Starting Local Reloading Supply

[bluetopper]

I'm thinking seriously about starting a local reloading supply business as there are none within quite a distance.
My question is who is a wholesaler of such supplies? I've looked at Powder Valley, Midsouth, Natchez, Wideners, Grafs, etc,.... and it seems their prices plus shipping there would be no profit margin.

 

[PJSprog]

Your best bet would be to go directly to the manufacturers. The more people who handle it between them and you, the more the price goes up. I don't know that they have distributors, but they would be able to tell you for sure.

 

[zb338]

You could try Jerry's he will sell to small dealers
just starting out. Or operating small businesses.
I think the store closest to you would be Kansas.
He has a couple of stores in Pennsylvania. Ask
them for an open account and you will be good
to go.
Zeke

 

[cbnoble]

I actually did this a year ago. There is profit to be made, but it isn't a huge amount. If you want to shoot me an email at chris -at- cnfaoutdoors.com we can talk through some of the things you'll run into and the problems you'll encounter. My biggest advice is to thing long and hard about how your business plan - in particular how you want to position yourself in the marketplace. I started planning the business about 18 months before I even attempted to sell the first item.

It is a fun business and there is a lot of satisfaction that comes from helping someone get started. It's also great to start getting those repeat customers that really provide the business base. But, at least in my case, it is still a business.

Chris

 

[oneounceload]

You need to find jobbers, not retail distributors and you'll need to buy in BULK to get that pricing. 5 figure minimum orders.......

Good luck..........If you want to make a million bucks in the gun business, start with two....

 

[Sol]

It's a good idea I guess.

I don't reload but I have an interest.
When I see somebody buying reloading supplies, it's usually older (50+, sorry don't stone me to death!) guys.

Maybe you could offer classes for a nominal fee to try to get a different demograph into reloading.
You could do that at a relatively low cost too.

 

[gahunter12]

That's a great idea! I have been thinking about doing the same. I have a few stores that sell powder/primers, but not a huge selection of bullets, and equipment. I would love to setup a reliading store out in my reloading shop, and offer a reloading class. I have held a dozen or so classes for individuals, and small groups in the past. I think it would be a good deal to teach a new loader, and be able to set them up with equipment at a discount for taking my class. Just a thought I have.

 

[Reloadron]

During the early and mid 90s my wife and I owned a small gun shop here in NE Ohio. You don't make any money trying to compete with Walmart selling Mossberg 500 shotguns new. I really got heavy into selling reloading supplies and teaching reloading. That was our niche along with used guns and anything Walmart or Dicks didn't sell.

My powder came out of the old Buckeye Sports in the Mansfield, Ohio area and I would pickup. Freight and HAZMAT suck. I also had a deal going with George Kelbly for the VihtaVuori powder line. Kebly is the Kebly of Kebly's Range and rifles (Bench Rest Community). Kaltron Pettibone was the US importer and George got the stuff direct from them. I would also just pickup at the range and typical powder orders were around $10K so I got good prices and was one of very few who had that powder. You need to look at every way to save a buck and promote the stuff. The community needs to know you exist. Best wishes if you go for it and remember you really need to buy big to get low wholesale pricing on powder and all reloading components and supplies. Teaching hand loading is a good promotion.

Ron

 

[Catpop]

Careful Sol, I just may resemble that age remark!
Catpop

 

[PJSprog]

Graf's Reloading in St. Charles, MO has that business model. They are a reloading supplies store that also sells guns and ammo. They also have regular classes to teach basic reloading. It certainly can be done, as there are obviously places already doing it. If you have a reasonably decent potential customer base, you can succeed. As mentioned above, though, it will require a substantial investment to get started.

 

[joem1945]

I buy much of my supplies from Graf's. They seem to have the best selection. For cast bullets I buy from Mo bullet mostly. I also buy from Sierra at their factory outlet.

 

[kennedy]

find a supplier that will ship by truck to avoid the hazemat fees, thats what my local gun shop does, down side is you need big orders to lower the freight cost per unit.

 

[chrisgo]

I have been a dealer for 35 years and I can tell you there is not much profit margin in it if you want to sell it cheap enough to actually move it. The other problem is if you can't get the supplies(powder), you can't very well sell them.
I actually recently heard that Alliant is now wanting to start dealing only with large distributors only and is going to quit handling any small accounts(which are actually quite large in my eye).

 

[SC Shooter]

I love hand loading and reloading, and thus I am a very active consumer of reloading supplies and am always looking at pricing. My local brass supplier acknowledges there is a lot of work for not much margin. He also stated that getting previously fired brass is challenging at best, and it takes time to get ranges to sell to you on a consistent basis. Then you have the issue of sorting and cleaning. In other words even with a sorter, it is pretty labor intensive. As for powder, study your state and local laws before you buy. Projectiles are another issue as the EPA continues to tighten up on the smelters. Study hard, make sure you are well capitalized and hopefully you will succeed. What better way to become an entrapeneur.

 

[mongoose33]

It's a good idea I guess.

I don't reload but I have an interest.
When I see somebody buying reloading supplies, it's usually older (50+, sorry don't stone me to death!) guys.

Maybe you could offer classes for a nominal fee to try to get a different demograph into reloading.
You could do that at a relatively low cost too.

It's funny how true this is--it's generally older people that seem to be reloading.

I think I know why--it's hard for someone young, who maybe is married and has young children, to justify the money it takes to start reloading. If you're going to save significant sums, you have to buy in bulk, and even one 8# keg of powder, 5000 primers, and a couple thousand bullets will set you back in the neighborhood of $500. And that's just for one caliber....

That's not counting the reloading equipment which, if you want to go with a progressive, will run in the area of $1000 to start.

And then there's bullet casting....


I'd say it's the older folks that have more disposable income, and if they're empty-nesters, which they probably are, they have more disposable time.

In that, I suspect, is a lesson for marketing. The idea of doing classes is a good one, but I think you have to somehow connect it to cost-effective reloading equipment.

Something I've tried to do is tell newbie reloaders that they can buy, from me, components at the bulk price. So someone could get, say, 100 primers for $2.75, some FMJ bullets for 9 cents each (9mm), and powder by the pound whereas I buy it in 8# kegs when I can.

I've even thought of having a setup where someone could use my own equipment, but if I were running a business, I suppose there would be liability concerns.

Anyway, some thinking out loud.