well, if it is in my scrap bucket it should already have a dead/fired primer. I'd be most worried about getting it clean. Carbon and grit would really be well mixed in the initial melt...kinda like melting wheel weights for lead boolets, flux well! I wouldn't worry about loaded primers, as they would fire well before the melt point so the pop would most likely be contained in the pile, not splattering half melted brass. Still, with NI plated primers in common use, if you want a clean melt go ahead and decap the lot before melting it.

You'd probably be $$$ ahead to sell it as once fired and buy brass stock in whatever you needed though.
 
Invariably bins of 'fired' brass contain a few live rounds or cases with live primers !! Cartridge brass contains 30 % Zn .When you melt it the zinc fumes are toxic .Do it outside and try not to breath the fumes.
 
Thanks. More answers lead to more questions. With respect to flux - I'm a stock removal guy. Can I just sprinkle on some 20 mule team borax powder before hand - or maybe some heated (dry) borax during the melt?

Also, thanks for the zinc fumes tip - and is there anything that will harm my kiln? Got a melt temp for cartridge brass?

...and I wasn't entirely kidding about live rounds. Much of the brass came from courses and re-qualifications. A single flyer meant a fail, so if you knew you pulled one, you might as well save your shoulder for your re-try. Could mean left over rounds in the 'spent' box.

I made all my mistakes when I was a kid. :D ...well except for that one with the chainsaw last week - and the acetone in the water bottle a few weeks back - and... never mind...:o

Rob!
 
I have done a couple castings using .223 brass and it went fine. Any of the carbon impurities inside the rounds burn off long before the cases melt. I de-primed mine before melting and did not need any flux. Compared to copper or nickel silver brass is a very predictable metal for melting and casting.

The last brass casting was the lanyard ring on this holster. The hinge/base is cast from scrap bronze.
Persiansheath1007.jpg
 
Guys, I'm not tryin to be captain obvious...but this is the doorway to free material.


If you have a local range...people through their spent cases away all the time. Show up, pick up, walk out with a couple pounds of brass on a weekly basis. Get there a little before deer season next year and likely pick up more from all the longer and heavier bottleneck cartridges. (Although I think some of the finest deer rounds are straight walled. If you can learn to compensate yardage a 44mag rifle is a dream..and a big fat slow 45-70 wastes very very very little meat and anchors them like a brick when it destroys both shoulders)
 
LRB said:
With sheet brass plentiful, and easily available, why???
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The same reason you'd use a piece of grampas broken axe handle. Hickory is kind o' boring but it's still special.

There isn't much endearing about rough cracked and delicate mammoth ivory - except that it is indeed mammoth ivory and that makes it special and beautiful.

This has nothing to do with cost. I just think hunters would like the idea that hardware is made from melted down cartridges.

Rob!
 
Careful before you go stealing brass from your local range. Most ranges offset the cost of upkeep on the range by selling the spent brass a few times a year. Some get VERY upset when people, especially non member and non shooters show up and basically steal right out of their pockets. Some ranges even have a "if it hits the floor, we own it!" policy.
 
David is on my though train.
Brass is 2/3 copper. Copper is quite high right now. If you had a lot of brass, you could sell it and buy some sheet.
Most ranges sell the brass,too. Ask first before taking any.
Stacy
 
I used 223 rounds because I have reloaded them 4-5 times and could no longer safely be used. My options were to throw them out or reclaim some brass that would otherwise have to bought.

I can't see buying brand new brass just to melt for a casting project.
 
One of the "coolest" knives I've ever seen was a small dagger my uncle kelly made with a spent .50 BMG casing for the handle. I've actually thought about using the rim off of different cartridges for an end cap for a through tang (cut the brass down to about 3/8" and solder a nut inside the brass) or caps over corbys or loveless bolts for a full-tang. What hunter wouldn't want a knife made with their favorite caliber? I'd love to make a walnut handled hunter for my old .30-06 Husquavarna with cartridge rims incorporated into it. Very cool stuff.
 
Anybody that would go to the bother of melting down cartridge brass, and rolling it out to sheet, just has too much time on their hands. That said, to each his own.
 
I don't think anyone was suggesting rolling the brass into a sheet, but casting fittings. As for too much time on their hands, I'm sure people say the same about making a knife when you could just go buy one. Part of the satisfaction of knife making is creating something wonderful from raw materials either new or salvaged.

With the necessary precautions the spent cartridges would be a good source of brass and would offer a good story. Make something and show it to us.:thumbup:

Alden
 
Rob! said:
Nathan! You're alive!! :D

Rob!
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Yeah, I'm still here in Oshawa. Finally got a day off today as I'm switching from night shift to days. Being out of town for work sucks! I've got knives at home waiting for heat-treat and I'm starting to get pretty stir-crazy.
 
Brass is fluxed with Zinc and Charcoal, figure out your crucible, (I recommend a Stoneware/ceramic pot) and put the zinc and charcoal over the top of the brass, you need a neutral atmosphere or it will do nothing but oxidize and obilterate.
Definatly Deprime the Brass first, mos primers contain trace mercury, and that will change the composition or allow of the brass.
I DO LOVE THE IDEA OF THE CARTRIDGE ENDCAP IN THE HANDLE!
 
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