» government brass http://rebelbrass.com/pub Sun, 20 May 2012 12:56:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 Leave it to the government to spend energy/effort in order to destroy millions of dollars in value… mutilated brass. http://rebelbrass.com/pub/2009/10/leave-it-to-the-government-to-spend-energyeffort-in-order-to-destroy-millions-of-dollars-in-value-mutilated-brass/ http://rebelbrass.com/pub/2009/10/leave-it-to-the-government-to-spend-energyeffort-in-order-to-destroy-millions-of-dollars-in-value-mutilated-brass/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:53:56 +0000 admin http://rebelbrass.com/pub/?p=3 The military shoots millions more rounds of ammunition each year, and after the mess is cleaned up what remains is millions of once-fired brass shells/casings that can be reloaded and fired again.  There are many remanufactured ammunition companies that have traditionally bought this scrap good from the US government in order to create lower-cost training ammunition for civilians and police departments, and the competition to get the once-fired brass has led to more income to the government by auctioning off this brass rather than merely taking the “scrap value” of the brass from recycling centers, while still providing value to the ammo manufacturers.  However, a disturbing trend has been appearing recently.  At the beginning of the year some government auctions began requiring “mutilation” of brass after purchase, meaning that the brass could not be used for reloading purposes.  This quickly raised all sorts of concern within the reloading and shooting-sports communities, and the requirement was dropped after the fact from most government surplus auctions of brass casings.  However, this week the following was posted on the government liquidation brass auction category:

Picture number 1 of 3. Click to Enlarge Picture number 2 of 3. Click to Enlarge Picture number 3 of 3. Click to Enlarge

LOT (35, 224 LBS) APPROX FIRED BRASS, BRASS HAS BEEN THROUGH A HEATED POPPER AND A DEFORMER, PROPERTY IS STORED IN (60) 55 GALLON DRUMS WHICH ARE INCLUDED IN THE SALE BUT NOT IN THE ADVERTISED WEIGHT, MUTILATION NOT REQUIRED, PROPERTY IS LOCATED AT FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CA, 93928.

That’s right – the brass has been through a heated popper and a deformer…  Meaning the brass ends up looking like this:

There are countless auctions for military brass recently where the difference between the value of brass as scrap and the value of brass as a reloading component has become painfully clear.  Not only does this policy further exacerbate the ammunition shortage in the U.S., but it also is wholly irresponsible at a time where new and more invasive taxes are demanded because the government can’t run on its already bloated budget.

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