WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE COST OF SHELLS?
By Don Golembieski
B&P Technical Director
I’m Don Golembieski, the Technical Director for Kaltron-Pettibone (Kaltron) which represents Baschieri & Pellagri (B&P) of Italy. As you might already know, B&P makes the patented Gordon System shotgun shells that provide reduced recoil and consistent shot patterns. I couldn’t be happier representing these incredible shells.
I’m from Arizona, so I’m about as American and as plain a speaker as you can get. I’m a precision machinist, gun smith, firearms and ammunition technical consultant, as well as a competitive shooter, and have been all of my adult life. Combining technology with the shear fun of shooting and it couldn’t get any better. So, from time to time I’ll be posting some insights and what’s happenings blogs for B&P.
Well, let’s get down to it. You know, politics, the courts, and world oil prices have made us all pretty dog-gone sensitive and suspicious. So, when anything goes up in price it’s a conspiracy.
Partner, like you, I’m used to being on the questioning side, not the answer giving side. Now I’ll do my best to tell you why the cost of B&P shells have increased so much since the previous distributor.
Would you have ever believed there would be a world-wide shortage of lead? Aren’t they getting that nasty old lead out of everything? No, it turns out that there is more need for lead for car batteries and other products than ever before. China had always been an exporter of lead, and now they only import. The price of raw lead has increased 40% over the past two years. On top of that, the energy and labor needed to make finished lead shot cost even more than the raw lead.
Then there’s the 50% increase in the cost of plastic. The hull, wad, and our patented Gordon System shock absorber in the base of each shell are all made of plastic resin. You guessed it, plastic is made from oil. All you have to do is watch the nightly news and the meter on the local gas pump to see which way that one is going.
If this all wasn’t bad enough, the American Dollar has lost 40% of its value compared to the Euro. Inflation, deflation, manufacturing jobs, whatever, we’ve got to pay 40% more for European products. That’s all that matters.
On the other hand, someone might say why didn’t some of the other brands of shells go up in cost as much as B&P? The bad news for B&P is that their competitors are so big that they’ve stock piled a mountain of shells made when materials cost less. The good news for B&P is, by being smaller they can put a lot more quality checks into every batch of shells, and coupled with the patented Gordon System, they are the most consistent patterning shells in the world.
Like I said, I’ve been a sponsored shooter for most of my life and its consistency, consistency, consistency. I’ve found shooting cheaper, lower quality ammunition costs more in the long run. Was it your lead or the ammunition that missed that shot? From the novice to the veteran shooter you’ll spend a lot more time, ammunition, and money with cheaper shells. Partner, when the next shot really counts, don’t count on the poor pattern of a cheap shell.
Adios, and good shooting.
