by With the numerous stories including mine regarding the closure of the Heculaneum, MO primary lead smelting facility, I thought this chart would be helpful to put the consumption of lead for ammo into perspective. The chart is from IndexMundi which got it from the US Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program.
For 2010, lead used in shot and bullets comprised 4.6% of the total lead used in the United States. This was down from 5.26% in 2009.
| TABLE 5———– | ||||||
| U.S. CONSUMPTION OF LEAD, BY PRODUCT1— — |
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| (Metric tons, lead content)———– |
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| SIC2 code | Product | 2009 | 2010 | |||
| Metal products: | ||||||
| 3482 | Ammunition, shot and bullets | 67,900 | 65,700 | |||
| Bearing metals: | ||||||
| 35 | Machinery except electrical | W | W | |||
| 371 | Motor vehicles and equipment | W | W | |||
| 37 | Other transportation equipment | W | W | |||
| Total | 1,100 | 1,230 | ||||
| 3351 | Brass and bronze, billets and ingots |
1,370 | 1,410 | |||
| 36 | Cable covering, power and communication |
(3) | (3) | |||
| 15 | Calking lead, building construction |
(3) | (3) | |||
| Casting metals: | ||||||
| 36 | Electrical machinery and equipment– |
W | W | |||
| 371 | Motor vehicles and equipment | W | W | |||
| 37 | Other transportation equipment | W | W | |||
| 3443 | Nuclear radiation shielding | W | W | |||
| Total | 15,900 | 16,400 | ||||
| Pipes, traps, other extruded products: |
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| 15 | Building construction | 1,130 | 990 | |||
| 3443 | Storage tanks, process vessels, etc. |
(4) | (4) | |||
| Total | 1,130 | 990 | ||||
| Sheet lead: | ||||||
| 15 | Building construction | 16,300 | 16,000 | |||
| 3443 | Storage tanks, process vessels, etc. |
W | W | |||
| 3693 | Medical radiation shielding | W | W | |||
| Total | 25,400 | 23,400 | ||||
| Solder: | ||||||
| 15 | Building construction | W | W | |||
| Metal cans and shipping containers |
W | W | ||||
| 367 | Electronic components, accessories, and other electrical equipment |
6,160 | 6,130 | |||
| 371 | Motor vehicles and equipment | W | W | |||
| Total | 6,450 | 6,420 | ||||
| Storage batteries: | ||||||
| 3691 | Storage battery grids, post, etc. | 389,000 | 478,000 | |||
| 3691 | Storage battery oxides | 750,000 | 806,000 | |||
| Total storage batteries | 1,140,000 | 1,280,000 | ||||
| 27 | Type metal, printing and allied industries |
(3) | (3) | |||
| 34 | Other metal products5 | 5,790 | 8,800 | |||
| Grand total | 1,260,000 | 1,410,000 | ||||
| Other oxides: | ||||||
| 285 | Paint | W | W | |||
| 32 | Glass and ceramics products | W | W | |||
| 28 | Other pigments and chemicals | W | W | |||
| Total | 10,100 | 9,760 | ||||
| Miscellaneous uses | 12,200 | 13,700 | ||||
| Grand total | 1,290,000 | 1,430,000 | ||||
| W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data; included in appropriate totals. |
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| 1Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. |
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| 2SIC Standard Industrial Classification. | ||||||
| 3Included with -Metal products: Other Metal products.- | ||||||
| 4Included with -Metal products: Sheet lead: Building construction- to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. |
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| 5Includes lead consumed in foil, collapsible tubes, annealing, galvanizing, plating, electrowinning, and fishing weights. |
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Looking at where raw lead is found, data from the US Geological Survey shows that Australia has the greatest proven reserves of lead. China which has the second largest amount of reserves of lead is actually the largest miner of lead accounting for about half of the world’s yearly production in 2012. The United States has only the 6th largest reserves in the world.
Kurt Hofmann makes an excellent point in his post about the Herculaneum smelter closure. He notes that the possible squeeze in lead for bullets might be felt even more keenly due to the Federal ban on many other materials for use in handgun ammo.
Perhaps, perhaps not, but regardless, the squeeze is likely to be felt quite keenly by gun owners. All the more keenly because of longstanding federal law banning the use of many other materials in the construction of bullets used in “handgun ammunition.” If lead is unavailable/unaffordable (and now verboten, to California hunters), and if a great many other possible bullet materials are illegal, the remaining options are both few and of limited utility.
And what, anyway, is “handgun ammunition,” you ask? Excellent question. Handguns have been built in nearly every caliber that rifles have, including the .50 BMG and the .600 Nitro Express. It seems apparent that any caliber that can be fired from a rifle can also be fired from a handgun, given a shooter with sufficient tolerance for recoil (and, in many cases, for impracticality).
And that means that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can, if it chooses, ban bullets made with tungsten alloys, steel, brass, etc., in virtually every caliber. It is hardly difficult to imagine the BATFE, especially under an administration like this one, choosing to do precisely that.
And therein lies the rub when it comes to reduced US production of primary lead.
