Do we Dare Hope?

Here is my .17 HMR situation. The rifle will be in my sweaty paws next week. Midsouth has Hornady V-Max ammunition for under ten bucks a box, so I’m getting some of that. And I found a good deal on a Burris Fullfield II 4-14x scope, so that’s on the way. If it turns out to be more magnification than I want, I’ll put it on the K31 and move the 3-9x to the .17. Picked up a .17-caliber Boresnake when I ordered the rifle, so I’m all set RE cleaning.

I found a strange thing at Midsouth. They charge $33.00 for 500 9mm LRN Speer bullets. This is the size I use for the .38 Super. How is that possible? Oregon Trail, which is usually cheap, charges $52.75 (including shipping, before 10% Internet discount). Speer bullets are jim-dandy. I’ve shot billions of Blazers. I can’t figure it out. Is the price of lead tanking?

I’m checking. Lead has plummeted in price. Over the last year, it has gone from around $1.75 per pound to a present level of 86¢. Damn, maybe we’re in for some relief. That would sure be nice.

Now copper…hmm, it’s dropping, but nothing like lead. Maybe cast-bullet reloading is getting cheaper, faster than the price of finished ammunition, which includes brass casings, which are mostly copper.

I wonder if the lead drop is reflected in the price of finished lead ammunition, which has no copper jacketing. Doesn’t look like it. Cheaper Than Dirt’s lowest jacketed and non-jacketed .45 ACP prices are about the same.

I can’t find out how hard the Speer bullets are. That’s a problem. Laser-Cast bullets work fine in a .38 Super, but the speed may be too much for Speer’s bullets.

Crap.

Anyway, the information might be useful to some of you.