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Thread: Brass

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
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    Brass

    We have went through the best years of shooting sports about last 50yrs. There was a time when many cartridges were not availed unless you could find original stash. I was expensive proposition to have form dies made, average guy couldn’t afford it.
    Then due to economy and advances in technology companies started to load many of the old classics and other companies made basic brass for forming obsolete cartridges.
    Basically if there is a market somebody will cater to it, if profit can be made.
    Now we are entering another stage. Because of political issues there is a panic. The Ammo companies are running full blast. They can sell all the popular Para Military and SD ammo they can produce. They aren’t going to shut down and retool to run brass that has a limited market. The major companies had already dropped classics or made short runs. The computer rules. When it says not enough is sold to hit the profit goal it’s dropped from production. This has always been so to a point, but the warehousing of product is thing of the past. Straight from factory to store is how things are operated now.
    The point of the story is that when we come out of this panic the ammo companies will further inventory sales. A lot of cartridges will be dropped. If they are availed at all it will be through specialty companies.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Scrounge's Avatar
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    You're probably right. I've been doing what they call Prepping these days, since I was 10 years old. For much of that time, I've been interested in learning how to make the stuff I think necessary for life. Past 6+ years, I've been taking a precision manual machining class. Past dozen years I've been collecting benchtop/desktop machine tools. Been reading and collecting info on how to do stuff, and trying to practice it, for all of that time. It's been a little easier to collect info in the past, oh, 20 years? Computers and the Internet have both helped and hindered that. Learning to make bullets & boolits, reforming brass, and perhaps someday making it from scratch, likewise primers and propellants. I am going to run out of time before I learn everything I want to learn, but I'm having fun doing it. And sometimes it comes in handy.

    Bill

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master

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    The cnc machines have made the custom / specialty dies a much cheaper operation. Its much easier to run the case thru a cmm put the drawing in a cad program and write the program. CNC lathe gets the program and a few rough drills and the dies are lathe bored from pre hardened stock. Probably only a coupe hours start to finish. Redding wilson warner and some others have offered this service for years and it was always expensive

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    Central NH
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    Bill, my thinking is really in line with your post. I was not brought up around firearms. True, my dad has a Browning 22 target pistol that I shot when I was 10-12 but other than once or twice he really didn't take time out for his children. Other than that we lived in a suburban area with no real avenue for additional exposure. Fast forward to my late 20's and the opportunity arose and my interest was re-kindled. I appreciate all sorts of firearms and shooting disciplines however view them as tools more than collectibles so I find little use for owning 29 different flavors of the Smith K-frame (however I appreciate that others might enjoy doing so). Naturally the interests widen out to include handloading and casting and then sure enough - machining. I've spent the hobby budget normally reserved for firearms/handloading/casting on machine tools over the last decade and am having the time of my life "creating". Like you: "I am going to run out of time before I learn everything I want to learn, but I'm having fun doing it."

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check