Inside US Military Facility Recycling Billion of Used Cartridges

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[@marth6271]

“Pick up your brass and move to next station”…….memories

[@Retireddriver]

No brass , no ammo Drill Sargent!!!!!!

[@Modine.]

This is a reloaders dream right here. 👍

[@WardDorrity]

It's a little extra work to remove the military crimp from the primer pocket, but worth it.

[@itmakesyouthink]

If you listen very carefully, you can hear the reloaders salivating.

[@amsb4dafunk558]

Once ago We use to buy those barrels And Spend many hours sorting

[@WardDorrity]

Heavy sigh.

[@bluerazors]

@@amsb4dafunk558 you still can you just have to know how.

[@paullinkins8121]

During my time in the US Army we had to pick up every expended cartridge and link. It wasn't as much as to account for every round but rather to keep the range clean. The worst were the rubber obturators from the 4.2" mortar extended range HE rounds. They get blown to pieces and fly something like 75 yards away. Second place went to the links and cartridges from the 25mm on the Bradley because that was often fired while moving and scattered everywhere.

[@danmoss1487]

⁹⁹9⁹⁹⁹9⁹9⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹

[@fragout9575]

I hated being 11M... 😂

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Damn, what a pain in the A$$... Meanwhile, here in France, we only cared for the casings and links. And we used a sort of modified lawn mower to catch them by lots at a time (like the little machine they use on beaches to clean them from pollution and debris, sorry I don't find the name in english).

[@NoMoreMrNiceGuy223]

So you bring depleted cartridges back from the war teatre but you leave 80billion in equiptment in the hands of the taliban?

[@philiphorner31]

That's because Obama is their fren.

[@tonibeg3494]

Yup

[@ger128]

"Before flight, a maintenance team goes over the aircraft and inspects all parts based on a checklist." Boeing should do this 😛

[@TTzanatech]

too bad that checklist already exists for the airlines :/

[@ThisFriggenGuy-li5ui]

Boeing isn’t operating the planes though

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

@@ThisFriggenGuy-li5ui Neither is the FAA, but look at the mess they did, btw...

[@bonjovi2757]

Those "Unlawful and dangerous" range goers that pick up the brass are also called free citizens of the United States who do not roam on military firing ranges. The free citizens of The United States, only pick up brass fired by other free citizens on non-military shooting ranges, and yes, they use the brass for resale, also known as recycling.

[@hvguy]

The military has an air conditioned forklift but no barrel handling attachment?! Wild

[@seze5931]

Maybe they spent all the money for that forklift. Apparently, bag of bushes cost 90k, so the forklift probably a small fortune

[@stevelalondejr2183]

I worked in a Brass mill/foundry called Chase Brass we melted millions of pounds of military brass shell casings from small arms to shells as big as your leg, it was suppose to have been dead ammo. Not all were, once shook into a melting furnace some would go off a 50 cal primer will get your attention. They said during Vietnam there was a semi load of 2'' brass rod leaving the plant at least everyday being used for military ammo of some sort. This vid is not a true showing from what we bought and melted none were ground up they were whole shell casings.

[@clintonsmith9931]

We recycled brass in basic training in 67. I suspect it was being done long before that.

[@terryjohnson3479]

My father was on a destroyer escort and they were expected to recover as many shells as possible from the 5 inch, 3 inch, guns to keep the deck clear. Ammo was so valuable that when they were with minesweepers and they mines would be cut loose and float in the water the captain would line sailors along the rail with 03 Sprinfield bolts in 30-06 ti shoot the mines because the 50 cal and larger were to valuable. I don't know if you have ever shit at a bobbing object from a bobbing ship but it made my father one hell of a good shot.

[@reginaldwelkin]

Imagine how much time would be saved by requiring brass catchers in all circumstances where they don't cause problems.

[@notyou6950]

Recycled? I saw nothing of recycling ammo. I saw scrapping operation for spent cartrage casings. What you failed to mention is that at one time the casings were sold to China in blatent violation of federal statues that forbade such transactions. Once fired brass was supposed to be sold in bulk back on cyvilian market for reloading purposes.

[@webtoedman]

The video explained that prime condition cartridge cases were sent for reloading, and damaged cases were shredded prior to being recycled as raw material.

[@notyou6950]

@@webtoedman I've never heard of once fired brass being reloaded in the army facility. Can you give me information where that takes place?

[@webtoedman]

@@notyou6950 E mail US army public relations. They might send you some stickers too.

[@donwyoming1936]

When I worked at DRMO back in the 90s, we sorted brass into two piles. Dented and otherwise garbage brass got crushed to be sold as scrap. Brass that could be reloaded went into a different barrel and sold to a contractor who paid quite well for it. This is where your once fired military brass on the civilian market came from. As for reloading? Usually the marksmanship teams loaded their own ammo. We'd never see their brass intact. They sent it to us crushed already. Wasn't serviceable. But I don't remember any reloaded ammo in the military. Was always factory new.

[@notyou6950]

@@donwyoming1936 that was my understanding of the process. I was on the receiving end of the once fired brass. The sniper guys used different calibers in more modern selection to cook their own loads. Lake City made match brass for sniper application in .308. I love to find some of that brass because it was best quality for my own needs.

[@garywilliams1779]

IN 1975-76. IN COLORADO SPRING WE WOULD THROW MORE ROUNDS AWAY IN A LAKE DOWN RANGE THEN WE USED. THIS HAPPEN OVER AND OVER.

[@uncletiggermclaren7592]

Did anyone else notice they carefully hand sort the cartridges two times . . . then the guy at 3:16 is shoveling up cartridges of all small-arm calibers from a mixed pile, and running them through a machine that sorts them ?. Did the first lot of drums, the result of two hand sortings, then just get tipped into a mixed pile? so a machine could sort them?.

[@bandittelevision]

What were they doing at the beginning of the video? It looked like coal..great job explaining anything..

[@uncletiggermclaren7592]

That was the material that is used to fill the containers that sit behind the targets in a gun range. It is a kind of rubber granule, and it stops the bullets, and they drop down through to the bottom of the container. After awhile, they pick the containers up, take them to that facility, tip them out, and then soldiers come along with that vacuum. It is strong enough to pick up the rubber, but not strong enough to pick up the denser lead bullets. The rubber piles up, as we saw, and then they sweep up the bullets, and put the rubber back into the boxes, and take them back to the range. Do I know this is true?. Of course not. Did I use my common sense to come to what almost certainly IS true?. Yep.

[@thrillhunter9897]

imagine joining the military just to end up a factory worker sorting filthy brass.

[@user-qb1di9rh5t]

well, the one guy is so overweight what else can he do I cannot believe he is even in the military when i was in if you was even a few pounds over weight and did not correct it fast you was kicked out period no questions asked it just happened.

[@ralphday4842]

At first I thought that guy had to be a civilian contractor cause he was so fat and old...but then I saw the air force insignia. Then it all made sense. 🤣

[@theheartlandgroup757]

It might have some similarities to industrial applications, but it’s nowhere near being a “factory worker”. Those are just reservists doing reclamation tasks.

[@SlyNation]

Well this is good to see. I hate seeing all these military videos, especially the Navy, where huge amounts large and small cartridges are allowed to simply roll off the deck and into the ocean.

[@koiyujo1543]

it's something they can't fully prevent tho they could but that adds more stuff onto a ship and if you could take out the spent shell it's faster for reloading to eject it than of course putting it back into it's own storage of used casings

[@rodneyzurek4900]

No safety equipment for reloaders. Where are the masks , respirators, gloves?

[@theheartlandgroup757]

There is no “reloading” being performed anywhere in this video….

[@Peter421]

as a reloader I think I'd love this job...

[@HenryKlausEsq.]

Man those C-5's are impressive.

[@badmoon5249]

Did you notice all the overweight soldiers and airmen? WTF??? Look at videos from 20+years ago, and you never saw such out of shape people in our military. SMH

[@RainbowManification]

A lot of those were reservists or civilian contractors

[@philliphall5198]

It’s all they can get with the way they treat our veterans 😢

[@Anti-Infringement-American]

All that brass. Makes me miss the days of cheap ammo.

[@trcythmpsn]

Some of those cartridges saw more tours in the GWOT than soldiers did haha

[@fragout9575]

Unless you're talking about rounds fired at the FOBs, I seriously doubt any brass was recovered at outposts or during tactical movements and firefights, that's just not a thing to "police" in after action in hot zones....

[@jameswilliams4191]

Love this video, brings back good memories.

[@ernestop6501]

Mike Rowe's Voice: Next on Dirty Jobs

[@ericb.4358]

Recycling the new 6.8 x 51 "hybrid" stainless steel/brass cartridges may prove to be more difficult.

[@lanceschaerer6875]

In his book Eugene Sledge mentioned at the end of the island fights onec the Japanese were all dead the marines that were left had to pick up brass. Crazy

[@user-gf1yg6nj1v]

Cartridges?…. Ah no.. casings…

[@Outsquatchin]

wow, 4" black drain pipe...thats some advanced military eq...

[@jefftidwell8783]

Fort Campbell has tons of used brass in the fields and woods. Some from the 50s and 60s.

[@sd906238]

Back in the 60's in West Virginia we would visit our friends who lived next to an Army National Guard base. We would walk over there and pick up belts and belts of used .30 cal rounds. We would use them to play army. Our father made us throw them away in 1967 when we moved. He said they weighed too much and would cost too much to put on the moving truck.

[@stevestar657]

I found this interesting - I hauled scrap brass from an Army base in SC in 2018. It was all rendered unusable in a crusher before being dumped into heavy cardboard bins - 6,000lbs roughly for each bin. Scrapped in MO - just another load in the books.

[@marcozwarionato3509]

that white chrome-6 coating is the best

[@mirola73]

'Range goers' would provide some perfect target practice...........................'enter at your own peril' the signs should say. Lots of manual work, you'd think a lot of it could be automated.

[@raymondjoseph7177]

Smart recruit goes into a recruiter and asks what jobs are available? Recruiter says "Metallurgy recovery specialist. It's somewhat complicated. You'll ensure that the US military recovers all of the metallic elements expended during operations. Highly important job. I don't fully understand what they do but I know it's important. I've seen these guys work. Extremely vital too mission success." Recruit say "sign me up. Should help my university science studies." Lol

[@dw7094]

I guess years ago policing brass and ammo wasn't a priority. At Ft Wainwright I found 3 rounds of live M1 ammo, and at Ft Lewis i found an entire full Garand clip in an old section of North Fort.

[@donwyoming1936]

You think that's interesting, you'd go crazy at all the lost ammo & brass laying around Fort Liberty & Camp Lejeune. I wouldn't be surprised there's 100k spent casings per acre. And crates full of new MREs just left out in the middle of nowhere. Not sure why they there. Preposition or left behind.

[@firehazemt]

Old WW2 bases are the best to find old shit

[@MrJdebest]

A cartridge is made up of a primer, gunpowder, brass case, and a bullet. After firing the primer is consumed along with the gunpowder, the bullet exits the barrel and is probably smashed into many pieces. What you have left over is the brass case. The brass case has value and can be used to manufacture another cartridge. Or the case can be recycled for the brass.

[@sreymeosaang4036]

good USA🇺🇲🇺🇲❤️❤️

[@TrevorBrass]

Uncle Sam recycling all that brass. Good move.

[@francomontero7203]

Good

[@Paulus861]

Leka satarom mayoh nya. Bansa tok pan lebih agi dadak.... Ari laut

[@jean-francoislemieux5509]

wasnt sure about the silent format... but the footage is so amazing that i had to suscribe! subtitles could last a bit longer

[@lulutileguy]

wonder if there are any incidents simply based on volume must have the odd bang

[@michaelh411]

Yes, I just saw this in another comment on it. It happens 😮

[@kd4pba]

ROTC always made you pick up all your brass.

[@jelectrospec5101]

Where did they use this pullet and now coming for recycled

[@kevinking330]

❤️💙

[@firehazemt]

Police your brass!!!!

[@fredpo7382]

I noticed all the drums, equipment, machines and the facility itself, are all brand new. Is this a new concept just recently implemented by the US Armed Forces?

[@BodyCamSnyper]

only in america we spend so much brass we have no choice but to re use it to make more ammo!! haha brilliant!!

[@johnnycrash3270]

What if a live cartage gets mixed in Could Injure someone Interesting / Fascinating / Exciting Job But I would like to be at the Cabin Fly Fishing GOD BLESS AMERICANS PROTECTING AMERICA & CANADA 🙏❤

[@politicsuncensored5617]

I would think this is something that has been done for many decades in the military? It only makes sense, but this is the government we are talking about. Shalom

[@brandon7219]

Those fucking TF-39s gave you such a rumble into your deep chest. God i miss them.

[@paullabovitz6702]

Seems like a lot of hand work for the volume.

[@frodej6640]

Pentagon has never had to answer for inefficiencies. I guess people get some sort of a job, and thats the only point of it I think.

[@courtneesdad]

I’m not an expert. But I see a lot of things that could speed up that process. They use a forklift to bring 2 barrels at a time? There are machines that use lasers that can sort that brass in seconds. I guess labor is cheap in the service lol

[@MatthewK863]

Exactly. Got time to lean, got time to clean up brass!

[@donwyoming1936]

This is something they do like once a month. No need for an expensive machine. Gives them Ammo dogs something to do for once.

[@scankhunt4206]

thank god i thought i was being to fussy. there process got me laughing. honestly thought they were taking the piss at one point. is this why places like nasa cant get anything done?

[@scankhunt4206]

@@donwyoming1936 and every other military base is doing the same so lots of bullets so deserves a finer tuned system. i mean come on im just a normal joe and it was soo obvious to me. waste of tax payer money

[@jeffrogge8597]

If they're being sorted by caliber, the only purpose would be for reloading, not recycling...recycling indicates everything being melted down and manufacturing new cases from the old

[@johnyang6969]

daaaaymn those airmen are plumed and round.

[@johnniesmHan]

recycle is money

[@Grits_and_Glamour]

How bad does your ASVAB have to be to get that job?

[@Loreleifury]

Somehow the brass got lost amongst all the planes?

[@luislongoria6621]

Where's all the SLAP ammo they sent to Kentucky Ballistics? Scott must like using his thumbs

[@allancopland1768]

All those cartridges make the A-Team look like rank amateurs.

[@retrorewindllc9363]

Interesting.. no wonder so many misfires & jams...

[@CUDA1970Terry]

I have been recycling and reloading my brass for almost 60 years. About time the gu'mint stepped up and did the same. Oh, and I picked up my brass in the field as well. Is the Military going to do the same? Doubt it.

[@theheartlandgroup757]

They do pick up the brass….they clearly said in the video that range sweeps are performed. As far as “reloading”, yeah, that doesn’t happen. Cartridges are made from scratch at the plants and facilities across the country.

[@gregallen7045]

So they’re doing reloads with the good stuff

[@nunyabusiness3920]

I thought they just had virtual shooting ranges now.

[@aisulutursunbekovna6275]

Показывать то что можно. Отличная работа.👍

[@andersmartensson1851]

Varför inte ha kläm aggregat på trucken ?

[@nickmaclachlan5178]

Really surprising to see how little automation is used and how many manual operators it takes. All of their work could be done faster and more accurately by machines alone. This would also reduce any risk to operators from unused/unexploded ordnance.

[@vonbuzz9009]

Its the military way,,, dig a hole ,,, and then fill it up,, keep busy

[@vonbuzz9009]

Its the military way,,, dig a hole ,,, and then fill it up,, keep busy

[@vonbuzz9009]

Its the military way,,, dig a hole ,,, and then fill it up,, keep busy

[@nickmaclachlan5178]

@@vonbuzz9009 It shows overmanning then. I appreciate that Soldiers need to be kept busy (the Devil makes work for idle hands and all that) but this suggests that the US Military could save a bundle of cash by shedding manpower from trivial jobs like this and have them done by unskilled civilians that haven't cost hundreds of thousands of Dollars to train? Or automate the process and save even more money. But I get it, the US Military isn't like other forces around the world......

[@BigMike1925]

Didn't see any recovery or reuse of projectiles. Must be literally tons of copper jacket material, steel jacket material, lead, and other metals that could be sifted out from training range embankments/backstops.

[@WheelerRickRambles]

Somehow someway the Defense Contractors charge US taxpayers for this.

[@ScoutSniper3124]

We had a 1LT. actually throw a LIVE 40mm HEDP grenade in the amnesty box. Geesh!

[@malcolmanon4762]

Do they bother trying to recycle the actual projectile that is fired - from firing ranges only of course, as these have a backstop - as they're made from valuable metals too?

[@joshschneider9766]

I wonder if they would sell shells that are not useable as ammo to hobby metal melters that material would be sweet to make art with I would think.

[@russellgilson3536]

Bronze is much better for casting.

[@joshschneider9766]

@@russellgilson3536 I like casting all sorts of soft metals. Besides you can just add alloying chemicals in the crucible when it's all molten anyways.

[@shanechostetler9997]

I can’t bear to watch.

[@stanmans]

If cartridges are melted down for reuse, which is commendable, does it make any difference what the caliber is? I remember way back in the late 50's and early 60's we would recycle the casing and primer of the 90m: and the 50 cal shells for recycle.

[@cruisinguy6024]

Ideally when possible the cartridge is in good condition so all that’s necessary is cleaning, resizing, repriming, and then a reload. It takes a lot more energy to melt it down and make a new cartridge but of course that’s the only option for damaged cartridges. A while back I remember reading a news article about a new contract ( USAF I think) where certain calibers were not actually reloaded and were instead melted down and remade, the reason was never listed but my suspicion was a higher failure rate in those calibers with reloads as opposed to new. Your average grunt can clear a misfire no problem but that’s a lot harder if the misfire is the multi barrel cannon in a fighter. I assume the various branches have endless data on failure rates, costs, and analysis for cost vs risk of a service member being caught with an inoperable weapon.

[@Soacwiththaface]

@@cruisinguy6024 you can't melt down brass

[@Soacwiththaface]

Plus a rotary cannon spits out dud rounds automatically

[@jacobravenwood7968]

​@@SoacwiththafaceWhy not?

[@Soacwiththaface]

@@jacobravenwood7968 very toxic not really sure if u can reuse molds easily either most brass just gets reloaded or it goes back into the earth or becomes a horn or something 🎺

[@rubenbojorquez7777]

Para lo que sirven aganlos de fierro

[@timbarnes2259]

Give the US Military creative work, 12 hours a day in a factory producing food + materials for the Americans living in poverty and to stop people taking drugs on Americas Streets.

[@zippy8422]

Dont think they recycle in the uk, well maybe on live fire ranges but not on training grounds near me where blanks are used. Always seeing them on the ground

[@sreymeosaang4036]

❤️❤️🇺🇲🇺🇲👍👍

[@timlabell]

Too many brass shell's. I😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 didn't know any better😮😢 I would think that we are the enemy. 😊😊😊

[@josephuscila5223]

Supposedly the main American manufacturer of AMMO Was SOLD OFF to a European Individual for about a Billion dollars!!!! Very Worrisome!!

[@defender2492]

We need robot 🤖 for this job.

[@andrewstafford-jones4291]

It’s rare to see such inefficient and manpower hungry recycling systems in this day and age. I guess the armed services have no incentive to streamline the system as they have virtually unlimited resources.

[@RainbowManification]

Streamlining the system would take away jobs from overpaid civilian defense contractors.

[@osogrande2]

I have never heard of a fired cartridge being referred to as a used cartridge.

[@chrismaggio7879]

Oddly, I think that's all I've ever heard of them being referred to, that or a spent cartridge.

[@zeroxception]

brass is an environmental concern you say...what about the lead!!!

[@JimWhitaker]

All of those cartridge recycling processes look very inefficient. Way too much manual handling and re-handling.

[@Mikishots]

Dude - it's a US military facility. It's tradition.

[@graham2631]

Free labour and no incentive for production, its military.

[@gascheck8151]

I agree. This is caveman style.

[@joeybags7411]

It’s the government 🤷‍♂️

[@garettfunk4889]

It's the government, inefficient is what they do!

[@miroslawkaras7710]

That mifg be stupid question.Why they do not makin cartiges from iron or still?

[@mrgingerninjadan]

You can get steel cased ammunition, but brass is typically what you make cases from, brass is just flexible enough to expand ever so slightly when fired, this expansion (when inside a chamber) is called obturation, and helps seal the expanding gases from the burning gun powder from leaving the chamber rear wards and forces the bullet down the barrel, afterwards the brass is soft enough to shrink back down to its original size so it can be extracted from the chamber, metallurgy speaking, brass just happens to have the right properties for expansion and shrinkage without breaking

[@adrianneedham2373]

What is the point of chopping the cases up for smelting already small enough???

[@benjurqunov]

It's to assure no live cartriges made it thru collection. It get chopped up to release any powder.

[@matthewnowell671]

They need to design a more efficient, less labor intensive process!

[@roderickdunn3464]

I agree. The process described could be automated. Given the volume, there would be significant cost savings.

[@pullingweeds]

​@@roderickdunn3464recycling plants are oddly labor intensive. But I agree with your comments.

[@matthewnowell671]

@@roderickdunn3464 I am very curious why they haven't thought about that yet. I wonder if anybody has approached them and offered to help them design a process that would speed up that operation?

[@roderickdunn3464]

They are dealing with only half a dozen options, so screening could sort out the high volume items. (Used casings by size) The balance could be handled in a separate stream. The complexity comes in when you have to grade the used casings. The simple solution would be to melt them down for remanufacture. My guess is at the moment they are using troops as cheap labour, hence the labour intensive approach. Poor use of resources.

[@Chaphillionaire]

Look at all of those 7.62 blanks 😬😂

[@R2_D3]

There was no recycling going on here, just a sorting process..... 👎

[@sbacsigadget]

Inefficient is the middle name of government. Why would their method of recycling be any less wasteful.

[@tomjones2341]

Police up your brass

[@TheWizardWhiteHawk]

That's an immense amount of misses

[@primecorecore]

That drone is like child of warthog A-10 and Bayraktear TB-2

[@seinfeld11123]

new ammunition is being made with plastic instead of metals or brass. so its much cheaper and doesn't need reusing (although you could still recycle the plastic for more)

[@jr-a-cat]

This your government turning $4.00 to $6.00 a pound used brass to $1.50 scrap brass . Look at how my people got put out of a job doing and making re-loading components .

[@annuur7310]

saya tidak sedang melihat miliaran catridge, saya sedang membayangkan jutaan nyawa afghani,iraqi tidak bersalah yang peluru ini habisi 😭

[@maxsvlogs7533]

Ima say it its funny how the military reuses their ammunition and they get criticism. Meanwhile, big companies make 1 used plastic that can't be reused, and they get away with it

[@melindagreen3023]

The Military doesn’t reuse their Ammo doomy. It’s Shot once and then the spent Brass casings are Sold at Government auctions for n bulk.

[@Steve-on5hk]

Slow down can’t read all 8:43