Saturday, March 14, 2009

DOD No Longer to Sell Spent Brass In Reusable Form

Thanks to a reader for bringing this to my attention.  This email was sent out following this auction.

Subject: Important Notice to Scrap Metal Buyers!

Dear Valued Customer:

Please take a moment to note important changes set forth by the Defense Logistics Agency:

Recently it has been determined that fired munitions of all calibers, shapes and sizes have been designated to be Demil code B. As a result and in conjunction with DLA’s current Demil code B policy, this notice will serve as official notification which requires Scrap Venture (SV) to implement mutilation as a condition of sale for all sales of fired munitions effective immediately. This notice also requires SV to immediately cease delivery of any fired munitions that have been recently sold or on active term contracts, unless the material has been mutilated prior to sale or SV personnel can attest to the mutilation after delivery. A certificate of destruction is required in either case.

Thank you,

DOD Surplus
15051 N Kierland Blvd # 300
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

You see, it has long been a policy of the Department of Defense to sell once fired brass to weapons manufacturers in bulk.  It usually brought in about $2 per pound for the DOD.  The new policy says that the DOD must mutilate the brass first now.  In other words, they have to make the brass unusable for reuse as ammunition and turn it into just scrap metal.  By doing so, the brass will only be worth about $0.35 per pound.  Do you realize how much brass the DOD goes through in a year?  Do you realize how much money the DOD is flushing down the toilet?  Not to mention the fact that now the DOD has to spend money mutilating all of its brass before it goes out the door.  How much do you think that costs?

This policy didn’t come out of the blue.  The Commander in Chief is clearly sending a message to gun owners that they should be paying more for ammunition.  If he can’t do it through regulatory action, he’ll do it by forcing ammunition manufacturers to spend more on production, and he’ll do it at the taxpayers’ expense.

(9) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2141 hrs
Firearms + Military + Politics + Politics - General

  1. I’m sure it’s all perfectly innocent.  BHO said he supports the 2nd Amendment.

    Perhaps it’s a previously unknown component of the stimulus program.  This will certainly produce more jobs in the ammunition industry.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 15, 2009 at 0644 hrs


  2. A few questions about this:

    1) is there some kind of directive from President Obama that ties this to him?

    2) What is the “source” for this?

    3) I tried to google this, not finding anything specific, in fact have found some comments wondering if this may be a hoax?

    The link for the auction says “Mutilation Not Required”, the auction closes in 23 days, yet some of the “hits” say this is being applied to prior purchases.

    I’m not saying this isn’t plausible, but for some reason this smells a little bit like the “Panetta’s daughter” hoax, and if it isn’t true, the reactions by some people will make them look like fools.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 15, 2009 at 0901 hrs


  3. Still trying to figure this one out, the “Mutilation Not Required” may refer to the shotgun shells only.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 15, 2009 at 0906 hrs


  4. For some verification, head over to Georgia Arms’ website.

    http://georgia-arms.com

    They are a small ammunition manufacturer (and other gun parts) that relies almost exclusively on this program.

    Posted by Owen on March 15, 2009 at 0926 hrs


  5. Georgia Arms is a small ammunition manufacturer who makes new as well as remanufactured ammunition for private and public sales.    Follow the link to their front page to see how this affects their business and that should be a testimony to how real this is.

    http://georgia-arms.com/

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 15, 2009 at 0927 hrs


  6. I’m inclined to agree with mht - seems like someone may have jumped the gun (no pun intended) on this issue.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 15, 2009 at 0939 hrs


  7. I don’t own a gun (just a personal choice, not a political statement or anything).  Not saying this is a fake or wanting to be argumentative, just being skeptical - here are a few forums where some skepticism is being expressed & so far the “source” is an email that was sent to the vendors:

    http://forum.pafoa.org/national-11/52095-dod-says-no-more-surplus-brass.html

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=360474

    Going forward, I think we need to be very skeptical of how our government communicates to us.  I.e., the disinformation campaign that James Carville/Emmanual Rahl initiated to tie Rush Limbaugh to the Republican party.  These Clintonistas are experienced at this kind of thing. I grew up in the 60’s, and I tell you, “paranoia strikes again”.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 15, 2009 at 1013 hrs


  8. NRA news is reporting that the DOD has reversed their decision and will no longer require brass to be destroyed.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 17, 2009 at 2042 hrs


  9. It should be pretty obvious to anyone, unless you are totally asleep, that prep is being made for the new coded ammo to be put on the shelf.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2009 at 0832 hrs


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