Lead has gone way up. So has copper.
The sign in fron of PD (phelps dodge) copper mine has almost doubled its numbers in the past few months. (we do alot of work for them so I see it alot)
Last month I could buy a bag of #7 shot for about $16. Now im lucky to find one for under $30.
Believe it or not, the price of 12ga is really down. I can now buy a case of loaded no.8 for 10 bucks less than it would cost me to load it all. Last season it got down as much as $2.99 a box. Now, about $3.35 seems to be the lowest I can find. But thats still way cheaper than I could load it.
Andy, are you set up for .223? Or are you just doiing pistols. I reload .223, .308, '06 and .30-30 religiously. Once you get set up and going its pretty fast and easy. I think I may have an extra set of .223 dies and a lube pad if you want for cheap. Projectiles are cheap too. Ebay has great huge lots of SS109 APs, Tracers, noslers, and LC bullets. Ive got good load data, and high twist rate loads too. Plus, the brass is practially free. "Range scrounging" I call it.