Were lead round balls hard to find during last ammo shortage?

[Valley Forge]

My apologies to anyone who objects to my question, and I assure you that I ask this out of genuinely not knowing the answer, but wanting to know. I have been actively shooting my Lyman GPR 50 cal flintlock with Hornady .490 lead round balls and 0.018 pre-lubed patches for about a year. I am starting to prepare my supplies and stocks for my centerfire cartridge case breech loading firearms in anticipation of possible up coming shortages and I was wondering if I should worry about a shortage developing for ML lead round balls? I've got plenty of BP in FFg and FFFFg. Did the 2008-2010 ammo shortage affect BP shooting at all? Just wondering.

And, for those who may object to the very nature of my question, I do ask you to note the lack of mention of any political personalities or events in my post. I merely make reference to historical events (the well-documented ammo shortage for centerfire firearms that was widespread during the years 2008-2010).

 

[desi23]

I didn't see any problem finding muzzleloading items, it was modern cartridge stuff that became overpriced and hard to get. People were stockpiling things that they thought would be hard to get or even banned and the manufacturers were not able to keep up with demand.

 

[Coot]

With a couple hundred pounds of scrap roofing lead & a set of molds already in hand, I am not expecting any shortage of roundballs. :grin:

 

[David W.]

Maybe you should buy a mould and cast your own. I have lead from several different sources. I neighbor down the street recently had a new roof put on, and they gave me the used lead. I got some x-ray lead, wheel weights, lead from a gun range and plumbers lead. You can also get lead from some salvage yards. I haven't weighed what I have, but it's probably somewhere around 400 to 500 pounds.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Lead round balls are almost impossible to find locally in anything but 25 count 0.490" size. I gave up.

Cast your own and it's never a problem.

 

[sepiatone]

I didn't notice any shortages with round balls. I started to see a lot of bp shooters during this time because of the ammo shortages.

 

[necchi]

I saw no shortage in my area but there was a price jump that's current today.


The advise to find bulk lead and molds is real.
Start up costs of casting are very quickly returned in saveings.

 

[WH .50]

No shortage in my area either,but I agree with those who have advised you to buy a mold and some scrap lead. It doesn't take much lead to make ALOT of roundballs.

 

[aeatwood]

One of the RO's at my local range, who is into flinter's and I would pop off at each other whenever one of the AR shooters would complain about hard-to-find ammo: "Ammo shortage? WHAT ammo shortage?"

Seriously, the price of lead jumped drastically, as did all metals during that period due to building booms in China and India. The nice thing about PRB's is that you can basically use anything from pure lead to straight Wheelweights. You might have to adjust patch thickness or step down .005" or so in ball diameter, but generally they shoot just as well from WW as from pure lead. Certainly well enough for field shooting.

You need a pot, a mould, a ladle and a heat source. The very inexpensive Lee 4 or 10 lb pots and a Lee mould will net you hundreds of RB's for an evenings effort, and will pay for themselves in a couple of evenings.

 

[rafterob]

Hopefully the fear that gripped those during the last election will not carry through the 2012 election. I know guys that still have all the ammo they bought during that frenzy, so they won't be running out to buy more. Didn't have any problem getting balls or powder during that time. Maybe the ammo and arms producers will stir the pot to reap another windfall?

 

[capt_turk]

I just received a pair of Lee molds from Cabelas.
$50.93 including shipping. I figure by the time I cast 250 balls they are paid for.
Any kind of cast iron pot, and a long handled metal spoon, and you got the makings of all the RB's you will ever need.

 

[ohio ramrod]

The only thing I have noticed is an increase in the price of lead. Almost everyone I shoot with casts their own.The purer lead scraps are getting harder to find and wheel weights are now being made with who knows what! :idunno:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

It was pointed out above..., demand jumped, due to some fears, and the ammo companies took a while to catch up. Nothing has really changed from 2010 until now, the EPA can still FUBAR up the use of lead without any forum, debate, or vote..., so if there is no "shortage" today, then what changed was perhaps the fear factor? Couple with that the cost of the copper, brass, and lead going up, boosted prices so folks with prudence and cash stocked up and saved money. Once that group was satisfied, the demand decreased a bit.

As has been suggested, you should have a mold for each of your calibers in traditional muzzleloaders, and you might think of stocking up on some sort of bullet metal, be it all lead or a lead alloy. You should also consider buying flints in bulk, if you are a flintlock shooter. The price of them isn't going to go down, and they don't go bad. :grin:

LD

 

[David W.]

One thought on round ball shortages, why use them when the dealers have sabots for sale? Everyone knows that round balls are not effective at any range! :bull: Just ask the expert, Toby Bridges. :youcrazy:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I just scooped up another pile of old lead drain pipe at an auction last week. Came to 90 pounds for $3.00. Don't know how much I will lose in slag, but I'll add that to my supply. Ought to be at least 80 lbs of good lead.

 

[David W.]

I just scooped up another pile of old lead drain pipe at an auction last week. Came to 90 pounds for $3.00. Don't know how much I will lose in slag, but I'll add that to my supply. Ought to be at least 80 lbs of good lead.

Plumbing lead is fairly pure and dead soft. One shouldn't lose that much in slag.

 

[aeatwood]

And don't forget the BEST part of casting your own. You will shoot a HECK of a lot more. 8)