New 9mm Bullet

3500 would be the number, right at 64 lbs.

 

data.hodgdon.com has data on the 115 gr LRN which is what I'll be using for these.

 

I see that 231 is in there. Is that the universal powder, or what?

 

So if it is sold by the K, how are we going to order a full 3500 box???

Justin

ETA: Where is the "order RIGHT NOW!" button? hehe

 

..order 3.5k of them?

 

Man, I just ordered 1K of the 125gr LRNs. Next batch I'm probably going to get some 115gr. too. Hodgdon has the 115 LRN data with HP38/WW231, which is what I use

 

Hey Brad,

Are the 115's out yet? Also, any chance of getting the 45/200 IDP #4 with a lower Brinell around 12-15?

Thanks

 

I'll be putting in my order Tuesday also.


ST

 

I doubt the Small Balls will decrease in popularity with the introduciton of the 115's. They are currently my faithfull USPSA bullet, and I suspect that I'm not alone. My story may change a bit once I get a load for the Missouri 147 fp's smoothed out

 

But we have those already! Cowboy #4, 12 BHN, same price.

 

Just make sure they are plenty hard enough, I've had trouble with leading in 115 gr 9mm hard casts, not so much with 124 gr bullets. But I use 147 gr running 900-950 fps now. Your's work great!

The idea sounds good, but the H&G68 was designed to hit the feed path in a 1911 like ball ammo does when loaded OAL 1.25" and works great in 1911s but not so great in other .45 autoloaders. I've a fair number that are fine with any JHP I try but choke on the H&G68.

--wally.

 

Wally, they're plenty hard, no worries.

I had the same problem with the 9mm SWC's back in the 80's. I don't know where Larry Clay of Lane Bullets got his SWC moulds, as Magma Engineering doesn't make them, but they were fine little semi-wadcutters. But they wouldn't feed reliably in my 1911 and I gave up on them, opting instead for the 147 grain RNFP design which we now make as the SubSonic bullet. That little dude will feed in anything.

 

Quote:
Always thought a "little H&G68" for 9mm would be great

The idea sounds good, but the H&G68 was designed to hit the feed path in a 1911 like ball ammo does when loaded OAL 1.25" and works great in 1911s but not so great in other .45 autoloaders. I've a fair number that are fine with any JHP I try but choke on the H&G68.

--wally.

I can't say I get even remotely the same results when I use #68 commercial clones in my .45 Auto's (SIG P220 and GI spec 1911). Both pistols feed, fire, eject perfectly, and I seat them to 1.20" +/- depending on case length to where I get just a a tiny amount of the shank above the case mouth.

Same perfect functioning using my Lee 200 grain SWC TL's I cast myself, and seat @ 1.185". Only problem I have ever had was when taper crimping was a bit light due to case variance, and a tiny "bite" was taken out of the case mouth and bullet chambering in the P220. As for LSWC's in 9mm, my Beretta M9 feeds any bullet style I have tried perfectly, and that includes 158 grain LSWC's and LSWC HP's... Lot of other folks report great accuracy and good feeding from the little Lee 358-105-SWC. As we all know, all guns are different, and it pays to experiment.

 

Brad,
I just want to say that this thread is exemplary of how you have suceeded. I didn't want to bump an earlier thread but most people hear are probably familiar with someone not-so-slyly marketing their wares and claiming their bullets were optimized by hardness. Someone could easily copy your business plan, and perhaps match your prices (for a short time), but I can't imagine anyone meeting your level of customer service or having your work ethic. Keep it up.

Oh, and now that you will have these, I may have to pick up my first 9mm. I've always wanted a 9mm HP and these bullets should work well.

 

....

 

Look for another 1k order come tomorrow

 

Well, I'm heading back into the office in the house now with some samples to photograph and put up on the website. They'll get there unless Jo Ann whacks me with a 2x4 for making her work this late after all the bagging/tagging/shipping she had to do today (Monday's are huge shipping days.)

With luck, they'll be available in 45 minutes.

 

Re: 147gr Subsonic:

Even CZ75/85s? Curious, b/c I have to shorten the OAL of the 125s go get 'em to run in my 85.

Q

 

Are there extra discounts for very large orders on your bullets at missouri bullet company?

 

We do offer volume discounts. First one beyond 5% comes in at 25k bullets, mix and match. Top discount (trade secret alert!!) is 20% at 100k bullets. Not huge discounts, but we're very competitive to start with. This is primarily due to the fact that I underpay the help.

Brad

 

ROLF.. Lemme guess... Nieces and nephews? hehe

Justin

 

Well, Jo Ann's jammed up on another project -

So I took a crude cellphone photo from my Android. This is the sizer output pan from the first batch I sized tonight (about 5k bullets.)

We've cast up maybe 15k so far, another 8 will be cast tonight and we will size all of them tomorrow. They will be on the website by no later than Tuesday morning.

Just for grins, while taking the photo of the Parabellums, I decided to photograph a few views of the shop and will post them in a main thread in this forum shortly.

 

No, they're all too smart to work for me

 

Look at that big bowl of happiness....

Justin

 

Husker_Fan, let me thank you for your kind thoughts.

You know, anybody is welcome to my business model, which is not a secret. I like to think that we at MBC did actually pioneer the hardness optimization model. Maybe not, but I will say that I have noticed that since our product has caught the attention of so many wonderful customers, many other casting companies seem to be specifying their hardness numbers. Maybe I'm imagining that, but I don't think so.

I have always been an "open-source" person, thinking that secrecy is bad for everyone. I'm happy to share my thoughts on the business and how I tend to run things. We all work hard here and we're trying to work smarter every day and we must never forget that every customer is our boss. When we make a mistake, we will move heaven and earth to acknowledge and attempt to fix it. That is all that we can do and if that isn't good enough for folks, then I can at least say that I tried. An example would be from last year when Josh, our day sizer guy, was sizing .38 Match and .357's on two sizers. Well, one of those sizers had run the 9mm SmallBall the previous day and Josh forgot to change the die in that one. So, we wound up with 118,000 .38's and .357's, half of which were sized to .356 instead of .357. We didn't realize this until 5 days after the fact when one of our customers called and alerted us. I made the decision that we would replace every .38 and .357 that we had shipped since the day the sizing error was made and we made and shipped out 118,000 replacements to over 75 customers. That took 3 days and there wasn't time to alert people in advance, as we were working 18 hour days to get this done. We included a note explaining the situation with every replacement carton and the whole thing wound up costing us $6200.00, as we had no way of knowing which of the 50% of our customers had gotten the undersized bullets. I guess we surprised some folks when their new bullets showed up.

So that's how we deal with mistakes, except for the times when I lose it with those very very few customers who insist on being idiots.

But anyone is welcome to our business plan, the basics of which include:
1.) Self-finance the hardware and building infrastructure
2.) Keep your day job and work for free until you're showing a profit, for as long as it takes
3.) Buy lead in advantageous quantities (we're sitting on almost 60 tons right now)
4.) Underpay your help
5.) Reward your customers' decision to purchase your product by busting your butt to make them happy
6.) Buy all the insurance you need to handle worst-case scenarios
7.) Live and work on the same property
8.) Do that in a rural, unzoned county
9.) Get your wife to do the company website and do it using open-source software (Linux or Solaris)
10.) Buy enough equipment that you can maximize production per unit of time rather than pay for manpower (remember John Henry?)
11.) Maintain stores of every imaginable spare part, controller, counter, connectors, and motors
12.) Maintain a strong supply of Sam Adams Black Lager to reward yourself after a long day
13.) Oh yeah - that hardness-optimized thing. Very important!

So, that's my secret business model.

Thank you again, Husker_Fan, for your thoughts.

Brad

ps - Jo Ann wanted me to fire Josh. I explained that I had too much invested in him to fire him. And now he's our best employee. Not bad for a 20 year old kid, I think.