I've been looking into trying to source foundry certified pre-mixed bullet alloy - typically called "hardball" - 92% lead, 2% tin, 6% antimony - which produces a BHN of 16. It is the industry standard for nearly all commercial bullet companies. But the trade war with China (even before the current tariff chaos) has pretty much cut off all antimony from there. Trade sanctions with Russia have eliminated another key source. So getting Hardball alloy is expensive these days.
It doesn't help that the last primary lead refinery (the processing of lead directly from ore) closed in 2013 due to oppressive EPA throttling. And very few automotive battery recyclers exist here anymore either for the same reason. The vast majority of industrial lead supply is now imported from countries still willing to host those types of facilities, such as Mexico, India and China. (Although now China is off the list, reducing options further.)
The bullet industry gets its lead from 'secondary' lead refineries (which the EPA has not yet run out of business), which are defined as refineries/foundries which are not processing raw galena ore or recycling lead acid batteries. There are a host of nasty toxins aside from the lead itself, such as arsenic, that have given the recyclers a notorious reputation. As a result, these secondary refineries/foundries are typically along the coasts, nearby where the imported recycled lead arrives in port. Lewiston, Idaho is the furthest inland port in the country where barges can travel up the Columbia River, which is in large part why CCI, Speer, Freedom Munitions, Xtreme Bullets and others are located there.
Here in AZ, we have a unique situation. The copper mining industry produces other ores and minerals in smaller amounts as byproducts of pursuing the copper. American copper costs more to produce than elsewhere in the world, such as Argentina, and in recent history is not very competitive on the world market, and this is why Arizona's copper industry was in decline for decades until recently. Only because the worldwide demand for copper has grown so much has the Arizona copper mining industry been in recovery in the last 15 years. But the margins are still rather thin, so any extra $ that can be squeezed out of the material mined is also processed if it can be. Among these is lead, tin and even a small amount of antimony.
SEAFAB in Casa Grande in Arizona's secondary lead refinery and foundry, and our state's source for industrial lead supply.
In recent weeks I've been contacting every source for "hardball" bullet alloy all over the country, trying to find who has the best price. Most of them only want to deal with businesses, requiring minimum orders of a ton or several tons. Some outfits, like ROTOMETALS in Commiefornia, will sell you nearly amount of lead or tin or antimony, no matter how small. But they want ridiculous prices. $5 per pound, currently. By comparison, MISSOURI BULLET COMPANY will sell you some of their supply they get from MAYCO in Illinois, for $3.37 per pound. And shipping is on top of those prices.
However, SEAFAB is amazingly affordable at the moment. As of a week ago, their price for Hardball was $1.96 lb. if bought by the ton, and $2.16 if less than a ton. For pure lead, the price is $1.75 lb. if bought by the ton, and $1.85 lb. if less than a ton. But SEAFAB does
prefer orders no less than 1000 lbs., but have been known to sell less than that. The down side, however, is that those prices are for the 62lb. "pigs" that measure about 20 inches long by 4 inches wide, and are a motherhumper to heave about. SEAFAB does offer an option of providing their product in a far easier to manage 25 lb. "plumber's caulking" bar, which is five interconnected 5lb. ingots which can be easily broken apart. (Much easier for inserting into casting pots.) But they demand an extra $0.50 cents per pound on the price for that, and the minimum order is a 1-ton pallet. But,...that could be a heck of a deal for a group buy if enough shooters were interested.
Now granted, it has been cheaper in the past to just go hunt for wheel weights and scrap lead. But that's getting harder to find, and people are demanding more. Even on Facebook Marketplace, guys are demanding $2 a pound just for the scrap stuff.
Anyway,...that's my info dump on what I've been able to discover.