A-MERC 45 ACP BRASS = SCRAP

[Mitch Dufour]

I found out AFTER this stuff showed up on my bench, A-MERC brass is trash. It is all over the various forums, but I could not find it on Bayou Shooter so I am sharing it with the loaders here.


I do NOT sort my pistol brass and will pick up anything I find and have enough 45 brass to fill at least one 5 gallon bucket. I was on my Dillon 550 yesterday when I felt excess pressure on the down stroke. Brass was not wanting to let go of the flare / expander die. Hmmppp... looked at the case and it seemed ok, so I loaded the bullet. OBVIOUS issue on the over all diameter. The next two pieces of brass did not want to let go of the flaring die either. I dug through the bin of empty brass hanging on the Dillon and found about 50 pieces of A-MERC.


The thickness of this brass is almost 2x what it should be. I measured various head stamps and most of the brass fell close to .012 inches. The A-MERC all measured closer to or in excess of .02 inches. In addition to the wall thickness issue, the flash holes were not consistently centered.

I hate to discard brass, but this stuff will get the pliers then will be tossed in the recycle bucket.

 

[Ellis1958]

Knew about Amerc brass and its issues when I started reloading 25 +- years ago. It's one of the tribal knowledge things that only get passed down from one reloader to another.

Amerc goes into the recycle bucket when found. I also toss in the bucket any brass that has a crimp on the case to help prevent bullet setback. I've had some issues over the years dealing with incompatible bullet/brass combinations. By the way you are saving your scrap brass aren't you? At $1.85 a pound at the scrap metal yard it adds up quickly. Spent primers also go to the recycle bucket.

Other headstamps to be on the lookout for are IMT and Ammoload. There may be others. This brass has a step inside the case. That step will reduce case capacity and raise pressures. Big nope for me. However I've only seen this in 9mm.

One more in 45 to look for is brass that uses a small pistol primer. Functionally it works just as well as one with a large primer. It's just a pain when you're smoking along making ammo when one of these SP primer brass gets on the shellplate and gum up the works.

 

[mylongscreenname]

Knew about Amerc brass and its issues when I started reloading 25 +- years ago. It's one of the tribal knowledge things that only get passed down from one reloader to another.

Amerc goes into the recycle bucket when found. I also toss in the bucket any brass that has a crimp on the case to help prevent bullet setback. I've had some issues over the years dealing with incompatible bullet/brass combinations. By the way you are saving your scrap brass aren't you? At $1.85 a pound at the scrap metal yard it adds up quickly. Spent primers also go to the recycle bucket.

Other headstamps to be on the lookout for are IMT and Ammoload. There may be others. This brass has a step inside the case. That step will reduce case capacity and raise pressures. Big nope for me. However I've only seen this in 9mm.

One more in 45 to look for is brass that uses a small pistol primer. Functionally it works just as well as one with a large primer. It's just a pain when you're smoking along making ammo when one of these SP primer brass gets on the shellplate and gum up the works.

What scrap yard takes brass and primers. I save both because I assumed someone would take them but never chased it down. If anyone has actually taken theirs to scrap, I would be interested in who they used. Thanks in advance for any additional info about scrapping these items.

 

[Ellis1958]

What scrap yard takes brass and primers. I save both because I assumed someone would take them but never chased it down. If anyone has actually taken theirs to scrap, I would be interested in who they used. Thanks in advance for any additional info about scrapping these items.

Louisiana Scrap Metal Recycling
2527 S. Westport Dr.
Port Allen, LA 70767
https://www.lascrapmetal.com/port-allen
I use this one because I'm on that side of the river. Don't be offended if they run a magnet over what you brought in to find any steel casings. There're just doing their job. Easy. Painless. In and out in 10 minutes. About ready to bring my fourth cat litter bucket to them. Haven't had an issue with mixing primers, brass, or nickel plated. Just as long as it's not aluminum or steel they will take it. No appointment required. Just show up.

Big deal. Make absolutely sure there are no live or dud rounds such as a misfired 22. No live primers either. This applies to any scrap yard you use.

There is also Southern Scrap Xpress Recycling on Scenic Highway.
Used them once but I got the feeling they really didn't want to deal with a guy with just a cat litter bucket of gun brass.

 

[340six]

The scam yard in Jefferson Parish on Airline near David Drive took my brass and paid well. But dfid not want to pay much for my 25 plus pounds of primers.
Eveyone gave me theirs plus many many years.
Was not worth it as said dirty brass so paid very little. Way less than spent shell case's.
Made no sense, but did at least save them from trash and did get recycled.

 

[Ellis1958]

The scam yard in Jefferson Parish on Airline near David Drive took my brass and paid well. But dfid not want to pay much for my 25 plus pounds of primers.
Eveyone gave me theirs plus many many years.
Was not worth it as said dirty brass so paid very little. Way less than spent shell case's.
Made no sense, but did at least save them from trash and did get recycled.

There is a big price difference between brass shells and dirty brass. Yeah, it makes no sense since what is the difference if the spent primer is in the pocket or rattling around in the bottom of your bucket. Every yard has its own rules. Mine could care less.

As I remember the last batch I brought in net me around $60. I'd say the cat litter bucket I use holds 4ish gallons.

 

[Mitch Dufour]

I swap my brass for lead! Last time it was 1 lb brass for 3 lbs wheel weights. They are getting a better deal I know, but I can used the lead!

I have always gifted my spent primers to a local jewelry maker.

 

[twinin]

I recycle my brass is Houma. They do take it with primers still in it but subtract from the weight (obviously way more than all the primers would weight by themselves)