Thought I'd share this... (My brass collection)

[ctbreitwieser]

A little over a year ago I decided I wanted to start collecting brass. I've always been intrigued by all the all different calibers out there and I wanted to collect as many as I could. I've had a lot of help from friends and coworkers on adding to my collection (it helps working at a Gunshop with a range), and it has almost become an addiction to see what I can acquire next. It's almost impossible for me to pass up a bucket or box of brass and not dig through it to see what I can find. It's a very fun project and one that is very cheap (darn near free). The best part is that it is one I can continue for the rest of my life, as there no way I could ever collect them all, and it will always keep me looking for something new (or old). I'm pretty proud of what I have collected to so far, and love showing it off to my gun loving friends. If this is something that interests you, I highly recommend beginning your own collection. Here is what I have collected so far.

Bottle-neck cartridges (from left to right)

.50BMG, .300 Win Mag, .270 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, 30-06 Sprg, 25-06 Rem, 7.7x58 Jap, 8mm Mauser, .303 British, .220 Swift, 6.5x55 Swedish, 7.62x54R, .300wsm, 6.5x52 Carcano, .243 Win AI, .243 Win, .260 Rem, .308 Win, 30-30 Win, 6.5 Creedmore, .35 Rem, 22-250 Rem, .358 Hoosier, 6.8 Rem SPC, .204 Ruger, .223 Rem, .222 Rem, 6mm BR, 5.45x39, 7.62x39, .300blk, 5.7x28 FN, .22 TCM, .357 Sig

Straight-wall cartridges (left to right)

.460 S&W Mag, .450 Bushmaster, 7.62mm Nagant, .50AE, .45LC, .357 S&W Mag, .44 Rem Mag, .30 Carbine, .38spl, .32 H&R Mag, 10mm Auto, .32 S&W Long, .45 ACP, .40 S&W, .45 GAP, 9mm Luger, .380 ACP, .32 Auto, .25 Auto

Rimfire Cartridges (left to right)

5mm Remington, .17wsm, .17HMR, .17 Mach 2, .22WMR, .22lr, .22 short

All in all I have 60 different cases right now.

 

[Bennettjh]

That's neat!

 

[ctbreitwieser]

Thanks, it doesn't look like a big collection, but it's suprisingly hard to find more outside of your everyday common calibers that everyone has. I've also been wanting to get all the shotgun hulls for different gauges and lengths, but that shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Mgderf]

Send me a pm with your mailing address.
I'll add a .45-70 case, and a .327 Federal magnum.

 

[Zombieman34]

Wow, that's cool I have never even heard of some of those calibers let alone seen them.

 

[saleen4971]

thats awesome. i imagine if you put all of those in some sort of display case, it woudl be worth a decent coin to the right person (of course, a second set because who woudl want to part with such a nice collection!) - i know i would buy it for some wallhanging beauty

 

[ctbreitwieser]

I've been wanting to make some sort of display case, the only problem is that everytime I add a new case, I have to find where it fits in, and scoot everything down. So I just line them up on a shelf in my reloading room. My friend has a coffee table with a glass top that opens to display things underneath. I really think that would be a cool way to display them.

 

[snafu21]

Are you going to polish and clear coat before you put in a display case of some sort?

 

[ctbreitwieser]

Are you going to polish and clear coat before you put in a display case of some sort?

Thats the plan, but I don't have a tumbler. I ultrasonic my brass. I'll probably take them to a friends when I have enough to be worth doing it

 

[Double T]

Thats the plan, but I don't have a tumbler. I ultrasonic my brass. I'll probably take them to a friends when I have enough to be worth doing it

It's up to you, but I like the vitage look of the dirty brass.

 

[bradmedic04]

I had a friend who took a coffee table with a glass top over wood, hollowed out positions for each cartridge in the wood, then laid the glass back over it. He does great woodwork so it came out looking very nice and quite unique.

 

[BeDome]

I think it is an awesome collection. You should continue!

I have always been a collector of various things, some cool, some nerdy, some just plain weird, but never had so many different calibers of brass. I did have a really "rare to me" one once.
A friend of mine once gave me a 20mm casing he brought back from his service.

He actually brought quite a few of them home. He also had a few other huge OLD artillery shells he came up with from various places, but he did not keep them in their original condition. Three large ones became a cool looking lamp, but mostly he just made ashtrays out of them. Some were just straight sided cut-offs, but as he became more creative he began hammering rims on them with cigar sized trays on the sides. Then he hammered some of the really large ones out into large, shallow bowl shapes intended for pipe smokers. Some were highly polished, some were left roughly hammered, some were smoothed and heat or acid treated to make that ancient look. All were coated with some kind of clear baked finish to preserve them and his handy work. He always said he was making them to sell, but as far as I know he only gave them away to friends.

Being a pipe smoker he gave me one of the wide flat ones after I helped him move one time. Wish I still had it!

Anyway, not sure what my point was, but even some of the strangest things can be made into a sort of art if one is so inclined.

BTW, what kind of tumbler would you buy? Is there already a thread to discuss tumblers or should we start one?

I need to get a new one. I had one of those old orange Lyman vibrating beauties, until I forgot about it running in the garage one time and left town for several days. I came home to a burned out motor.

 

[Mgderf]

I'd like to make a Japanese rain chain out of large shell casings.
I think that would be great looking, but it would cost a fortune.

 

[BeDome]

PS, I do not want to hi-jack your thread, so maybe we can talk about tumblers in another thread.

 

[Mgderf]

O.K. I looked around and came up with the following,

.22 Hornet
.327 Federal magnum
.454 Casull
.45-70govt
.500S&W

I received your pm.
I'll send these out in a day or two.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

O.K. I looked around and came up with the following,

.22 Hornet
.327 Federal magnum
.454 Casull
.45-70govt
.500S&W

I received your pm.
I'll send these out in a day or two.

You sir, are a good man. I don't want anyone to think this was a probe to get offers for other brass, at least I didn't mean for it to be. And again, please let me know how I can repay you.

 

[Mgderf]

You sir, are a good man. I don't want anyone to think this was a probe to get offers for other brass, at least I didn't mean for it to be. And again, please let me know how I can repay you.

If I'd thought that was your intention, you never would have received the offer.
Postage will be minimal so I'm not concerned about it.
Repay? Pass along the kind deed to someone else.

Enjoy.

 

[ScouT6a]

Here's my collection I've been working on, except I went the full round route. 111 so far.

 

[Hookeye]

I know a guy that has quite a few in his collection. I need to see how far his reloading nerdism has gone (he collects presses too).

A couple of oddballs he shoots:
.219 Donaldson Wasp
.256 Winchester
6mm Norma BR

 

[johntheplinker]

I've got a couple for you to add if you want them: 7mm Mauser and 7.5 Swiss. Let me dig around my junk box and I may have a couple more. I work up that way and can drop them off one evening after work. Let me know when and where.