I just received my order of 2K .40 S&W 180gr CFP bullets from Missouri Bullet Company. Having purchased cast bullets from S & S Casting previously, I thought a comparison would be in order, so please accept my comments in the constructive frame I intend to offer them:
Shipping
Missouri: +1 for Speed. I ordered my bullets on 12/30 and they arrived this morning (1/2/2010, and a holiday occurred during the shipping period).
S & S: 0 points; a bit slower than Missouri. I ordered 1K 140gr CFP .40 S&W and 1K 180gr CFP same caliber from them on 12/8, they arrived 12/12. No points deducted due to the fact that getting them in 4 days was still pretty quick.
Inside the Box(es)
Missouri: -2 for Arrival Condition. While I understand MBC doesn't have much control over how the USPS treats their boxes once they've left the factory, I think the packaging/protection could use a little improvement. The exterior box looked like it was rolled end-over-end from Missouri to Maine, and one of the internal boxes of bullets had ruptured. There was no additional packing material cushioning the boxes inside the USPS carton, other than a plastic bag. The rupture released a handful of bullets into the surrounding plastic bag, and I could hear them rattling around when I picked the box up at the post office. There was also quite a bit of dust inside a couple of the boxes, which I suspect is dried-out lube that had flaked off (or was rubbed off by the looseness of the bullets inside their 500ct boxes). Some of the bullets have significant gaps in their lube channels. I don't know whether it was the dust or oxidation, but they just weren't as shiny and neat appearing as the S & S bullets.
S & S: +2 for Arrival Condition. They package their bullets in boxes of 500 just as does MBC, but at least for 180gr .40cal the boxes were more appropriately sized for their contents, and additional packing material surrounded the boxes in the USPS flat-rate box. On top of that, heavy foam rubber padding material was inserted into the free space inside each 500ct box to minimize movement of the bullets during shipping. The bullets were bright, shiny, dust-free and uniformly lubed with no gaps in the lube channels.
Selection
Missouri: +1 for a large selection of calibers, although only an adequate selection of bullet types within each caliber. Offers 170gr SWC and 180gr CFP for .40cal S&W. Met my needs, since I was looking for 180gr CFP.
S & S: +1 for additional choices within each caliber (although fewer calibers offered). Offers CFP in 140, 180 and 220 grains, and SWC in 175 grains for .40cal S&W. I'll be going back to S & S for their 140gr CFP bullets.
Price
Missouri: +1 for the Discount and charging only for Shipping (no handling surcharge). With the THR discount, Missouri offers a very attractive price. My shipment of 2K bullets came to a grand total of $134.45. MBC also offers discounts to registered gun clubs.
S & S: -1 for Overall cost. Although their bullets' retail price is within $1.50 of Missouri's for the same quantity, they offer no affinity discount for members of any on-line forum or gun club that I'm aware of. They also assess a handling fee, which is added to the uninsured flat-rate shipping cost. This brought the grand total to $144.55 for the same quantity and type of bullet.
Support
Missouri: +1 for MBC's Technical Details, specifically regarding bullet hardness, available on their web site. I have not yet had the occasion to request additional technical information from them, however, so I feel unqualified to comment on that.
S & S: 0 points. I would've awarded S & S a point for support after my initial inquiry was answered fairly quickly. However, the lack of response on the 2nd inquiry reduces my satisfaction level quite a bit. Finding very little in the way of load data for their 140gr CFP in .40 S&W, I emailed Jim Stinar at S & S to get his recommendations. He responded within 48 hours, suggesting 5gr of WST. A 2nd inquiry requesting the COAL for that bullet and load has gone unanswered for over a week.
Summary
My overall, highly subjective ranking:
+3 for Missouri Bullet Company
+2 for S & S Casting
In the end, though, the most important criteria is how they shoot. I am getting some lead fouling with the S & S bullets; they seem a bit softer than the Missouri Bullets so I'm hopeful that shooting the MBC bullets will reduce the amount of scrubbing I need to do after a shoot.
I'll post an update when I've had a chance to shoot some of the MBC bullets.