.32 and .38 HBWC's from a new manufacturer?

First topic message reminder :

I have a few questions for the forum membership, if you'll indulge me.

But first, a little background:

I'm a boutique bullet manufacturer, I've been making bullets for a few boutique loaders and a handful of competition shooters for some time. We're a literal mom and pop shop where I make the machines and bullets, and the wife takes care of the accounting and logistics. We're considering expanding into the retail market. If we do so, our target market would be competitive shooters who are looking for a premium product. We're thinking about offering .32 and .38 hollow based swaged lead wadcutters.

We would offer several other bullets that we're already making as well, but We don't have the tooling for the wadcutters yet, so that's my focus here.

We're not a big company, and already have private contracts in place that keep me and the equipment running at about 60-70% capacity, which pays the bills. We were running at about 90% capacity, but one of the boutique loaders we've worked with is retiring, so the expansion into the retail market would be to essentially keep me and the machines running at about 90% capacity.

We have fully automated swaging machines designed specifically for making lead bullets. The machines were designed and built by myself, and are capable of maintaining exceptional weight and dimensional tolerances over lot runs. A normal lot run is 6-36K pieces, with dimensional and concentricity tolerances consistently held to +/-.0002", and weight tolerances consistently held to +/-.05gn or less for bullets under 250 grains.

As a result of the work, energy and quality of materials that go into maintaining such tight tolerances, and the fact that my kids like to eat food and wear clothes, we wouldn't be competing for price point buyers, and you could expect our bullets to be priced comparably with other premium offerings.

Right now I have tooling drawn up for .32 HB wadcutters that would be .3145" diameter and available in either 84 or 98 grain weights. I've started drawing up the tooling for the .38's but haven't finished.

That brings me to my questions for the community;

1. Is there room in the market for a premium HBWC offering in .32 and .38 calibers?

2. Am I on the right track with the .32 weights and diameter?

3. What weights and diameters would be best for the .38 offerings?

4. What other designs would be well received by the bullseye community?

5. Would you be willing to try the new bullets when they come to market?

I appreciate any input or thoughts anyone might have, Thanks!

If for some reason this post is inappropriate, against the rules or offensive, I apologize.

Thanks guys, I'm taking notes of all the things you're suggesting.

So far it sounds like people would like to see:

32 caliber WC's at .3145-.315 in 2 or 3 weights

.38 WC's at 148 grains and .360 and RN's at 158 grains (and .360 as well?)

.45 SWC's and WC's in lighter weights, possibly or probably as HB's.

No promises, but we'll do what we can.

Joe Morgan wrote:
I'd love to see some more swaged RN 158 gr. bullets for DR.

Do you know about Zero's?

I think of a 130 gr SWCHP flat base .357 diameter for 38 supper

As an update, Tooling has been ordered for an H&N .32 clone, (should measure .3145"-.3148") we're expecting 3 weights to be available at 84, 90 and 98 grains nominally, and tooling for a 148gn nominal .38 WC Remington clone. The remington clone should measure .360", and we may be able to make a 130 grain version as well if desired.

We expect tooling in November and should be testing extensively through the end of the year.

Other designs will follow as time permits, we're looking at a 158 gn RN .38 bullet for DR and a 160-170 grain 45 SWC with small hollow base as the next designs on the list after the .32 and 38 HBWC's.

B-Bull wrote:As an update, Tooling has been ordered for an H&N .32 clone, (should measure .3145"-.3148") we're expecting 3 weights to be available at 84, 90 and 98 grains nominally, and tooling for a 148gn nominal .38 WC Remington clone. The remington clone should measure .360", and we may be able to make a 130 grain version as well if desired.

We expect tooling in November and should be testing extensively through the end of the year.

Other designs will follow as time permits, we're looking at a 158 gn RN .38 bullet for DR and a 160-170 grain 45 SWC with small hollow base as the next designs on the list after the .32 and 38 HBWC's.

That's awesome, just totally awesome!   Thank you.

B-Bull wrote:As an update, Tooling has been ordered for an H&N .32 clone, (should measure .3145"-.3148") we're expecting 3 weights to be available at 84, 90 and 98 grains nominally, and tooling for a 148gn nominal .38 WC Remington clone. The remington clone should measure .360", and we may be able to make a 130 grain version as well if desired.

We expect tooling in November and should be testing extensively through the end of the year.

Other designs will follow as time permits, we're looking at a 158 gn RN .38 bullet for DR and a 160-170 grain 45 SWC with small hollow base as the next designs on the list after the .32 and 38 HBWC's.

Bravo, Thank you for investing in real tooling. Following closely.
Ron

Multiracer wrote:

B-Bull wrote:As an update, Tooling has been ordered for an H&N .32 clone, (should measure .3145"-.3148") we're expecting 3 weights to be available at 84, 90 and 98 grains nominally, and tooling for a 148gn nominal .38 WC Remington clone. The remington clone should measure .360", and we may be able to make a 130 grain version as well if desired.

We expect tooling in November and should be testing extensively through the end of the year.

Other designs will follow as time permits, we're looking at a 158 gn RN .38 bullet for DR and a 160-170 grain 45 SWC with small hollow base as the next designs on the list after the .32 and 38 HBWC's.

Bravo, Thank you for investing in real tooling. Following closely.
Ron

Thanks for the support! Our goal is to produce the best product we can, and after 20+ years in manufacturing and product development, I've learned that most shortcuts don't pay off in the long run. Equipment and tooling will pay for itself over time, and we're in this for the long haul. I was talking with one die manufacturer about making the dies, and their die life expectancy before going out of spec was something like 200K cycles (each cycle is one bullet). The dies we've ordered are solid carbide, and should last 10's of millions of cycles. The cost is significantly higher, but I want the bullets I make in 2 years to be the same as the ones I make next month.

The 160 45 SWC seems to be gaining in popularity. The original in Ohio was the H&G 242S. S for short, @ 165 grains.

As an update, We received our first set of dies to make the .3145 HBWC's and in testing we've found some issues. We're not exactly back at the drawing board, but it has caused some delay as we're having the dies remade.

Thanks again for all of the interest and support, I'll try to keep you all updated with our progress!