Big Lube(tm) bullets price increase

[Springfield Slim]

Well, it finally happened. My lead supplier was charging me the same price as long as his old stock held out, been the same for 2 years. But when I went over there Saturday morning to stock up on some lead , all his old stuff was gone and he told me the new stuff was more. Actually twice as much.  So I had to raise my bullet prices accordingly. Not as bad as it seems, bullets that were 20.00/250 are now 22.00, and like that. Most of the cost of making bullets is in the labor. Casting, sizing, lubing, packing. Lots of labor. Just got done alloying up 1200 lbs of bullet lead. I'm tired, think I'll go to bed. Gotta get up early tomorow to get the kids off to school. Then I gotta move that 1200 lbs of lead into the shop where I do my casting.

[litl rooster]

Thanks for the Notice, you have been fair all along.................Wish Goex would have only gone up $2 in two years.

[Howdy Doody]

That is an awful reasonable price S.S.

How do I know? Well, I cast the big lubers too and between casting,lubing and sizing, I would charge myself a lot more than that.

Yup, I went from two buckets worth (150#) for free the first part of the year, to NO we don;t even sell wheelweights anymore.
Seems the same shop now has to give the old ones to the supplier of new weights.

It is going to be a long year of scrounging coming up. Then to make things worse, I stopped at a gunshop last week for some primers and asked about shot. They were out of anything I can use and they told me when the new order arrives that will be
$62 a bag of 25lbs. That won't work for me. Stage writers need to go to only a couple shotgun targets and no more of this 8-10 rounds per stage stuff. Now, I have to figure a way of getting a hold of shot reasonable too.

[litl rooster]

  I love shooting shotgun but not at $62 bucks a bag.  Good  Ideal on the stag writin'

[Dick Dastardly]

$62 for 25 Lb. bag of shot is - well - way too much.   I'm startin' a new thread.

Slim, yer a true Cowboy.  Thanks for holding the line.

DD-DLoS

[Flint]

Highest price I've seen (didn't look this week) in Southern Arizona is $49.99 for 25# of shot.  Seems it was half that a year ago.

Maybe we need to delete shotgun from the CAS scenarios....................

[Four Eyed Floyd]

Just paid $45 (on sale) for 25# of 7 1/2. Then found out Wally World is now charging $7.95 for featherweights up from $5.95 (glad I stocked up) Scrounging for lead to cast some bollits.  Wanted to get into holy black shotgun shells...once you go black you never want to go back.

[Springfield Slim]

I only raise it when "they" raise it. And I agree, those 12 shot shotgun stages have to go away at these prices. 4 is plenty most of the time. I gotta make me a shotmaker. HMM, I've got 3 extra LEE pots, and......

[Howdy Doody]

I went by another place that had some 7 1/2 and got a bag for $52+tax. That will hold me over until I can figure out what my next move is going to be. I figure that there may be a shotmaker in my near future. Then there is feeding it with lead which is another touchy subject right now. 
I also have a shelf full of all kinds of factory 12ga thay is left over from those heathen days when you couldn't tell if I was shooting or not. I could sell that to defray the costs, but what if all shotgun loads become precious.
Yeah, I would vote for a limit of 4 shotgun targets per stage. That is enough to let folks know if you can hit them or not. If you need more rounds to knock them down, then slow down and aim. I actually melted the piece that holds the barrels apart at the end on a Baikal from one of those 12 pipe all shotgun stages. If I ever see something like that again, I'll shoot 6 and take the misses and let them know what I think about it.

[Arcey]

Or, ya kin do what I did. Mid-eighties outside. Standin' in the sun. Twelve shell stage. I refused ta shoot it. DNF me for the stage 'n put a Spirit of the Game penalty on top it. Didn't care. Weren't meltin' me or the shotgun.

[Lucky Irish Tom]

When I first started shooting CAS I thought a 12 or more shotgun target stage would be neat.  Then Arcey introduced me to the Dark Side.  I don't need that much of a hand warmer, even in the dead of Winter.  With costs going up 4 targets is enough. Even if you shoot slow sometimes the knock downs can be stubborn.     I don't need an excuse to go through a whole box of shotshells on one stage, this is supposed to be a fun sport! 

[Howdy Doody]

On the other board I kinda posed the question of limiting the amount of shotgun targets for stage writers. I am sort of getting hammered mostly by the smokeless folks that like to shoot a lot of shotgun. Well, that is fine then, but only the ones that load BP know how much more it is to load a box of shells. Walmart is not an option for BP shooters as far as buying ready mades.
Whatever, but CAS is a good sized crowd and I will shoot any stage in front of me, but I vocal my opinions to the match director afterwards.
I melted a SXS piece that holds the barrels spread and that concerned me. I got it fixed with silver solder, but I could have ruined the thing or have to take it to a gunsmith all because of a 12 pipe knockdown stage that actually took me 14 shots to get done.

[Arcey]

I AM a stage writer, Howdy. Don't write for that club. Have my club's January shoot about finished.

I write with the attitude 'ya can't please everybody' so I scribble what I think'll be fun.
Six on a stage is the limit 'n that's one stage out of six. The rest are two, four or none.

Also of the attitude that if I'm not havin' fun I'll stay home. Gettin' yer fingers burnt, throwin' twelve ounces of shot downrange 'n burnin' over seven hundred grains of powder on one stage, not ta mention the primers, just don't strike me as fun.

Can't answer the question. Don't understand the fascination.

[Howdy Doody]

Well Arcey, I am with you. I don't mind shooting shotgun, but it doesn't take a 10 knockdown stage to find out whether I really like it from the writers own standpoint. I love a couple clubs that have innovative type targets like texas stars and poppers. I think they are fun. I was just venting about shooting up a full two boxes in just 6 stages. Yeah it is a cost factor thing mostly. Lead is starting to get precious along with powder and primers. I don't feel I am cheap, but I don't like to waste. I have seen gals wear sleeveless shirts and come away from a heavy on the shotgun with bruises you can see. That can't be much fun.
Although I don't see them any more the worst for me was pipes. You had to hit them high and centered to drop them. Sure a few was fine, but a field of them to knock down was murder, especially if written that all must be down to proceed to the next sequence. Yup, I have seen stages written like that.
I just bought a bag of shot that cost me about $56 with tax. That is double in just a couple years. That thought got me to thinking that I would like to be shooting half as many shotgun.
Some folks don't shoot as much as I do. I am blessed with pretty good weather year round here. There is a shoot every weekend and some weekends shoot both days. My home club does that. Seperate 5 stage match saturday and sunday. I actually used to shoot that much up north, but I try and miss one weekend a month these days.
I like to shoot. 

[Dusty Morningwood]

Glad I bought 4500 of these a month ago.

[Springfield Slim]

Dusty: Yeah, you're the reason I had to go buy more lead!