Mil Circular Connectors (D38999/MS)

Pull one contact and look down the socket bore — mil gold is a deep even brassy-yellow right down inside the barrel; commercial imitation is lemon-yellow on the outer 2 mm and grey inside.

Au 0.20–0.50 g/lb whole; 2.5–4.0 g/lb de-pinned contactsCu ~80 g/lbBase 70–85% Al 6061-T6 shell

eBay typical$25–60per lb

Refiner pays$35per lb

Metal in it$40.0per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencehighof the yield figures

How to spot it

Round aluminium shell with threaded or triple-start bayonet coupling and keyway splines, marked D38999/24WJ35PN, MS3106E20-17S, PT06A-, LJT or KJB. Olive-drab iridescent = cadmium; matte grey-black = electroless nickel. Shell sizes 9–25, mass 25–400 g. Found on aircraft harnesses, radar, missiles, industrial motors, marine and broadcast trucks.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	0.20–0.50 g/lb whole; 2.5–4.0 g/lb de-pinned contacts	Glenair spec: .000050 in MIN gold, MIL-G-45204 Type II Cl I, over nickel
Copper	~80 g/lb	Contact base alloy; shell is aluminium, not payable
Base metal	70–85% Al 6061-T6 shell	Cd finish codes B/N/NF/J are pure liability

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $40.0 per pound of contained metal — Gold 0.3 g = $39.2, Copper 80 g = $0.86. A refiner paying $35 returns about 87% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Insert softening 200–230 °C

Contacts are rear-release: use the colour-coded M81969/14 insertion-extraction tool, insert from the rear, push forward, pull the wire back. Bulk method is to cut off the backshell, heat the insert to 200–230 °C to soften the fluorosilicone grommet, then press the contact block out. Do not torch, grind or burn.

Hazards

☠ Cadmium

NEVER grind, burn, torch or braze cadmium-plated or AgCdO material, and don't inhale the black contact dust.

☣ Beryllium copper

NEVER put BeCu in a grinder, a sandblaster, or a melt.

🧱 Asbestos

NEVER cut, drill, sand, tear or blow out suspect material with compressed air.

Before you scrap it

Enormously more — the strongest resale case on the list. Traceable connectors carry $15–150/pc; a 100-piece clean D38999 lot clears $2,000 against ~$60 of contained gold. If the part number is legible and the insert uncracked, never scrap it.

The common trap

Weighing the whole connector and applying the military gold pins rate. A shell-size-15 37-contact 38999 is ~120 g of which ~13 g is contacts and ~0.11 g is gold — depin first, then weigh. The shell's yellow-gold iridite is chromate over cadmium, not gold.

Questions

How much gold is in mil circular connectors (d38999/ms)?

Gold: 0.20–0.50 g/lb whole; 2.5–4.0 g/lb de-pinned contacts. Copper: ~80 g/lb. At current spot that is about $40.0 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify mil circular connectors (d38999/ms)?

Pull one contact and look down the socket bore — mil gold is a deep even brassy-yellow right down inside the barrel ; commercial imitation is lemon-yellow on the outer 2 mm and grey inside.

How do you remove mil circular connectors (d38999/ms) safely?

Is mil circular connectors (d38999/ms) worth more working than as scrap?

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