Price of aluminum

[TheSheev]

I'm not sure if this has been answered but my 5 minute google search returned nothing haha.

 So as I'm rereading mistborn era 2 one thing that bothered me was the aluminum-lined hats. Why are tiny bullets so expensive, but somehow common people have aluminum lined hats (I say common because I believe at the start of book 2 I believe there was a group with them)? 

[NameIess]

29 minutes ago, TheSheev said:

I'm not sure if this has been answered but my 5 minute google search returned nothing haha.

 So as I'm rereading mistborn era 2 one thing that bothered me was the aluminum-lined hats. Why are tiny bullets so expensive, but somehow common people have aluminum lined hats (I say common because I believe at the start of book 2 I believe there was a group with them)? 

I think in book 2 that was a group of high-ranking underworld leaders. So not common people.

[#1 Taln Fan]

Or senators, who are fairly wealthy, and for whom it’s worth the great expense. Also bullets are one time use, whereas a hat will be useful for a long time, so more people are likely to buy them.

[+Oltux72]

6 hours ago, TheSheev said:

 So as I'm rereading mistborn era 2 one thing that bothered me was the aluminum-lined hats. Why are tiny bullets so expensive, but somehow common people have aluminum lined hats (I say common because I believe at the start of book 2 I believe there was a group with them)? 

Because the bullets are not pure aluminium, most likely. Alloy of Law has a scene with Waxillium doing chemistry and finding "eka-boron" in the metal. That most likely refers to scandium. It is hideously expensive even today, but it can be used in related applications.

Scandium used in guns

Now to answer this competently you need in gunsmith. The patent covers use of scandium/aluminium alloys in structural components.