I STOPPED buying BERGER stuff

[Bill K]

Originally Posted by Hog Patrol

I get a chuckle at these threads when I think of the African country Zimbabwe where there are no reloading components available and one round for a common hunting rifle is $20.00, U.S. Better make each one count!

Right on Hog.. Even if I might be one that uses a spoon to stir sometimes. We are sure way better off, for now anyway, than so many hunter/shooters in other countries. Bill K

[ben lurkin]

This is what is called "an opportunity" Call Berger and buy their dies or have some made. Start making and selling these bullets yourself! Apparently there's a niche for them.

[DittoHead]

Some years back I read about an outfit that sold dies to make 22-caliber varmint bullets using 22 rimfire cases for jackets. The dies could be used in regular bench mounted presses.

I imagine the same thing could be done to make 17- and 20-caliber bullets if the vendor is willing to make the dies. This gets around the problem of finding jackets.

Anybody remember who made those dies? I think the article was written by John Barsness for Handloader or American Rifleman.

[Hog Patrol]

I know we all like our pet rifles, loads and bullets but I would surmise 99.9% of shooters of 50 and 55 grain bullets are using them in .22 caliber rifles. To satisfy the one tenth of one percent that use them in .20 caliber guns won't fly with too many financial departments. Think about who else was making 20s in that weight, nobody.
On the other hand, someone suggested making them as customs and selling them. That begs the question, what's the price point and will enough sell to make the investment in dies, raw material, overhead, manufacturing time and shipping worth it? I wouldn't do it. I figure I'd be making more money part time at Burger King.

In related news, Cooper is discontinuing the revered Model 38. Time for a boycott!

[260Ackley]

I would assume it would be tough to make a profit above burger king wage unless selling them in very large quantities. The set up would be costly as well. Like anything how much is worth to you to have that product personally. I've bought tooling to make something I could have purchased cheaply because i wanted to be able to make it myself and not have to worry that a bean counter kicked it from production. If you have the time I think the best a private person can do is make the product for themselves and enough to cover your tooling cost. I encourage someone here to make them. Unless you go big time it may be hard to justify the time spent away from family to try and profit. Just a thought

[Hal]

[quote=DittoHead;279241]Some years back I read about an outfit that sold dies to make 22-caliber varmint bullets using 22 rimfire cases for jackets. The dies could be used in regular bench mounted presses.

I imagine the same thing could be done to make 17- and 20-caliber bullets if the vendor is willing to make the dies. This gets around the problem of finding jackets.

Anybody remember who made those dies? I think the article was written by John Barsness for Handloader or American Rifleman.[/QUOTE

RCBS stands for Rock Chuck Bullet Swage .
That is how RCBS got their start , making bullet staging dies, using .22 rim fire brass as jackets.
From what I read .22 rimfire jackets were limited to around 3200 fps when making .22 bullets.
But one guy used rimfire jackets to make .17 bullets and could get higher velocities out of them.

H

[Bayou City Boy]

Originally Posted by 260Ackley

I would assume it would be tough to make a profit above burger king wage unless selling them in very large quantities. The set up would be costly as well. Like anything how much is worth to you to have that product personally. I've bought tooling to make something I could have purchased cheaply because i wanted to be able to make it myself and not have to worry that a bean counter kicked it from production. If you have the time I think the best a private person can do is make the product for themselves and enough to cover your tooling cost. I encourage someone here to make them. Unless you go big time it may be hard to justify the time spent away from family to try and profit. Just a thought

And its a very good thought.

Years ago I bought my own swaging equipment to keep me stocked in 20 caliber bullets when they were few and far between on shelves.

Swaging is a meticulous and time consuming thing to ensure that you are making the next bullet the same as the last one which is the key to making accurate bullets. Making bullets for the general public with a profit in mind would involve a fairly pricey set-up for even minimal automation that goes far beyond simply a set of dies. And with today's regulatory issues that go along with selling bullets, the FFL needed as well as the accounting that would be required to keep track of the excise taxes for a bullet business would be additional costs beyond the equipment needed.

I'll take my economic chances at Arby's. I hear they pay a bit more/hour. But maybe that's just a rumor....?

-BCB

[JSH]

Using 22RF for a jacket, I would bet the majority here would have nothing good to say after the initial “taste test” and pay the maker just a break even price to try them.

Accuracy is a tough game.

“Build it and they will come” won’t cut it.

Jeff

[rickiesrevenge]

Originally Posted by Hog Patrol

I know we all like our pet rifles, loads and bullets but I would surmise 99.9% of shooters of 50 and 55 grain bullets are using them in .22 caliber rifles. To satisfy the one tenth of one percent that use them in .20 caliber guns won't fly with too many financial departments. Think about who else was making 20s in that weight, nobody.
On the other hand, someone suggested making them as customs and selling them. That begs the question, what's the price point and will enough sell to make the investment in dies, raw material, overhead, manufacturing time and shipping worth it? I wouldn't do it. I figure I'd be making more money part time at Burger King.

In related news, Cooper is discontinuing the revered Model 38. Time for a boycott!

Don't plan on buying any Coopers either. They don't make anything that I'm interested in. Neither does Berger anymore. Once again you missed the point of this thread. To me its about how they handled it. Had they announced it and let people buy what they needed/wanted there would be a completely different tone here.

[Bayou City Boy]

Originally Posted by JSH

Using 22RF for a jacket, I would bet the majority here would have nothing good to say after the initial “taste test” and pay the maker just a break even price to try them.

Accuracy is a tough game.

“Build it and they will come” won’t cut it.

Jeff

So you're saying that you don't think that they will work as well as a precision drawn bullet jacket created specifically for bullet making?

Surely you jest....??

-BCB