My under the bench is the "black hole" that I am cleaning out. Found some .357 158 Hornady in a box. Seems place I put stuff to be safe and boy was it safe there!
Pays to Organize!
- Thread starter Muddyboots
- Start date
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muledeer01
Well-Known Member
I found a couple bags of 115 grain 9mm bullets I must have picked up at a gun show years ago, $6 a hundred, 30/06 brass $3 a hundred,
Varmint Hunter
Well-Known Member
I have a reasonable size inventory of components for the 20 different cartridges that I load for. Here and there I pick up components as they become available. I ordered a few boxes of Federal primers just "in case" only to find that I had primers stashed behind my primers that I totally forgot about. Having a few thousand extra primers is what will get me through this lean period where I can't seem to find anything that I really need/want.
I was looking for 45 ACP brass in my wall locker and found 800 that I had loaded over six months ago. I thought that I had just misplaced the brass. When it warms up 30 degrees or so I can do some target shooting.
Vann Kirkland
Well-Known Member
This weekend was a rain out, so of I did the same as many here have done. I found many surprises. Let's just say I'm glad I discovered I'm not the only horder. 
Of ammo cans and lost treasure...
In reading over your initial post, Muddyboots, it got me thinking of my own "pays to organize" story.
About a decade ago, a friend of a friend of the family passed away, and I was the lucky recipient of several ammo cans full of various fired brass cases and other miscellaneous small reloading stuff. I'm sure that these items were delivered to me, as the family was not sure what to do with the old spent brass and small tools, and someone figured that I would be able to use - or at least properly dispose of the items.
Here's where the story gets good...
Many years passed, probably about five or six at least, and I finally found the time to go through the old fired cases in those cans. While nothing exceptional or noteworthy was found about the brass itself - looked like mostly many times fired range pick-up 9 & 45 cases - there amongst the fired cartridges was a small, cloth bag.
Inside this small bag were approximately 25 silver coins dating from the mid 1880's to the 1945 Silver Half-dollar in the picture below.
I was elated and tickled at my find! I believe that at the time silver was approximately $15 per ounce, so at a minimum I would guesstimate around $375 for the value of the silver itself, not including any odd/collectible value to the coins themselves.
I reached out to the family that had delivered the items to me, those many years earlier, to let them know what I had found as I did not want to take advantage of them. They were surprised that I had called, and let me know that they had appreciated my taking care of the "dangerous stuff" (those horribly scary brass cases and ammo cans) for them, and that anything I had found in the items was mine to keep.
I then went about sorting and storing my wonderful new-found ammo can treasure so that it would be protected. I never got any of the coins evaluated or valued based on their year or condition. I figured that 50 years from now, they would have increased and I would do that work once I had the time and motivation.
I kept the 1945 half-dollar out due to the significant date (end of WW2) and placed it with my challenge coins and other such things, so that I could look at it from time to time. I stashed the other coins away so that they would not be lost or played with by curious children etc.
Here's where the story gets great!...
In reading about Muddy's primer finding moment, I figured that I would get these coins out and add my story to this thread.
I am happy to say, Muddyboots, that I have now spent the entirety of my Sunday - with flashlight in hand - tearing apart almost every square inch of my home, because... I cannot - for the life of me - find where I put them!
My lovely wife has asked me, no less than five times today, what on earth I am looking for.
I finally had to break my laser focus and relate the entire story to her, and my inability to find these coins.
She laughed and said the truest of all words.
"We'll find'em when we move"
In reading over your initial post, Muddyboots, it got me thinking of my own "pays to organize" story.
About a decade ago, a friend of a friend of the family passed away, and I was the lucky recipient of several ammo cans full of various fired brass cases and other miscellaneous small reloading stuff. I'm sure that these items were delivered to me, as the family was not sure what to do with the old spent brass and small tools, and someone figured that I would be able to use - or at least properly dispose of the items.
Here's where the story gets good...
Many years passed, probably about five or six at least, and I finally found the time to go through the old fired cases in those cans. While nothing exceptional or noteworthy was found about the brass itself - looked like mostly many times fired range pick-up 9 & 45 cases - there amongst the fired cartridges was a small, cloth bag.
Inside this small bag were approximately 25 silver coins dating from the mid 1880's to the 1945 Silver Half-dollar in the picture below.
I was elated and tickled at my find! I believe that at the time silver was approximately $15 per ounce, so at a minimum I would guesstimate around $375 for the value of the silver itself, not including any odd/collectible value to the coins themselves.
I reached out to the family that had delivered the items to me, those many years earlier, to let them know what I had found as I did not want to take advantage of them. They were surprised that I had called, and let me know that they had appreciated my taking care of the "dangerous stuff" (those horribly scary brass cases and ammo cans) for them, and that anything I had found in the items was mine to keep.
I then went about sorting and storing my wonderful new-found ammo can treasure so that it would be protected. I never got any of the coins evaluated or valued based on their year or condition. I figured that 50 years from now, they would have increased and I would do that work once I had the time and motivation.
I kept the 1945 half-dollar out due to the significant date (end of WW2) and placed it with my challenge coins and other such things, so that I could look at it from time to time. I stashed the other coins away so that they would not be lost or played with by curious children etc.
Here's where the story gets great!...
In reading about Muddy's primer finding moment, I figured that I would get these coins out and add my story to this thread.
I am happy to say, Muddyboots, that I have now spent the entirety of my Sunday - with flashlight in hand - tearing apart almost every square inch of my home, because... I cannot - for the life of me - find where I put them!
My lovely wife has asked me, no less than five times today, what on earth I am looking for.
I finally had to break my laser focus and relate the entire story to her, and my inability to find these coins.
She laughed and said the truest of all words.
"We'll find'em when we move"
No doubt put away so you wouldn't lose them!
nmbarta
Well-Known Member
Must be the thing to do right now, I was organizing my gun room yesterday.
I found 400 federal 556 rounds that a bought a couple years ago and had completely forgot about.
I found 50 brand new pieces of hornady 6.5 saum brass for a rifle I don't even have anymore.
I found sack of about 200 300blk brass.
It's really ridiculous how much stuff I have that I don't know about. Not just in the reloading world, but in general.
The next couple days are going to be spent on this very problem, it's too cold to swing a hammer anyway, might as well get something done. I'll probably find more money than I'd make anyway!!!
I found 400 federal 556 rounds that a bought a couple years ago and had completely forgot about.
I found 50 brand new pieces of hornady 6.5 saum brass for a rifle I don't even have anymore.
I found sack of about 200 300blk brass.
It's really ridiculous how much stuff I have that I don't know about. Not just in the reloading world, but in general.
The next couple days are going to be spent on this very problem, it's too cold to swing a hammer anyway, might as well get something done. I'll probably find more money than I'd make anyway!!!
My wife is still laughing!No doubt put away so you wouldn't lose them!
Unfortunately, I am notorious for that. I once placed a couple magazines around house for security and took me a month to find them! OMG, if I needed them right then and now! So now right next to my "fast safe" for fast access.
After going through everything I can't say I "found" any treasure such as primers or bullets. I do have more .38 brass than I thought and in seeing all that .380 ammo I will never shoot I stopped to call to check in on the old guy who needed the money a while back. When finished (aka they came home) I poured a bourbon and sat down with an old load data book I knew I had but hadn't seen in a while. Wanting to compare old data to new I sat down and started going through it... $250 fell out when I got to page 250. Had to laugh (inside of course)... have needs and nowhere to spend it, so back it went!
