Anyone know if there is any truth to this ...

[Edisto_Tiger]

Expect rise in ammo prices because smelter is closing, NRA says - South Carolina Sportsman

Expect rise in ammo prices because smelter is closing, NRA says

Missouri company closing lead smelting plant because it can't meet anti-pollution regulations

Whether or not the federal government is engaged in a plot to deny citizens ammunition for their guns, there’s no doubt government regulations will put the nation’s last and only lead smelter out of business next month.

According to reports from the National Rifle Association and Charlotte-based Ammoland.com, the primary lead smelter at Herculaneum, Mo., will close its doors at year’s end.

The smelter, owned and operated by the Doe Run Company, has been in existence at the same location since 1892. It is the only smelter in the country that can convert raw lead ore into lead bullion mined from large deposits in Missouri.

Lead produced at the plant has been sold to companies that produce products made of lead: including ammunition manufacturers for conventional components such as rifle and muzzleloader bullets, shell cores, primers and shotgun pellets.

The lead also was used at secondary smelters where it was taken from old batteries or spent ammo and converted.

The problem for Doe Run was that the Environmental Protection Agency changed air-quality standards in 2008, and the agency’s new benchmark for lead production was much more restrictive than previous standards.

Although Doe Run made changes to reduce emissions from its smelter plant, the company couldn’t conform to EPA’s stricter regulations, so the company’s directors decided to close the plant.

Firearms-industry observers have opined that the current lack of ammunition available to sportsmen and target shooters was caused by a 30- to 40-percent increase in demand fomented by economic instability and worry the federal government is headed by politicians eager to confiscate weapons, plus reports of huge purchases of ammunition by the government.

Whether sportsmen face pressure from left-leaning politicians or too much bullet demand, with the close of the country’s only lead-ore smelter, it is certain that lead prices at retail stores soon will go through the roof.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Can't find freaking .22 rounds now, this isn't going to help.

 

[da55bums]

haven't heard that one yet...and pretty sure I would have....living in Missouri and where I work...but hey...who the freak knows anymore.

 

[tech_iceman]

it also doesn't help that anyone with a gun is buying everything in bulk and draining the supply without any need

 

[BF4L]

Edisto I am quite sure it will put a higher price on ammo.

This came out in a alert from the NRA a couple weeks ago. To me it is just another angle to limit the citizen.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

There is truth to the smelter closing but I don't think anyone can predict how it will impact ammo production. Most of our lead comes from recycled lead now days anyway so I can't imagine it would impact it that much, if at all.

Furthermore, our ammo shortage has nothing to do with the amount of lead available - the companies just simply can't produce enough ammo with their current capabilities to meet demand.

With all that said, unless there's certain brands out there that were buying their lead directly from this place I don't think it will do much of anything. I think it's more trying to rile up some people over environmental regulations, and a good way to do that is through firearms. (not saying I agree or disagree with that as I'm not trying to get political. I'm just saying I think this is more politically motivated than anything else.)

 

[AHFox]

Yes this will directly effect ammo prices. There is no way around this. EPA Bullshit. Just like green jobs Bullshit.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Yes this will directly effect ammo prices. There is no way around this. EPA Bullshit. Just like green jobs Bullshit.

Will it? Lead can be brought in from other countries at a cheaper price than we can smelt it here in the US because in other countries, like China, the environmental and employee regulations are so much lower. It's very possible that if the ammunition companies need to start getting lead from outside the US that it will actually lower the cost of ammunition production; which I don't suspect will happen anyway because most of our lead comes from smaller recycling companies.

I don't want to get into a political debate about the EPA - but I will say I have no problem with them strictly regulating what's in the air; especially something like lead. No amount of lead in the air is good. This isn't just hypothetical or speculation, it's just fact. I'm assuming if there was a high demand for their services, the company would have simply met those air requirements and kept on going. They chose to close - which, to me, says that it wasn't worth the cost of upgrading over the demand for their product.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

MILLER: Obama?s EPA closing smelter will not affect ammunition supply - Washington Times

Lawrence Keane is the senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), which represents the ammunitions and firearms industry.


“Manufacturers use recycled lead to make ammunition. They don’t buy from smelters,” Mr. Keane told me Monday. “The EPA closing, which has been in the works for a while, will have no impact on production, supply or cost to the consumers.”

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

it also doesn't help that anyone with a gun is buying everything in bulk and draining the supply without any need

Filthy bastards... Every last one of 'em!

I heard about the smelter closing but I forget where I read that it wasn't going to affect pricing.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

it also doesn't help that anyone with a gun is buying everything in bulk and draining the supply without any need

I think it's crazy that 9mm ammo is still hard to find - even almost a year after Sandy Hook. But I think you're right, people are still just snatching anything they can find right up before it can really stock up and I think ammunition companies haven't caught up to the surge of new people buying handguns for the first time - which require ammo to shoot all these new guns.

But .223 ammo is back in full swing. I order a couple boxes here and there when I see good deals. I don't do the bulk thing. It's easier to just buy a couple boxes here and there and spend $20. That way, one day, you look up and have a whole stock pile of it. Even if you shoot regularly, it can be a good way to just keep things constant.