Engraved casings

I got these back a few days ago. I had saved the empty casings from several hunts and decided to get them engraved with the animal, location and date. In a lot of cases this is the only trophy I have from the hunt (other than meat in the freezer) so it's a cool memento. Because I brought in 12 of them at once, the engraver cut me a little bit of a deal. Not sure how I'm going to display them. Right now they're in my gun cabinet.

pretty cool & lot cheaper than mounts glue them to a piece of granite or wood for a base to display them on or ??????

or a shell tree where you just slide the empty case down on a bare branch that way they could be handled & polished when needed

I did the same kind of thing once, but for a different reason. When my father died and was cremated, I took a bunch of brass that he had shot in his 7mm Mag and ran them through a sizing die and them put them in the tumbler to clean them up. When that was done I took them in and had them engraved with his name, birth date and the date of his death. When I got them back I put a small wad of cotton in the mouth of the cases and pushed it to the bottom of the case with a small dowel rod and then filled the case with his ashes. The cotton kept them from coming out the primer hole. After I had them filled I seated one of the bullets Dad had leftover and then put a small eye bolt in the primer hole.

I gave one to all of his children, grand children, hunting buddies and his brother-in-law. We put these in our vehicles, I have mine hanging from the rearview mirror in my truck so dad can still go hunting and fishing with me. I find comfort in knowing he is with me in the fields.

That's a good idea, makes my ones with sharpies dates on them look dated

Very good idea and they will remind you of the hunt

That is a great idea. I have some saved and now have a hard time remembering which is from what hunt.

Great Idea, I have never thought of doing anything like that..

Nice idea. I have seen them added to mount plaques before but never etched like this.

That's pretty dang cool. I want to be cremated myself and sprinkled over the Greybull river and my hunting grounds in Wyoming.

Sharp looking. A nice piece of wood shaped like Texas with a nice finish, then maybe wire coming out and turned up to slide them on. Or a nice leather ammo belt that hangs on the wall.

Good idea. First time I have seen that.

Always appreciate a new idea. This one is new, first time I ever heard of this procedure.

Interesting idea. I reload and have sets of brass for each caliber/rifle... if any pieces go missing I get bent out of shape.

about how much did the engraving cost? I do the sharpie method for all the deer my kids have shot and have thought about getting them engraved in the past.

I went to a trophy store, and they originally quoted $25 per casing, but since I brought a dozen of them in they charged $15 each. I still think that's probably high, and will look around for a better deal when I'm ready to get the next batch done.

Not bad actually

Buy a bottle of this at Radio Shack. http://www.radioshack.com/radioshack-16oz-pcb-etchant-solution/2761535.html#.VPTd2mY5DmQ

Tape off the ends of a shell casing completely with a good masking tape. Write dates or whatever using a black Sharpie pen. Place case in above stuff per instructions, a few minutes is enough. Rinse thoroughly, and I mean completely with soap and warm water, then rinse in a mix of tablespoon of baking soda and 4 oz of water. Wash again with soap and water. Then polish.

Here is a pic off the Internet. I did some for mbavo's sons a few years ago, maybe he can post a picture of them.

DC, that must be an acid? That shell in the photo, is just crazy good as my kids say. Thank you Sir

It is PCB circuit board etchant acid, it eats copper and other metals. Be careful, read the instructions and find some instruction links on Google. Know what you are doing before you use it. Do it outside, with plenty of fresh water available to clean up your "mistakes".

Use safety glasses, good rubber or nitrile gloves, use only glass or plastic containers. Dispose of everything in a safe manner, do not reuse.