Hi folks,
My Club doesn't have a recycling program for shotshells, so I'm trying to learn more about them, and whether there is anything more than can be done besides throwing them in the garbage or burning them.
1. Reduce
(Not gonna happen - too much fun!)
2. Reuse
If I am able to collect freshly-fallen hulls, and sort them in such a way that reloaders would be interested in them, are there any brand names / model names that are more likely to be wanted than others? Are there any models that shouldn't even be attempted? In a typical shoot, I'm seeing plenty of Challenger and Score, Federal and Winchester (Super-X), and other oddballs, such as Black Cloud, or "Remington Gun Club", etc.
The idea would be to collect these same day as shot, before they get wet, sort, and any that could have value to reloaders, set aside for local pickup, or ship for the cost of shipping, if there was interest.
3. Recycle
I'm looking at this. I'm a tinkerer, so little challenges amuse me:
- Bases, I can easily muscle-off the bases, and the local curbside recycling program will take the bases, primers and all.
- Primers, Some of the primers have copper - I'm popping those out and hanging on to them until I decide if there's an easy way to pop those out (warning - do not use a decapping pin - if it slips off the primer anvil, you're out a pin!). If I can make a go of that, I don't mind salvaging brass primers, either.
- Hulls appear to be HDPE, but without the foolproof triangle, the solid waste committee is hesitant. Too bad the companies that turn plastic into 2x4s are so far away. I'm hanging on to a couple hulls to show people, but otherwise, they'll probably still go in the garbage. I wonder if anyone can use them as fuel...
Thoughts appreciated. There's no money to be made in this, obviously, it's just an experiment to see if a better disposal method is possible.
What happens at your Club / Range?
My Club doesn't have a recycling program for shotshells, so I'm trying to learn more about them, and whether there is anything more than can be done besides throwing them in the garbage or burning them.
1. Reduce
(Not gonna happen - too much fun!)
2. Reuse
If I am able to collect freshly-fallen hulls, and sort them in such a way that reloaders would be interested in them, are there any brand names / model names that are more likely to be wanted than others? Are there any models that shouldn't even be attempted? In a typical shoot, I'm seeing plenty of Challenger and Score, Federal and Winchester (Super-X), and other oddballs, such as Black Cloud, or "Remington Gun Club", etc.
The idea would be to collect these same day as shot, before they get wet, sort, and any that could have value to reloaders, set aside for local pickup, or ship for the cost of shipping, if there was interest.
3. Recycle
I'm looking at this. I'm a tinkerer, so little challenges amuse me:
- Bases, I can easily muscle-off the bases, and the local curbside recycling program will take the bases, primers and all.
- Primers, Some of the primers have copper - I'm popping those out and hanging on to them until I decide if there's an easy way to pop those out (warning - do not use a decapping pin - if it slips off the primer anvil, you're out a pin!). If I can make a go of that, I don't mind salvaging brass primers, either.
- Hulls appear to be HDPE, but without the foolproof triangle, the solid waste committee is hesitant. Too bad the companies that turn plastic into 2x4s are so far away. I'm hanging on to a couple hulls to show people, but otherwise, they'll probably still go in the garbage. I wonder if anyone can use them as fuel...
Thoughts appreciated. There's no money to be made in this, obviously, it's just an experiment to see if a better disposal method is possible.
What happens at your Club / Range?
