In this short paper I will go over my thoughts on the article provided for review this week, The Business of Custom Bullet Swaging; By: Dave Corbin. Before I even read this article, I thought it would just be the author trying to talk up custom bullet swaging because it’s his business… While that might kind of be the case I found that there was some useful information in it as well.
Mr. Corbin began by saying that he was going to assume that we are “somewhat knowledgeable about bullet casting -- making simple lead bullets by pouring molten lead alloy into split molds and then letting it cool and solidify, then putting the bullets through a lubricator and sizer machine to apply a thick bullet lubricant and adjust the diameter.” First mistake …show more content…
Corbin explained to us that cast bullets are so popular because of low cost. He followed that bit of information up by informing us that “They must be made in vast quantities, therefore, to produce a reasonable profit, meaning that you must invest in large volumes of material and process it in a very short period of time. High speed and high volume requires a large market. Therefore, a successful bullet casting business always tries for the police department bids, sales to volume ammunition loaders, and shooters whose primary concern is getting a lot of ammo at the cheapest price.” He also let us know that performance isn’t as important as low price in most cases and that “The average cast bullet sells for less than five cents and is packaged in lots of 1000.” The next thing Mr. Corbin said pretty much pushed me out of the casting for profit circle completely. He let us know that in order for someone to accommodate the type of production he spoke of it would “cost about $15,000, and at a profit of one and a half cents per bullet, will require one million bullets sold in order to amortize the cost of equipment. A typical set-up might produce 1,000 bullets per hour, which would mean sales from 1,000 hours would cover the cost of machinery if there were no other expenses (of course, labor and overhead will extend this payback time). This would consume the profits from selling the bullets produced in 25 weeks of operation (a little over half a year).”
Mr. Corbin began by saying that he was going to assume that we are “somewhat knowledgeable about bullet casting -- making simple lead bullets by pouring molten lead alloy into split molds and then letting it cool and solidify, then putting the bullets through a lubricator and sizer machine to apply a thick bullet lubricant and adjust the diameter.” First mistake …show more content…
Corbin explained to us that cast bullets are so popular because of low cost. He followed that bit of information up by informing us that “They must be made in vast quantities, therefore, to produce a reasonable profit, meaning that you must invest in large volumes of material and process it in a very short period of time. High speed and high volume requires a large market. Therefore, a successful bullet casting business always tries for the police department bids, sales to volume ammunition loaders, and shooters whose primary concern is getting a lot of ammo at the cheapest price.” He also let us know that performance isn’t as important as low price in most cases and that “The average cast bullet sells for less than five cents and is packaged in lots of 1000.” The next thing Mr. Corbin said pretty much pushed me out of the casting for profit circle completely. He let us know that in order for someone to accommodate the type of production he spoke of it would “cost about $15,000, and at a profit of one and a half cents per bullet, will require one million bullets sold in order to amortize the cost of equipment. A typical set-up might produce 1,000 bullets per hour, which would mean sales from 1,000 hours would cover the cost of machinery if there were no other expenses (of course, labor and overhead will extend this payback time). This would consume the profits from selling the bullets produced in 25 weeks of operation (a little over half a year).”