[LT] Price of Lead

[Icelander]

Low-Tech gives the price of lead ammunition three times, once for lead bullets for slings, once for lead bullets for mechanical artillery and once for lead shot for cannon or firearms.

The problem is that each of these prices is different.

For slings, lead bullets cost $0.1 for a 0.05 lbs. bullet. That means that the price of lead is slightly less than $2/lb, because there must be some labour cost involved in casting the bullets.

For mechanical artillery, lead bullets cost $1.6/lb. Not totally inconsistent with the above. Could even work.

However, for cannon and firearms, lead bullets cost $20/lb. That is dramatically higher than a bullet meant to be used in a ballista or sling. Granted, there is less tolerance for error in shape, but that can be solved with a simple mold.

Is the added labour cost so very high? But casting bullets is not labour intensive and it does not require much specialised knowledge. It is difficult to imagine that it would cost nearly ten times the material costs merely to cast the bullets.

Also, the idea that iron projectiles would cost as much as lead ones is odd. Lead was historically less expensive than iron and it was certainly much easier to work. It doesn't make sense that a cast iron round shot would cost as much as a lead one.

My tentative idea of historical pricing is that lead would cost slightly more per pound than stone, but working it would be easier than with stone. Lead should definitely cost less to work than iron.