brass price inflation

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cuffkey53

cuffkey53

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I was wondering if there is a shortage of brass or is the current president the reason for the price increase in brass. It has just about doubled in price for once fired ammo . Let me know what you think or is this the way its going to stay. I reload so I guess that I will have to Pay for it sadly.
 
There is more brass than ever laying on the ground. Panic hit, people who never owned a gun went and bought one, obtained a membership to a club, bought as much ammo as they could, went and shot at the range, and left brass lay.

Joe Public sells brass for a high dollar, so then everyone else follows suit. Sad circle we are in right now. As more bullets and powder come available, hopefully the brass rats will loosen their belts and all components come back down. But its a long road ahead.
 
Don't look for things to comedown that quickly - we are NOT the only country in the world that uses brass. China is the largest importer of raw materials at the moment, and needs those materials to turn out the junk we buy from them - lot more uses for brass than shell casings... ;)
 
45lcshooter said:
There is more brass than ever laying on the ground. Panic hit, people who never owned a gun went and bought one, obtained a membership to a club, bought as much ammo as they could, went and shot at the range, and left brass lay.

Joe Public sells brass for a high dollar, so then everyone else follows suit. Sad circle we are in right now. As more bullets and powder come available, hopefully the brass rats will loosen their belts and all components come back down. But its a long road ahead.
Click to expand...

I agree with all of that EXCEPT "went and shot at the range". People who aren't sure they are ever going to be able to replace the ammo they could find, don't go out and shoot it. Either that or a few enterprising individuals have realized that brass is now expensive enough to be worth their time in picking it up.

I'd bet brass is going to be hard to find for a while, until people are comfortable enough with the supply chain to go out and shoot what they have, knowing they can pick up more on their way home.

I have spent the last 4 weeks looking for reasonable prices on once fired brass in various calibers.
 
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It boils down to simple supply and demand. High demand, low supply = absurdly high prices
 
cuffkey53 said:
I was wondering if there is a shortage of brass or is the current president the reason for the price increase in brass.
Click to expand...
Yes and yes. ;)

I'm afraid it may stay this way as long as the current administration maintains its assault on 2A.
 
As long as our commander in chief uses the word gun in any of his vocab,which he likes to do and something tells me he wont stop till he is gone ,then yes we are in for the long haul. Not only brass but everthing else involed in our beloved hobby will be at a premium.
 
cuffkey53 said:
I was wondering if there is a shortage of brass or is the current president the reason for the price increase in brass.
Click to expand...

The administration keeps telling us that there is no inflation so the price hikes have to be due to supply and demand.

I suspect that as supply catches up with demand, the prices will come down. Unfortunately, I do not think prices will return to pre-2008 or even pre-2012 levels.

But, my opinion and $5 will get you an overpriced designer coffee.
 
Since Nixon took us off the Gold standard, we have been on a steeper slope of inflation.

This pic shows the bend in the curve
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Inflation-2012-440x264.png

I calculate that the slope of that line to be 4.4% compounded annually.

But when I calculate the value of guitars, guns, and Leupold scopes, I get 3% compounded.
Guns I can see for 120 years have stayed on that line.

But Copper, the main ingredient in brass, has not been a smooth line.

Here is a pic of the Copper price history.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ry_USD.png/800px-Copper_Price_History_USD.png

The growth in China put huge demands on the Copper supply and the price went up.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. is a major world wide producer.
To look at the price of the stock, ticker symbol FCX, it looks like the price history of Copper.

13 years ago work was pouring into my mail box to help design cell towers for China.
Nowdays, the only calls I get are for US made aircraft part design.
 
Last week I paid $22 for 500 once fired 9mm cases. The shipping charge was about $7. So, for less than $30, I received my product. Now a year ago it would've been about $12+$7.
$30 is not a lot of $$$ and it keeps me in the game. Over the past 2 years I've purchased a lot of brass at "pre-inflation" prices. I feel I have an ample supply to last a long time.
To me, reloading is a hobby and I find it relaxing. Plus it gives one a sense of accomplishment.
 
Brass is slim pickings at my range... People are still shooting, but everyone seems to be picking up thier brass now. I have a ton of .40 and 9mm and am looking to trade with someone for .45 small or large primers. Let me know if anyone is interested
 
I don't think the price of brass has gone up. Starline's prices have held steady since the madness started, just backordered on everything. The price of brass could be going up. Kennecott's Bingham Canyon copper mine just outside of Salt Lake City supplies a quarter of the U.S.'s copper. They suffered a landslide recently that has shut mine production down for the foreseeable future. That could impact the price of everything that contains copper. Don't panic when the President talks gun control. He couldn't get the Senate to pass anything, let alone the House. And his proposals aren't anything that every Republican President of the last 30 years supports too, not that they're good ideas, just sayin'. Both Bushes and Reagan were for AWBs too.
 
There is a difference between the prices of Star-line brass and once-fired brass. Star-line prices are going to be based more on copper prices. Once fired is going to be more on supply and demand.
 
I just can not afford the price of new brass as it is to much for my budget . That is why most of us use once fired brass. You can usually get it at a good price compared to what it cost for new . as a retiree that's about all I can purchase these days.
 
Supply and demand at work. A year ago I couldn't give 9mm brass away. This weekend I probably had 20 people asking if I had any 9 brass. Figure it out.
 
A week or two after the brass shortage began, I was able to get 4,000 straight-walled cases (once fired) for around $120 at an auction site.

This came from a training range where no one picks up their brass. I would have thought the sellers would have assessed the situation and would have sold their inventory in smaller batches, which probably would have sold at a higher - per case auction price.

This stuff was cleaned and polished too.

Yeh, supply and demand is important in once fired cases, but sometimes buyers will not bid in an auction on huge volumes and this can result in a deal for the buyers.
 
cuffkey53 said:
I was wondering if there is a shortage of brass or is the current president the reason for the price increase in brass. It has just about doubled in price for once fired ammo . Let me know what you think or is this the way its going to stay. I reload so I guess that I will have to Pay for it sadly.
Click to expand...
The current administration is behind the problem. The secret service reports that Obama has filled the garages at the White House with bucket after bucket of once fired brass. I heard he's waiting for the price to go even higher before selling. Word on the street claims he has several mini storage units filled with bricks of .22 ammo. You don't want to know how much 9mm, .223 and primers he has squirreled away.
 
Call your nearest metal salvage yard and ask what they are paying for "yellow" brass. It might surprise you to learn a 5 gallon bucket full is worth about $200 now.
Gold is in the headlines. Brass, Copper and Lead are getting to be worth puting in the vault.

Demand increased:
China
Mil
HLS
Law Enforcement
Domestic manufacture : lamps, door knobs, hinges, faucets, etc, etc,etc
(probably Most from China buying OUR salvaged brass.)
AND...us...shooters/reloaders: ammo manufacturers are all running at max production and expanding trying to meet the demand.
 
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