Texas brass brings top bid at military e-auction

Oct 18, 2006 | 11:06 AM | Paul Schaffer

Fired brass ammunition scrap at military bases around the country attracted a top bid of $2.42 a pound in an electronic auction that ended Tuesday, suggesting a stronger market than in mid-September.

The top nationwide result last month was $2.27 a pound, up from $2.02 in mid-August. However, the $2.42 a pound offered this week for brass scrap at a Texas military base might have been an aberration, as the second-highest winning offer was $2.01 a pound for similarly described material in New Mexico.

The electronic competition was coordinated by Government Liquidation LLC, Scottsdale, Ariz., a Defense Department contractor. Per-pound prices are calculated to include a 10-percent premium payable to Government Liquidation by winning bidders.

Other winning bids for fired brass ammunition scrap in Tuesday's auction included $1.66 a pound for material in Maine, $1.56 in Louisiana, $1.52 in Arizona, $1.50 in Missouri and $1.44 in Georgia, while one lot of fired brass shotgun shells in Texas brought in just 23 cents a pound, presumably because the spent primers weren't removed.....