Shot unavailable/pricey, sht. twr. burned down?

Bobby Ironsights

Bobby Ironsights

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Hi, I went to the local to buy some wads, powder primers and shot yesterday, and left with a mosin 91/30.

Seems that my local has no shot, and hasn't had any for about 8 months. There is one place a bit farther away that has just a bit of shot selling for 48 bucks a bag.

I was told by the guy at the counter, that a shot tower burned down in the states, and ever since, they have been finding it very difficult to get bags of shot for reloaders.

Really? So what's up with that? When can I expect to get my reloader up and working? I just bought the damned thing!!!:mad:
 
I would start calling around, There's gotta be somebody in your area with shot.
 
The "tower fire" is a new one to me. Now, lead prices going through the roof, that is another story. Shot is $49.95 a bag here. If you find somewhere with a substantial savings, let us know.
 
The issue with shot has nothing to do with a shortage of shot towers...The cost of production has shot up while the home reloaders have been putting off buying using up their stash bought at $10 a bag. So there has not been a lot of shot being produced. I have not bought shot in a year and am down to my last bag...I'm typical.

But why?

Just like gas the price of lead went through the roof because of demand from countries like India and China with thier emerging economies. For most of the last century we were able to buy up the worlds resources at a bargain price because there was no one else buying...that is all over now. We'll be paying thge market price for goods based on supply and demand and the demand is growing.

In another year or two, if you can afford the gas to drive to the range you may not be able to afford the lead.

Buy a .410, and load your own, it is going to become more popular as a gauge for shotgunners that dont want to give up their hobby.

Jeff
 
Maybe there's a silver lining here: remember that Alberta's oil sands used to be too expensive to extract the oil... until now, given the world demand for gas. Think of all the tons of lead we have shot over the trap and skeet fields over the past decades, all falling within 100 yds of the firing positions. Maybe now it'll be worth harvesting the lead, which will then get the environmentalists off of our backs. I know our club's landowner's main concern is the resale value of the land given the potential liability of 32 years of lead out there.

Just my $0.02!
 
Many ranges have had the lead harvested several times. It's been worth doing for the last 20 years.

I've bought and used reclaimed lead in my reloads. I usually mixed it about half and half with new shot. It works great at skeet but the pellets are banged up enough that at longer ranges the patterns fall apart. But it is a good way to open up the pattern on a tight choked gun as long as the range is 25 yards or less.

By the way, if you buy any reclaimed shot make sure you go through it with a large magnet and pull out any steel pellets....I typically found a couple of dozen in each 25 lab bag. In addition the bags will hold a mix of pellet sizes, mostly 8's and 7 1/2's but with a few larger pellets mixed in.

In addition you have to add graphite to the reclaimed shot to get it to flow in your reloader.

Jeff
 
i have been selling shot for $30 a bag, however,i just dread making it, as it is slow and tedious work and takes me all day, it sells out at Wholesale Sports pretty quick. Someone else has moved in and is selling it at $30 as well at WSS in Saskatoon. I don't know if anyone is doing it at this price elsewhere, I started making it for myself as I use alot Trapshooting.
 
Ben:

Can you do bulk orders? I'm not size picky, it's going into the keel of a sailboat and all it needs to be is small pieces fairly round. PM me if you'd like.
Cheers,
Grant
 
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