Bullet Manufacturing

Orcon · Nov 11, 2020

I've grown weary of the absurdities of corporate life managed top down by hand-wringing HR departments. Sick of being responsible but not having the ability to make the necessary changes to correct operational deficiencies... I want to opt out. I want to start manufacturing bullets. I'm waiting on quotes from a number of press manufacturers to see what sort of capitol I'm going to have to leverage to get this thing up and running. I figure it'd be best to start simple with cup and core construction and die changes for 224 and 9mm bullets to cut my teeth on. I'm not sure when this will come to fruition but I've made up my mind.

I guess the big questions would be niche market or mainstream? My vision is to start off with producing consistent, high quality projectiles in common calibers that high volume shooters want at a good value. Anyway, what do you guys like to see in a bullet?

Offfhand · Nov 11, 2020

Concentrate only on making high quality bullet jackets and you will find a ready and eager market.

AJC1 · Nov 11, 2020

I dont know if you have done the market research to know if this a viable option or not. If Biden kills internet sales is your goose cooked. Economic and political things in play right now. All the best

.455_Hunter · Nov 11, 2020

I would be hesitant to invest anything in starting a firearms related business right now. Wait a few months and see how things settle out.

Dudedog · Nov 11, 2020

Good price, good quality.

Orcon · Nov 11, 2020

Thanks, I'm not too worried about Biden. My hair is not on fire and my shirt is on. Let's just leave the political pearl clutching aside for the moment and focus on the topic.

Ohen Cepel · Nov 11, 2020

Look at what 5.56 and 9mm bullets were selling for a year ago to determine if you can make money at that price. I think those 2 would be low on my list of things to make as the big boys are hard to beat. Also, there may well be surplus ammo in that space to undercut you. That won't happen with something like 41mag or 32.

troy fairweather · Nov 11, 2020

Consistency is key

Orcon · Nov 11, 2020

Ohen Cepel said:
Look at what 5.56 and 9mm bullets were selling for a year ago to determine if you can make money at that price. I think those 2 would be low on my list of things to make as the big boys are hard to beat. Also, there may well be surplus ammo in that space to undercut you. That won't happen with something like 41mag or 32.

All good points... 8mm anybody?

entropy · Nov 11, 2020

Joyce Hornady started by making .224 bullets using .22 LR cases as jackets and swaging lead cores into them............

troy fairweather · Nov 11, 2020

I'd like to volunteer to t&e.

8mm would be nice,

Dudedog · Nov 11, 2020

I would think 9mm and .223 would be a good place to start. Mainstream calibers.
That of course is the mainstream vs niche question.
I would call mainstream 9mm, .40, .45 (maybe .357) and .223
Not to say things like .44 or .30 are truly "niche" calibers but I would guess the biggest demand will be 9mm and .223

BigBlue 94 · Nov 11, 2020

A cnc, auto feeding lathe churning out copper bullets would be how i would start. I would think it would be cheaper than a press for cup and core bullets.

Mazak would be my brand of choice. The small Mazak at my machinist school could churn out threaded studs in 13 seconds. Thats a lot of bullets.

Since you are a startup, with relatively low capitol, i dont think the 'economy' bullet sector would make you any money. Hence my reasoning against the cup and core style.

Plus, you could turn out whatever bullet you wanted and not have expensive dies to change out.

9mm, .45, .223, and .308 would be what I would first focus on.

forty_caliber · Nov 11, 2020

Interesting thread. Before I started a foundry to make copper jackets I would start with just casting lead, powder coating, and swagging. Would be a good way to get your feet wet with much less capital up front. There are lots of small businesses doing this and it seems they can't keep up with demand. Plenty of room in that market.

Add the copper later.

.40

Orcon · Nov 11, 2020

The big manufacturers have a huge advantage when it comes to margin and market saturation but they are also less able to adapt quickly to changes in demand due to their business models. I could be completely wrong but I would posit that a lean and nimble small scale operation could carve out a good following of loyal customers if a guy was smart, honest, had a good product, and treated his customers well.

reddog81 · Nov 11, 2020

Setting up a business trying to sell niche bullets will be a struggle. I'd focus on the stuff you know will sell and expand out from there once you have a name.

You can go onto MidwayUSA's website and buy 16 different 8mm bullets right now and 3 different 9mm bullets are available. Do you know why? It's because people buy the 9mm bullets and most of the options are sold out. If you had 10,000 8mm bullets to sell right now, no one would care. If you had 10,000 9mm bullets to sell at a reasonable price they'd be gone in minutes.

Orcon · Nov 11, 2020

BigBlue 94 said:
A cnc, auto feeding lathe churning out copper bullets would be how i would start. I would think it would be cheaper than a press for cup and core bullets.

Mazak would be my brand of choice. The small Mazak at my machinist school could churn out threaded studs in 13 seconds. Thats a lot of bullets.

Since you are a startup, with relatively low capitol, i dont think the 'economy' bullet sector would make you any money. Hence my reasoning against the cup and core style.

Plus, you could turn out whatever bullet you wanted and not have expensive dies to change out.

9mm, .45, .223, and .308 would be what I would first focus on.

I thought about this but not many people shoot copper compared to traditional and I don't know of any volume shooters that use monos for that purpose. Maybe some day I'd go that route. Based on some of the numbers I've got so far I'm fully expecting start up investment to exceed 1.5 million.

entropy · Nov 11, 2020

SWMBO does not want to move to Montana, so I will have to offer my services for T&E from afar.

edwardware · Nov 11, 2020

I find RMR and Gallant Bullets to be fascinating little businesses, and I'm a happy customer of both. Razor thin margins though. . .

BigBlue 94 · Nov 11, 2020

Orcon said:
I thought about this but not many people shoot copper compared to traditional and I don't know of any volume shooters that use monos for that purpose. Maybe some day I'd go that route. Based on some of the numbers I've got so far I'm fully expecting start up investment to exceed 1.5 million.

I fully agree, and was basing my thoughts off an investment of one tenth of what you have now specified. With that kind of investment, I think you will be in good shape.

The monolithic projectiles are widely bought but seldom used for just plinking. Are you thinking of competing with the likes of MidwayUSA's dogtown bullets?

Rule3 · Nov 11, 2020

You plan to make a living on this venture or just as a hobby. side job??

Sounds like it would be fun but no disrespect it will not be easy. Look at what established
small" companies" are going through, RMR MBC?? As mentioned earlier a niche market would be just that, not enough sales to generate paying for the initial startup.
JMHO, Good Luck

NWcityguy2 · Nov 11, 2020

Is there any realistic way you could compete on price with bulk bullet, or compete on consistancy with premium bullets?

If it were me, and it's not, I would look to get into the market with the least start up cost. And that would almost certainly be cast pistol bullets coated in Hi-Tek.

WestKentucky · Nov 11, 2020

I’m going ask a favor of anybody considering jumping into bullet making... 100-110 gr .32 wadcutter please! The options That used to exist died with worn out molds.

Being realistic, you need to find a niche to focus on and grow from there. If it’s PRS then make a 6.5 bullet that is awesome and build from there. General blasting bullets are too cheap to compete with in a startup, but truthfully good bullets are rare and serious competitors will pay up. Other niche markets will also do similar, just find one that interests you and play the game with your own product.

Random 8 · Nov 11, 2020

I would use a 2 pronged approach. Carry a bread and butter lineup of 55 .224, 75 .224 OTM, 150 .308 FMJBT, 9mm 124 RN, .357 158 SWCHP. The latter could be cast/swaged and plated or coated. After that, I would focus on premium jacketed handgun and rifle bullets for match and hunting applications. Perhaps some niche offerings. A quality 6.5 mm FMj mimicking the Swedish M40 projectile and the. 30 cal 173 match and/or 174 Swiss GP11 projectiles would be unique offerings to get your foot in the door.

Ohen Cepel · Nov 11, 2020

WestKentucky said:
I’m going ask a favor of anybody considering jumping into bullet making... 100-110 gr .32 wadcutter please! The options That used to exist died with worn out molds..

This is a solid point! Plus, load data is out there for the bullets if you put them out.

All copper doesn't get shot a lot but is required to hunt in Kali and it may be that way in more and more states with time. Look at the calibers with no copper options currently.

Bullet Manufacturing

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