With copper shortage and last lead plant being closed we will be facing ammo and reloading supply shortage a while .

The legislature in California is writing a law to outlaw all firearms and bullets and replace them with slings and stones. Here's the catch.

All slings must be made of natural fiber, and only stones passing a 3 day mandatory laboratory inspection to insure no copper and lead content may be used.🙂🤔
 
Lead used in the Firearms industry for "Bullets" is about 2% of LEAD Production. I didn't find the percentage of Military to civilian lead bullets. produced.
Auto/Truck Batteries take up 85% of Production. However battery recycling amounts to about 95% reclaimed Lead.
Lead is highly recycled, but comes at a high health hazard in 3rd world countries.
Our last Lead Smelting Facility shut down due to the high cost to make the Plant adhere to EPA Standards. We the United States still have vast reserves of lead underground. The US EPA Standards are cost PROHIBITED for a company to mine. The US basically relies on recycled or mined Lead from other countries- China & India being the main importers to the US.
Buy the way- the answer to lead shortages in bullets (if it happens) is not COPPER bullets. Copper will be sold at a Premium and also in shortages.
 
I just learned the last lead smelting plant got closed down Sept 6 so they are trying to do away with it all together .Copper is having a shortage from less water to mines and what they use for coins .They are going to make it impossible to make ammo ! I cast my own bullets alot and am trying to get as much as I can now . Its getting so expensive to reload from powder and primers that it's impossible for new reloaders to even try to start now .I try to help people with brass but even that is super expensive now .I didn't like when vista became the largest ammo maker they own almost everthing now and it's easy for them to set the price of shooting supplies .I hope older shooters help younger ones to set up for reloading .
I have approx. 1100 lbs. of lead ingots which I received from one of my customers whose husband was an avid reloader. Since it is heavy I assume that shipping to anyone out of Calif would be pretty expensive. If interested let me know
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Mike
 
I think you could sluice the berms of a lot of shooting ranges more cost effectively than most lead and copper mining. Surprised that hasn't happened yet.
Some ranges have been digging up the backstops and sifting the old bullets for a while already. I saw some for sale last year. I don't know how cost effective it is.
 
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Some ranges have been digging up the backstops and sifting the old bullets for a while already. I saw some for sale last year. I don't know how cost effective it is.
I can't fathom that there is more lead per yard, in an easier to reach location in any lead mine in world history. As someone who is not a mining expert, I could totally be wrong. Still, my guess is that if a range has been doing that, and it wasn't cost effective, then part of their equation was wrong. I highly suspect that lead mines do more work for less lead. I can totally see how selling already fired bullets to the general public could bring you less than an exciting amount of money,
 
I hope that you are "jerking our chain"! 😁 Or........have spent the last 5 or so weeks on a hunt without any contact to the outside world! If that is the case ......Welcome back and how was your hunt? 😉 memtb
AAAAHHH!!! Got it!
I cut off most ties with all news TV, Cable, Radio, Internet, Social Media for just about a year now (since the election). Only on the internet for hunting/shooting information and to purchase reloading components and gunsmith supplies.
"LETS GO BRANDON"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like the way the liberal media tried to cover up what the public really thinks about Biden. Have no trust in the media -news.
 
I think you could sluice the berms of a lot of shooting ranges more cost effectively than most lead and copper mining. Surprised that hasn't happened yet.
They do that at one of my local shotgun ranges, about once every 5 years they let someone come in and gather all the lead-- they get a small % cut back from the guy.
 
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