Recycling Brass Shell Casings

Recycling Brass Shell Casings

Scrap brass ammo is the most popular type of recycled ammunition. Their popularity derives from the shell casings durability, corrosion resistance and ease of reloading. Therefore, scrap brass ammo is extremely important to collect and recycle, though easy to do. Before talking about recycling brass shell casings, get to know the parts of the ammo. 

  • The Projectile
  • Packaging
  • Black Powder
  • The Groundwork.

 

Why You Should Recycle Brass Shell Casings

Manufactures produce large amounts of scrap. While where to recycle scrap brass cartridges seems like a huge concern, Interco can help. Interco buys scrap metal and takes it through a reusing process.

When recycling brass shell casings, Interco discovers metal shell housings with low degrees of aluminum and manganese bronze. In fact, 90% of metal is reused. The brass shell casing is recyclable and can be reused several times. As a result, new ammunition is manufactured.

The Recycling Process

Recycling Brass Shell Casings

Ammunition must be inert to be recycled. Live Cartridges cannot be recycled for safety reasons; they may explode. Additionally, the lead slug in live ammo contaminates the shell’s brass hence recyclers find it difficult to separate lead from brass.

Recycling Brass Shell Casings
  1. Shells must be sorted by material. Shell alloys are usually made from brass, aluminum or steel. Occasionally they are plated with chrome, nickel, silver or even gold.
  2. After being sorted, the shell must be removed. 
  3. Shells are “popped” in a high-temperature kiln after being sorted.This forces any live rounds to explode. 
  4. A quality control supervisor verifies the shells, after they are placed in a special bin to cool.
  5. Next, the shells are cleaned. Cleaners rinse the shells to remove as much lead and dirt as possible. 
  6. Inspectors run clean-and-popped shells through a shaker table. They verify that live rounds and other unwanted materials are removed.
  7. Next, a hammer mill or shredder takes the shells and deforms them into smaller pieces. Then an aggregator machine takes these pieces and loads them for transportation. 
  8. Finally, the shells are taken to a brass mill. Here they are melted and combined. Mixed with metallic elements to achieve the specific blend. Then, shells are formed into rod or ingot.

Interco purchases scrap brass cartridges across the United States. Due to transportation costs, recycling brass shell casings that are far away can cause difficulties. Regardless, Interco overcomes any travel issues.

 Conclusion

In conclusion, scrap brass ammo is the most popular type of recycled ammunition. Most consumers are unaware that they can recycle brass shell casings. Therefore, Interco provides the solution with a simple and efficient way to recycle brass shell casings.

For more information about how to recycle scrap brass ammo casings, click here to contact Interco.