And any competition shooter will tell you that dry-fire practice is actually more beneficial than live-fire....so what's the problem?

As for the metal....raw material costs are always at the "head-end" of any manufacturing operation and have a disproportionate effect on the final cost of the item. The scrap price (please note the correct spelling) of any metal is not necessarily reflective of the cost of virgin alloy...you ain't buying a coil of AISI 1110 for the same price as #2 Bundle!