[par0thead151]

im looking to buy a 55 gal drum of 308 brass locally, and need to get a general idea of how much brass might fit in one of these things?
anyone have a rough estimate based on personal experience or some rhyme or reason?
thanks

 

[Roc Rat]

I have 500 rd bags in my shop,, I see how it fits into a 50 cal can, then you would have to do the math. Someone here must have the formula for the volumn of a 55 gl drum.

I just counted out 400 rds of empty 7.62x51 LC brass,, they fit into a 30 cal can, almost filling it to the top,, ID of thhe can is 10"L x 3.5"w x6.5"h = 227.5 cu inches. If you have the measurements of the 55 gal drum and figure the cu inches and divide by 227.5 and muliiply by 400 you should have a rough estimate,,,, I think????

 

[par0thead151]

i can do a volume formula
volume =Pie X r^2 X h

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

My best guess would be at least 60k, most likely more, based on fitting at least 1k into a .50 can, and that quantity is heavy.

I cashed in a 55gal drum filled level with the top with berdan primed scrap cartridge brass and it weighed well over 600 lbs just to give you an idea of the weight you'll be dealing with with a full drum.

You'll be looking at lots of prep time.....but well worth it these days.

 

[par0thead151]

wow, i would have guessed 20-30K rounds.
i think i will have to do this sale by weight as i dont want to get the short end of the stick on such a big purchase.
also, im going to comb it for beridian primed. im hoping it is from a military base as those are always boxer primed.

whoever came up with beridian primed needs to be shot
i have broken more decapping pins because of those cases.....

 

[belt fed frog]

berdan priming is an american invention while boxer priming is a european invention

 

[kkkriverrats]

Two options

The big problem estimating the nunber of cases is that they are placed at random in the drum and it is difficult to calculate the volume of voids between the cases. Calculating by weight would be the most accurate. Military 7.62X51 M59 ball cases weigh 190 + or - 20 gns each, the primers weigh 5.43 + or- .520 gns each (even expended primers would have weight.) In short, not every case weighs the same! Creating average weight of some known number of cases would partialy compensate for differences in weight of individual cases. The greater the number of cases used to create an average weight, the more accurate the the estimated number of cases. Then there is the problem of dirt or other debris mixed in with the cases.

Take a 1 gallon pail weigh it. Fill it with .308 cases weigh it, subtract weight of pail answer is net weight of one gallon of randomly placed .308 brass. Weigh 100 .308 cases this will give you weight of 100 randomly selected cases, divide net weight of 1 gallon of cases by weight of 100 cases this wil give you the number of ONE HUNDRED CASE UNITS in a gallon multiply this by 5500 (100 cases in a unit X 55 Gallons) and you have the estimated number of cases in a 55 gallon drum, more of less.

Or you can do it by volume Fill a one gallon pail with .308 cases count them, mutliply by 55. The chance of error is much greater here due to the void spaces and the difference in the interior configuration of the containers and the fact that you are multipling potential errors by a factor of 55. This would be the least accurate method.

I, being a belt AND suspenders guy, would do both and either average the answers or use one as a sanity check against the other.

This reminds me of the grade school math problem.

Question: If a train left Boston headed for Chicago at 50 mph and a train left Chicago headed for Boston at 70mph where would they meet.

Answer: At the sight of the train wreck.

 

[GUNNER 50]

I don't know if this will help , but I was selling 308 brass by the pound 37 cases = 1 pound...with primer.....also I was buying 308 brass from a member in 5gal buckets....He said there was about 2500 in a bucket.

 

[par0thead151]

im just wondering what a GREAT price for this would be.
i paid 1.70$ per pound for some 223 brass from the guy who hooked me up with the 308 guy. im hoping he will go for the same price.

 

[sdk1968]

im with gr 50 & KKKriverrats on this as a small bucket measurement is the simplest way to go....

(i can do math formulas all day long but they dont take into account the dead space)

id be very leary of anyone giving you that many empty's..... may be mostly the "bad primer" stuff.

 

[FTB1-SS]

51,246 give or take a little

 

[par0thead151]

im with gr 50 & KKKriverrats on this as a small bucket measurement is the simplest way to go....

(i can do math formulas all day long but they dont take into account the dead space)

id be very leary of anyone giving you that many empty's..... may be mostly the "bad primer" stuff.

im buying it, not being given it.
I plan on not paying much over scrap value as i don't want to loose my ass by buying a bunch of beridian primed scrap 308 brass.

 

[BruceA4]

im just wondering what a GREAT price for this would be.
i paid 1.70$ per pound for some 223 brass from the guy who hooked me up with the 308 guy. im hoping he will go for the same price.

Before I moved here, I would bring my brass to the scrap yard and sell it. It's been a while so I don't remember the price! Where is Tucson could I bring pails of mixed brass and what is the going price?

 

[par0thead151]

Before I moved here, I would bring my brass to the scrap yard and sell it. It's been a while so I don't remember the price! Where is Tucson could I bring pails of mixed brass and what is the going price?

if it is reloadable, just sort it and sell it for a lot more than scrap price.
308 is going for 100$ per 1K once fired, and 223 is going for 55$ per 1K
thats the "retail" price for online forums.
i buy in bulk and will pay a little over scrap price.
i believe you can get 1.00-1.40$ for scrap value

 

[BruceA4]

if it is reloadable, just sort it and sell it for a lot more than scrap price.
308 is going for 100$ per 1K once fired, and 223 is going for 55$ per 1K
thats the "retail" price for online forums.
i buy in bulk and will pay a little over scrap price.
i believe you can get 1.00-1.40$ for scrap value

100 dollars for 1000rds??? That sounds pretty good! My .308s are berdan primes though.....and I have to shoot them first I would suspect berdan primed would go for a little less

 

[par0thead151]

100 dollars for 1000rds??? That sounds pretty good! My .308s are berdan primes though.....and I have to shoot them first I would suspect berdan primed would go for a little less

beridian primed brass is worthless in a reloading sense.
might as well scrap it. i do keep them, due to the fact that we might end up like europe , where any piece of brass is cherished and used to the fullest extent. there is a way to make beridian primed reloadable, but it is a pain int he ass or so i am told

 

[BruceA4]

beridian primed brass is worthless in a reloading sense.
might as well scrap it. i do keep them, due to the fact that we might end up like europe , where any piece of brass is cherished and used to the fullest extent. there is a way to make beridian primed reloadable, but it is a pain int he ass or so i am told

FIGURES I always have the useless stuff maybe if we ever get our troops home the ammo supplies will go up again! .308s are too expensive anyway...I'm switching my A4 to another caliber.....

 

[par0thead151]

watch what caliber you switch to as everyone else is doing this as well.
8mm is hard to find these days, same with 7.62X54R...
might just want to start reloading, but even then the plant that demills the stuff for components for us reloaders closed a few months ago.
its scary what prices will be in a year or 2

 

[GUNNER 50]

Berdan primed can be reloaded...It's just a PITA...In fact , the brass I was selling by the pound was berdan primed....There are at least 3 members I know of, reloading berdan brass right now.

 

[FTB1-SS]

where do you get the Berdan primers from?