MERGED: Last lead smelter to shutdown in DEC

[Peshawar]

I just had a vision of meth addicts digging bullets out of the ground at outdoor ranges to recycle the lead. That's how dark my imagination is.

[StrikerFired]

Yep. Brad at Missouri Bullet already stated that won't affect their supply. I'm fine with it.

Exactly, before everyone gets crazy with this story we need the answer to an important question. How much of the ammo supply lead did this factory account for? While I hate to see more US manufacture jobs lost, I don't see this as a death blow to ammo supply. I'm sure prices will spike in the short term, but this is the second "lead supply" story I've seen in the news lately...

[Armati]

In all fairness, lead smelting is a very dirty business. I am pretty sure no one would want to live near one. In recent times we have sent a lot of jobs over to China. We have also exported low wages, dangerous working conditions, and pollution - lots of pollution. There are place in China where nothing will grow and the water is poison.

The solution to the above problem is to have the smelter clean up it's act AND put a tariff on imported lead.

Given my choice, I much prefer copper solids like the Barnes TSX. I have spent much of my life on a range and I know all too well the hazards of low level lead deposition in the body.

[Eric D.]

I saw a post about the smelter closing on the Military Arms Channel facebook page and based on some of the comments it sounds like they intend to do just that. It sounded like there is talk of building a new plant right across the street where most of the original employees would be kept but its not set in stone.

The demand for lead is still increasing. It is often cheaper to build a new plant than to make an old plant compliant with new regulations. They may have no choice other than to close up shop and start over.

[Javelin]

Maybe the government is trying to ban tire weights too...

[Malig8r]

Maybe the government is trying to ban tire weights too...

I'm not jumping on the chicken little bandwagon or anything; but with respect to the quote above: they are using zinc and steel wheel weights out here. Harder to come by lead wheel weights to melt down into bullet molds.

[3 AE]

I just had a vision of meth addicts digging bullets out of the ground at outdoor ranges to recycle the lead. That's how dark my imagination is.

Screw them! I've already staked out my claim at my favorite outdoor bay at my gun club. Your dark imagination is my reality. Now keep that vision to yourself. I don't need the competition!

[MountainRaven]

Large stocks of ammo is a good counter measure for a JDAAM or Predator strike...

Very pretty. Lots of secondaries.

[LMT Shooter]

Several people have posted about lead recycling, I don't have hard data, but I've heard that most lead projectiles made in the US are made from recycled lead. I saw a show on TV years ago where they were making lead shot, they said they used recycled lead from car batteries, I don't remember the manufacturer or if it was just some or 100% recycled.

Any industry folks here know how much lead they use is recycled?

[FloridaWoodsman]

I think most of our lead is recycled.
The plant that closed was described as a "primary" smelter. There are something like 13 "secondary" smelters left in the U.S.
Lead is nasty stuff and you definitely want controls on it.