What's Up? The price of lead!!

[Et2ss]

I juist bought 40 lbs of pure lead pipe. Cost me almost $ .80 per pound !!!
And I can't even get used wheel weights for under $ .60/lb. Used to be I could get all I wanted for free from the local tire shops.

On the plus side..... it's still cheaper than factory ammo or components

[1Shirt]

Theres a war on, and a lot of powder, primers, and lead go in that direction. There is also a lot of metal going surplus to china (note the toy and lead stories).
There is also the cost of gas raising the cost of transport. And then there is always the factor of supply and demand.
1Shirt!

[shooter575]

80 cents is not unreasonable today. [never thought I would say that] At our nationals in Oct.dead soft was all over 1.20 a lb.
Scrounging is a requirement in todays world.

[mike in co]

lead went from 30 or so cents a pound to over a dollar a pound in an 18 -24 month span from about may of this year and back. its not new news at all.
battery makers have contracted with tire/auto service stores at the corprate level to recycle all lead. no money to the local dealer, but also no lead to the local caster.
copper is up 4 fold
brass is up 3 fold
lead is up 3-4 fold

primers are brass
bullets are copper and lead
cases are brass( cartridge brass is a 70/30 copper/tin alloy)

the costs of our sport/hobby has gone up, significantly.
don't feel bad about hoarding lead!

i sell soft lead but cannot get ww!

mike in co
THE COLORADO BRASS COMPANY

[standles]

Be patient.

The Army is developing the replacement round for the M-16. Seems the std one doesn't perform that well in sub 20" bbls.

Anyways..... It is going to be a green bullet (NO LEAD) so our lead supplies will recover soon.


Steven

[Dale53]

>>>"so our lead supplies will recover soon".<<<

Don't bet on it!

Dale53

[standles]

The power of positive thinking Dale...

You just screwed up my next lead deal


Yeah they found out the original round was designed for "medium build humans wearing light body armor"

Hmmmmmmm Not what they are currently being used against today so shots are through and through. Low lethality


Steven

[Namerifrats]

The damn Chinese are eating this country alive. Buying up steel, copper, lead, gold, silver, etc. Selling products that are made by children for pennies an hour therefore stealing jobs from Americans. They are also the number one producer of counterfiet merchandise in the world flooding the market with fakes and cheap knockoffs.

[38 Super Auto]

The Chinese are indeed shredding. They are doing it on an unlevel playing field without the safety standards that 1st world nations are required to meet.

I think it is going to continue for quite a while. I think one thing that would help is our government addressing the US trade deficit. We buy a lot more goods than we produce. I read a report that said our economy is based 70% on consumption

[Bob Jones]

Am I the only person who's reminded of the Japanese buying all our scrap steel during the 1930's? Seems like an awfully familiar scenario, hope I'm wrong.

[dale2242]

Hope you are wrong, Bob. I have been thinking the same thing about the export of scrap metal.

[MT Gianni]

They are also holding many dollars. A weak US Dollar is not the best thing for their economy as their holdings are reduced in value. I read that our buying power in regards to China stays even because they are so dollar heavy in a time of a weak USD. Gianni

[mtgrs737]

I just got back from a trip to Sportsmans Wharehouse in Wichita Kansas and am suffering from a case of sticker shock at the prices of J-word bullets. Lead shot was $50 a bag too!, I'm glad that I cast mine!

[shooter575]

66 years ago today we were confronted with that far east power.History will and does repete itself.I just hope the results will once again come out out in our favor

[mechdriver]

It seems that China is willing to return our lead to us.
In childrens toys.

Does this mean we are already under attack?

[mtgrs737]

If you think that gas is high now, just wait till the Chinese get their roads and bridges completed (with Scrap steel and cement from US) and evey China Man starts driving! IMO we are in a slow death spiral, I fear for the quality of life for my children.

[avidtrapshooter]

Lead has actually been dropping significantly in price

http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/lead.html

It was $1.80 a lb not that long ago might take a while for it to show, but it has been coming down.

[crowbeaner]

Hell, we've already been invaded. Have you noticed all the all-you-can-eat buffets? They are trying to kill us off by letting us eat ourselves to death. I knew something like the metal shortage would come years ago, so I stocked up then. I may have to buy a shotmaker unless I can find someone near me that will rent it to me for a couple days. Hang on boys and girls, it's going to be a long rough ride.

[Bob Jones]

It has got really bad around here. I've stopped at a few out of the way tire places and the folks have all but laughed in my face when I asked about wheel weights. I mean a simple "no" is not problem, but they've been down right caustic about saying no, guess they're getting so many requests they're getting cranky.

I still have a truck stop that gets me a bucket every month or two. The sick thing is I find myself not wanting to shoot so much because of how hard lead is getting to find, and I have about 2000 pounds of ingots in the shop...

[fallout4x4]

just paid 50 cents a pound for ww today. But I don't mind too much, they accidently sold me almost 200 pounds at 7 cents a pound the beginning of the year. We are even I guess.