Reload or buy factory?

[SonoranArmament]

Hello everyone,
I am looking to get some feedback on if more of you load your own ammo or prefer to buy factory match ammo. obviously both have their pros and cons. I am working on firing up a business that will specialize in precision long range ammo, and long range hunting ammo. My main question is, if you could buy ammo that's handload accurate at a reasonable price, would you? any insight, or feedback on the matter is much appreciated. I am open to discussion on this.

 

[Doc68]

Yes I would. However they don't make ammo that's 20 thousandths off my lands. They also can't bump the shoulder back 2 thousandths either.

 

[b2lee]

I may be one of the few that actually like my time in the reloading room. I don't build spreadsheets calculating cost analysis based off what I could earn during that time with another job. I like wiping each completed round off with a shop towel and admiring the beauty of it. Love is the secret ingredient that each of my match rounds have.

There are already a number of boutique re-loaders in the market place.....good luck with your endevours.

 

[clcustom1911]

Yes I would. However they don't make ammo that's 20 thousandths off my lands. They also can't bump the shoulder back 2 thousandths either.

As long as you "do your part" none of that matters.


???

 

[Codiekfx400]

It would be a risky business adventure. If you have lots of funds to get started I say go for it.

 

[TxWelder35]

A couple people in that market will already tune a load to your rifle. That’s about as close as you can get to true hand rolled ammo. If you aren’t doing that you are just another ammo manufacturer. I don’t think you can compete with Berger factory ammo for $28/box For 6.5cm with new Lapua brass And a Berger projectile.

 

[The Muffin Man]

I think the keyword here is going to be "reasonable" price. You're probably going to have an extremely hard time getting a business that manufactures small batches to extremely tight tolerances at a "reasonable" price, especially relative to the factory match ammo. You can probably do it, but I don't think you are going to make alot of money doing it.

 

[dzander]

Reloading is a part of the hobby. I wouldn't, already have lots of equipment. I could see some people that have the money and travel a lot not having time to load their own. But i'd say there in the minority. It is a pretty good cost savings compared to factory ammo. I know guys I shoot with have a lot of money but you'd never know it, they still reload, that's part of the reason they have it!

 

[SonoranArmament]

I appreciate the feedback guys. I'm planning on doing more of the less available cartridges. for example, I can load a box of .338 Lapua have an okay margin on it, and still sell it for less than a box of good factory ammo. I know this won't be the case with all cartridges, but this will also end up being just a portion of the business as I plan on branching out and doing precision rifle parts and accessories as well. I have an engineering back ground, so this stuff is fun for me too! I know in a market as saturated as it is a product has to really stand out to take off.

 

[07jkjeeper]

Seems like someone who knows how their precision ammo needs to be loaded would probably just do it themselves. To me precision ammo needs to match each particular rifle so there are a lot of unknown factors that could easily be difficult to produce something that will satisfy the shooters request. Very cool that you are looking into doing something like this though. There is a niche market for it and some people want ammo with great performance but don’t reload and some rifles just don’t shoot factory all that well. Best luck with it.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

Yes.

A problem you may face is selling ammo at a price that you're competitive.

The Berger stuff shoots incredibly well in my rifles and at less than $25 a box, it's hard to beat. Especially when they are using Lapua brass.

 

[bmash]

Reload only.

 

[Milo 2.5]

I entertained this same idea 5 yrs ago, IMO, an uphill battle.
1. Unless you receive the customers rifle and develop exclusively for it, precision may not be the exact wording. If you are just crafting ammo, basically one size fits all. No matter what you do, you are not unique.
2. Think of the number of reamers available for any case we shoot, neck dia, freebore, etc...
3. Component changes, any change on your end affects your buyers. If I had gotten into it, a contract would need signed. Figure a close rd count that the barrel may last. Buy that number of jump tolerant bullets, same number of brass, and enough powder, that all belongs to the customer, yet you store it. Yes, if you were part of the rifle from the start, maybe you could take return brass and reload it, but now time becomes a factor. Plus you may need the rifle back if adj are needed between new and fired brass. There are some givens in load development, still time consuming.
4. No matter what a customer wants, how well you think you know him, you can't send warm ammo out.
I can go on and on.
Example, last fall I met a guy on the range I shoot quite a bit. no reason for details, but I ended up helping him, tricks, ballistic solving, we started shooting together some. One day he breaks out a Bergara B14, 6 creed, shooting a factory offering real popular on this site. The rifle and ammo were impressive for factory. He struggled on a few targets, and he was shooting decent. I finally had him shoot 3 groups at 500 yards, all 3 were around .7 moa, give or take for 3 shot groups. So I asked, you want better, yes, so that day I took all his brass, he had 100 pcs fired and cleaned them, Next day, he came over and we processed brass, loaded up test rds with RL 16 and hybrids. That afternoon testing, he shot 3 groups that went under 1 1/2" at 500, we picked the one that held vertical best and now hits 5" plate to a grand, I will not load his ammo, he has to be part of it and it works.
The best way to lose customers is to fail them.

 

[FredHammer]

Ain't none of us into this shit because it saves us money! There are just ways to maximize the quality and value for volume. I love all the years of time I've put into rolling my own. Its also nice just to have some cases of FGMM on hand.

 

[Pixel_wasted]

What ive learned is the money ive saved just loading pistol ammo,is it makes me shoot more.And thats not a bad thing.Being said my setup is in my garage and central valley summers in kali get warm,i load enough ammo up in the spring and winter to keep me going.And if I absolutely need more,ill be up super early and spend the half hour wisely to crank out my 500 rds,that being said its under a hundred bucks for a thousand rounds just buying crap today prices assuming you find the stuff you want

 

[wpgk58]

Hello everyone,
I am looking to get some feedback on if more of you load your own ammo or prefer to buy factory match ammo. obviously both have their pros and cons. I am working on firing up a business that will specialize in precision long range ammo, and long range hunting ammo. My main question is, if you could buy ammo that's handload accurate at a reasonable price, would you? any insight, or feedback on the matter is much appreciated. I am open to discussion on this.

The one thing that no one has mentioned is ATF licensing and insurance.

 

[BikePilot]

I currently run factory ammo. Limited time between family and job means anytime I’d spend reloading would be less trigger time. I chose a 6.5 creedmoor due to easy availability of factory match ammo and pretty good ballistics/recoil properties.

 

[SonoranArmament]

I appreciate all the feedback. I've been doing a lot of number crunching and research on the matter. I've come to the conclusion that I can load match quality ammo and be competitive price wise with match ammo from the big names. Obviously to get the utmost accuracy, you want to tailor loads specifically to an individual rifle. I would like to provide a product that can be bought of the shelf, and while maybe not as accurate as true custom loads, perform better than most off the shelf ammo. I think the biggest thing is getting a product out there and proving it's performance. Building a name and a brand is the key to success with any business.

 

[dspjaggar]

i would still prefer to do my own reloads, and while i see most people who really care about accuracy wanting to do the same there are some who have more money than time or just dont care to do it.

im seeing the potential here but margins seem like they would be the issue especially for time required.

if i had dumb money to spend but wanted handloads, i would want some way for you to get my cbto measurement without me sending my rifle, either the mailing of a hornady oal gauge with directions, or ideally in fantasyland a few dummy rounds that were seated long with light neck tension, that when chambered x amount of times would seat the bullet at the lands or x thousandths into the lands so that you could take an average and get the measurments with little inonvienece to me.

after you get dummy rounds back you could send back a ladder test with pre marked targets for each load and pretty pictures about harmonics and why a ladder test is needed. this would get them interested in whats going on and then they would want to reload their own and kill your buisiness.


in all seriousness i think if you market it right and you are able to pull people slightly into the process through a good and intuitive website and follow up with good results and great customer service it could work. not easy but nothing worth it is ever easy


also those are my ideas and you cant use them.... jk

best of luck man

 

[ditter]

Wish you luck, but it seems like a tough business in a crowded market. But then again, there is always room for great ammo.

 

[BCMulx]

There's one company doing exactly this right now, and it seems that they've been reasonably successful. At least from an uptake / buzz perspective. Everything from their version of "Factory Load" to custom load development and reloading for your rifle. So, it does seem there's a market for it. How profitable? Who knows....