Does anyone recycle brass after its useful life as ammo is over? I talked with a scrap yard and they would not take it (I assume because of liability) - but they will take other forms of brass (furniture, etc.)

Yup. I keep a big box and sell it ever so often. You just need to find a different scrap dealer.

Once again, I should have used the "search" function...of course this question has been asked many times in the past. Sorry.