Price of Lead Shot

[smoothshooter]

Why has lead shot been so high priced the last few years?

 

[Billnpatti]

I'll have to admit that I do not have a good solid answer for you. But.....I do have some ideas and opinions that are based on things that I have heard and read. First, all lead production has been pushed off shore by all of the prohibitive regulations in the U.S. We no longer produce it and pricing has been placed into the hands of foreign countries. Also, the regulations on lead handling and disposal in the U.S have forced the prices of lead products through the roof. I don't expect to see the price to come down. In fact, we may one day see it come to pass that all lead will be prohibited in the U.S and we will be forced to obtain lead through recovery of lead from the backstops at gun ranges, finding lead flashing and possibly lead pipe from old houses that are being torn down and such places as that. I am fortunate in that my son works for a medical facility where scrap lead is still available for free and I am stocking up on it as it becomes available. I have more than I need right now but am still acquiring it because I can sell locally what I don't need.

 

[necchi]

It's been a long time now, not just the last few years.
Usta-be Trap and Skeet shooters would load there own hulls not only for the secret magic mix of shot and wad/cup but because it was cheaper to do so,, rifle ranges had barrels of "sand bags" made of old canvas shot bags.
But for at least the last 20yrs buying a case of factory shells is/has been cheaper then roll-yer-own.
So lead shot has been high for 25-30yrs,, my guess is New (at the time) EPA standards/rules made a lot of shot mills clean up and put in place methods to contain "toxins" that where otherwise just released as part of the process.
Lead dust, Graphite, Tin, Zinc, Arsenic,, all considered nasty stuff by lab rats in California.

 

[Patocazador]

Until just the last 2-3 months all metals prices were sky high. I bought a bunch of 100% lead sheathing, roofing etc. at $0.30/lb. and was glad to get it. Lead was selling for $1+/lb. from some outlets. Now the stuff along with aluminum cans, etc. sits in stacks at the local recyclers because it's not worth their while to truck it to a wholesale buyer and sell it for next to nothing.

Most shot sellers also sell reclaimed shot which is cheaper. See what Rotometals and Ballistic Products is getting for their reclaimed shot. It may be worth the time to check it out.

 

[ZUG]

Back in the early 60's it cost me & my dad about $1.10 to load 25, 12 gauge with 1-1/8 oz of shot in a Mark 5 Winchester hull to shoot trap - now it is almost the same price to load your own as to buy the low priced Winchester or Federal shells at WalMart -- not the double A's as they are much higer priced. If you are shooting for the money and title you go with the better double A's and forget the reloads - they are for practice.

 

[coloradoclyde]

China and India are predicted to be the single largest car markets of the future, and the cars will be electric or hybrid. While we continue to burn fossil fuels. The rest of the world is surpassing us in technology.
Coincidentally American business knows this and has shifted lead production to those countries.
We are entering into an Energy race, whereby the most powerful countries of the future will be the ones that are energy independent.
Lead is a wonderful conductor of electricity, from circuit boards to car batteries.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Actually it is a lot cheaper to buy rather than reload if you have to buy your components. My boys prefer to shoot trap modern. The only reason I bought the last bag of shot to reload was that I already had the primers, wads, AA casings , and powder.I figured that the shot cost over 75% of new from Wally World. Next year I'll probably reload the cases with #6 since the coyotes have wiped out the rabbits in our area and I have over thirty lbs of #6. :hmm: :hmm:

 

[TNGhost]

Primary cause, increased regulation and pressure from the government to eliminate lead from the environment, ie. "it's for the children"(and the ducks ). It's nigh on impossible to profitably operate a lead smelter here, so those jobs, as mentioned, went overseas. :shocked2:

Quinnipiac University did a study on what increased regulation has cost the American people since the mid 60's. The result, the average annual income in the U.S., at the time of the study, was around $57,000. Without the regulations it would be in the neighborhood of $350,000.

Yes we need regulations to protect the environment, but at $300,000 per household?

Oh and 90+% of the electricity to operate "electric" cars, comes from burning fossil fuels

 

[TNGhost]

Lead is a very poor conductor of electricity when it comes to metals, otherwise lead acid batteries would not work the way they do.

http://quatr.us/chemistry/atoms/lead.htm

 

[RonRC]

I've done work associated with the "Tri-States" lead-zinc mining district of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. The mines there closed, some many years ago, some more recently. The claim was that closure was due to environmental regulation.
What closed the mines is that it costs much more to mine lead ore from the ground (primary) than to recycle lead (Secondary).
The International Lead Association reports: "Secondary production (recycling) accounts for all the lead produced in the USA and 74% of lead produced in Europe."
ALL the lead in America is recycled lead, most from lead-acid car batteries. That lead is 99% recyclable.
Given that it is less expensive to produce secondary lead, yet the price has gone up significantly,is another story.
Lead prices just seem to be following other metals on the commodities market. Nothing special or insidious about lead prices.

Ron

 

[TNGhost]

Couple of, maybe dumb, questions RonRC. If all of the lead used in the U.S. is recycled, is our use of lead declining or are we importing lead to make up the difference? If imported, is the lead primary or secondary source?

Also wouldn't those increased environmental, ie. EPA, regulations be why it costs much more to mine than recycle? :hmm:

Supply and demand dictate commodity prices, so to manipulate supply would be to maniplate prices and EPA regs do just that. Old song, we all pay more for something they want out of the chain.

 

[coloradoclyde]

We're splitting hairs now... :haha:

 

[RonRC]

The whole process of digging in the ground, hauling to the processing plant, metallurgical processing is more expensive, alone, than recycling.
Environmental regs or not, it just doesn't pay to mine it.
Very little is being imported. China, on the other hand, is buying it up right and left. I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese demand is driving prices. I could be wrong, though.
The charts I put in show commodity prices that are in place all over the world, and not just in our USA.
Ron

 

[RonRC]

Also, Lead was recognized as a source poisoning in young children as early as 1904.

Scores of articles on child lead poisoning were published in medical and scientific journals between 1904 and 1950.

So, there is nothing new about the issue of lead being declared a toxin.
Ron

 

[TNGhost]

The whole process of digging in the ground, hauling to the processing plant, metallurgical processing is more expensive, alone, than recycling.
Environmental regs or not, it just doesn't pay to mine it.
Very little is being imported. China, on the other hand, is buying it up right and left. I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese demand is driving prices. I could be wrong, though.
The charts I put in show commodity prices that are in place all over the world, and not just in our USA.
Ron

So given that logic anything dug out of the ground is going to be cost prohibitive. I guess you could ask the coal industry about that, with the new environmental regs coming down the pipeline from the oval office.


The OP asked why lead prices in the U.S. have jumped. With bans on everything from sinkers to solder, weights, shot and bullets containing lead, it seems fairly easy to see why the price is increased. Decrease the supply, increase the difficulty of producing it, keep repeating the alarmist position of it being a toxic substance and of course the price will go up.

And it will continue to go up because, if as you say, virtually all lead in the U.S comes from recycling, and you can't touch 100% recovery, there can only be less and less, that will cost more and more.

Bottom line, if the government doesn't want you to have something, it is a safe bet the price will go up. Not saying its definitely a bad thing(unless you shoot ) after all, as the studies you pointed out say, it's for the children :wink:

 

[TNGhost]

We're splitting hairs now... :haha:

Okay okay, lead is a good conductor of electricity.........and global warming/climate change is real :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[coloradoclyde]

and global warming/climate change is real

Unfortunately, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg.

 

[TNGhost]

and global warming/climate change is real

Unfortunately, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg.

But, but... all the icebergs have melted

 

[RonRC]

Ya' triggered my interest with your questions and the OP's question about price.
It seems that lead production is increasing throughout the world, with about 1/2 worldwide being from recycling. That would suggest that prices should be going down rather than up. Guess what country is showing the largest rise in production rates!

Yup. China.

Consumption of lead in the USA in 2014 was 1.35 million tons. Recycling supplied 1.15 million tons of that, or about 85%. Mining supplied 0.355 million metric tons. Some was imported, about 70% of the imports were from Canada. (U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2015)

That tells us that there is no shortage of lead and there is plenty of lead recycled. I don't know how much was exported.

I think that as for prices of lead, we are at the mercy of the commodity markets.

(By the way, almost all the work I do is associated with the mining industry.)
Ron

 

[coloradoclyde]

It seems that lead production is increasing throughout the world, with about 1/2 worldwide being from recycling. That would suggest that prices should be going down rather than up.

Just because production is increasing, is no reason to assume that the price should be dropping. Factor in demand.

Many high lead use items like car batteries have had their production switched from the US to china, contributing to a rise in their lead production. and a decrease in ours....It's not the only factor but it is illustrative.