@THEIS I have been following this project on and off. First off, I love the transparency and honesty in the design process! As someone who is neither an engineer (or any type of math guy), but has always been amazed at people that can make metal do what they want, this thread has rocked me back back on my heels many more times than once.
But I have some questions that I couldn't find answers to. I even used the search function limited to just this thread.
The first one may be taboo.
- Funding: where on earth do you get your money to not take preorders, yet spend what seems to be millions? of dollars on the lead-up to your first sale? I know you're big on transparency, but maybe this is asking too much?
- Background: you are obviously an extremely experienced, organized, and smart (not simply in IQ) fellow. Where did you come from, both in country of birth and just general experience? I read you became a US citizen via the US Navy. Pretend I am from your favorite newspaper lolol.
- Tradeoffs from high pressure rounds: now, I'm a dumbass. I shoot prairie dogs. I do not reload. I have kids and this is a hobby, not a lifestyle (maybe my wife would disagree?). In my retarded little area of shooting, I don't want recoil. I want to see PDs explode through the scope with my tiny .204. I realize this is perhaps strange, and there are interesting philosophical implications here. Leaving that aside, I also know I am not your target audience at the dinky ranges I work at (1-500 yds). But, with PRS shooters, they want to see bullet trace, from what I gather. You can see where I'm going.
How much more recoil will higher pressure cartridges cause? Will it force PRS shooters to make their rifles even heavier than they are? Do military snipers even care about recoil? I believe they tend to have a dedicated spotter often, but?
Sincerely,
carbonbased
Hi,
Ok so I have been away from my laptop for the past several days and there was no way I could reply to this from my phone, lol.
This post has to be the most "diverse" set of questions so far, lol...1 will make the FAQ list for the new website while the others will not, haha.
1. Funding:
The transparency side of this question is this....Although I appear to be the face and POC for Hoplite Arms there is an entire TEAM of people involved behind the scenes all of which are devoted to our overall business Philosophy and Goals. I have been blessed and thankful that my business partner and friend has the same outlook on the Hoplite Arms business model from the very very beginning.
We launched Hoplite Arms not only to change the way manufacturers interact with customers but the way customers are treated during said interaction; and that included the absolutely no preorder type model where customers fund T&E.
When Hoplite Arms announces we are now accepting orders, all the T&E will have been done and the only thing customers are waiting for is outside vendor parts..barrel.
We do not see grocery stores taking preorders in order to open.
We do not see automobile dealerships taking preorders in order to open.
We should NOT see that in the firearms industry either.
T&E is a cost of doing business and should be accounted for without using customers money to do so.
As I have previously mentioned the first few production batch orders will go something like this in regards to timeframe:
1st batch will take Hoplite Arms 8 weeks to have complete action and chassis finished. At that time we will be waiting on barrels because we just do not have enough market data to know what barrel spec's we need to have on the shelves.
2nd batch will take Hoplite Arms 4 weeks to have complete action and chassis finished. At that time we will be waiting on barrels because we just do not have enough market data to know what barrel spec's we need to have on the shelves.
3rd batch will take Hoplite Arms 4 weeks to have complete action and chassis finished. At that time we will have a better understanding of barrel spec's and will have some barrels on the shelves.
2. Background:
For ease of conversation lets just stick with Eastern European. Although you will never know from talking with me..that is by design, lol.
Professional situation already highlighted in the copied post earlier.
3. HP Trade-offs:
In regards to PRS shooters...most competitions will not allow the MVs of the HP cartridges anyways so they are not really intended for that market space.
Yes recoil will be slightly higher than standard pressure cartridges but as the video with standard pressure 300NM there is not a lot of recoil to the system to begin with so we can handle a little more in order to update the ballistics curve via modern pressure thresholds.
Sincerely,
Theis