Weekly Notes
Jan 1, 2011. (This post will be longer than most)
We have just finished re-working the 1911 blanks. As many of you know for a long time ours were - well, they were
crap. After a few months of work we have a far better case and round. The powder charge has been increased as well as
the design actually make some noise and pressure. The new BFA is around .171-.195. We also have a theatrical version
with a larger BFA size. Unless this is for film you should stick with the regular rounds. They are pretty good as they are.
We have also changed primers on this round. Sprinfield pistols simply will not set off the primers we were using even
though 75 year old worn out military pistols would......Since we can't fix the pistols we modified the round. In short, this is
a pretty decent 1911 blank now.
Our M-1 carbine blanks are back up and running on factroy brass again. We have taken care of the primer problems
were have been having off and on once and for all. I hear that other blank manufatcurers have been having the same
problems with this so I won't throw stones by any means. Short version, it will never be a problem again.
In December we poured 2,300 sq. feet of cement to increase the size of the shop. Yep, that was fun. 19 degrees a week
before Christmas and I have everyone in here on a weekend to pour cement! In the spring we will ad another 2,300 Sq
feet of concrete to finish off the shop for our expansion. We are looking to bigger better things this year even if we can't fill
all the space right away!
Last note for the week is that we are going to set a much lighter event schedule this year. The time lost in packing up for so
many events keeps us from really getting ahead. Expanding the shop will take up a lot of that time this year. Once the
expansion is done and newer higher speed equipment is in over the next year we can then look at a more agressive
schedule. In the mean time the reenactor crowd in the upper mid-west can look to Luke from 1944 NewsLetter for
blanks from us, and look to Lauren from W.E.P. Haus to start carrying our rounds in the deep South. (To us from Ohio
anything sougth of the Ohio River is the "deep South")
And a note from Rick the floor manager....CLEAN YOUR WEAPONS!
Jan 9, 2012.
Running flat out for the Fort Indian Town gap event but have been able to get a handle onthe M-1 carbine rounds for use in Auto Ordnace rifles. They are
way out of spec in the chamber but we have cme up with a way of makeing them work and still work in military issue weapons. Now the trick is to run them
heavy for the event. We should have plenty this year unlike the last 2 years.
8mm standard will be out of stock until FIG and after we sell out then we will be out until April and then be good to go again. This goes back to storage
space with the expansion. We know that many of our customers want the mid-priced round and ask for continued patence through late spring.
This weeks note from Rick - know your weapon. Know how to field strip it. Know how to maintain it and look at the words on top. That tells you who
made it. That is pretty important when you are asking us questions about how it works.
Jan. 30 2012
Back from FIG. Good to see a lot of our customers again, it has been too long. Re-stocking and we will be back on our feet again by Tuesday.
We have noticed that the BFONG rounds run too fast in all the weapons. We are dropping the charge just slightly to keep the ROF to where it
should be. First batch of Thompson BFONG mags have gone out for torture testing. We will have these ready once we get news back from the field
that they work well. We witnessed 4 out of battery detonations on this "weapon". If you use one of these WEAR EYE PROTECTION. Only 2/3 of
the case was left which means that there is brass flying around somewhere.
G-43 and Mp-44 BFA's are in. I'll get pictures up ASAP.
Feb 6, 2012
As some of you may know we will be making some major upgrades to the shop this year. We will be having several
mini-shut downs to prepare for the big shutdown. By Big shut down we mean down for 2-3 weeks. We will try to make it
this summer when things usually a bit slower but we may not have complete control over the exact time. We however will
put the message out a month in advance so plan accordingly. When we say no shipments, we mean no shipments during
that time. Once we re-open, we will begin to ad new calibers and loadings as well.
8mm Standard is now back in stock. We have decided to do this differently. For those who use our old rounds for
semi-auto and full auto, all you need to do is ask. Since 95% of our 8mm sales are for bolt actions we will run more bolt
action only rounds. We got a great deal on grenade launching powder and this is a great year to get it used up! Great
flash, average sound. You will thank me 20 years down the road when you still have some hearing left.
Feb. 13, 2012
Today you will have the pleasure of speaking to Peggy when you call in. Be nice to her. Do you have any clue how
hard it is to find a secretary that knows weapons and makes a good cup of coffee? E-mail will still be handled by
Robb for the time being.
Concrete was poured this weekend. Darn was it cold -5 degrees. The shop floor is 95% done now and we are
ready for more work once it warms up a bit so no more shut downs for a while! Once it warms up we will start up
with the mini-shutdowns again but we will give you plenty of notice.
We are aware of pre-election panick buying on the live ammo and the supplies that we need to manufacture blanks.
We are stocking up now so this will not be a problem as it was 3 years ago.
Feb 20, 2012
We are a week into the new system and are through most of the rough spots. Any of you who have been through a "new system" upgrade know
how this goes. Things should start getting much quicker from here on out. We are still maintaining a 50% same day shipment schedule and we
are getting the ball rolling around here.
We now have some great military surplus .30-06 blanks. These are similar to the U.S. G.I. with the wad at the end. They are as clean as they
day they were made and much cheaper than our rounds. If you want them linked for the 1919 we can do that for you at no extra charge. BFA
is .187 just like our rounds. We have a good siupply, but they will be gone by summer so don't delay
Feb 27, 2012
Starting to get good feedback on the improved .30 Carbine. I was hopefull all the problems would be
solved and it looks like they are now good-to-go.
We know there is a huge shortage of 45acp SMG blanks. We will begin working on this ASAP when
we get things put back into the shop from storage.
March 5, 2012
After a hefty schedule in March and April we will start putting out some .45acp SMG rounds. We will be limited at first but should get production up pretty
quickly. We are to the point where we just can't put it off any longer. There will not be any pre-orders. We don't need to get behind before we start.
We are now taking orders for Nordwind and Camp Atterberry.
March 12, 21012
We have been getting 4-5 e-mails per week with people saying they can not getting through. Upon looking at this
and speaking with Peggy, many of these phone calls do not leave a message. If you do not leave a message she
will not call you back. If you do she WILL call you back. That is her job, to speak with people on the phone! I
have given Peggy instructions not to call back numbers that come through with no message as some of you call
from work and do not want us to be asking for you at your workplace.
.45acp SMG rounds have been design tested this past weekend. We will get them function tested ASAP. With
our event shedule we will not have time to make them until the second week in May. NO PRE-ORDERS, AND
EXPECT A WEEK LEADTIME TO GET THEM OUT DUE TO THE EXPECTED IN-FLUX OF ORDERS.
No pre-orders, don't ask, you don't want to see Peggy get mean!
April 3, 2012
It's been a few weeks since the massive storm blew out the computer system even through the surge protectors. We have everything back on line now
though we will be unable to ship for the next 48 hours due to a delay in the upgrade on UPS. We were going to do it anyway so no time like now.
We are making progress on new rounds. .45acp will be ready for sale April 23rd. We will be behind from the start so please allow us a week or so to
catch up. We will have the best price around on these and it will be perminent stock from now on.
We are scheduling our first shut-down may Monday 7 - Friday the 11nth. We will still be able to take orders and a few may go out if it is easy for us to
grab and ship, but don't count on it. Please plan ahead.
The 8mm "surplus" rounds are being phased out. The regular .30-06 based round is far superior and while more expesnive, works much better. We are
pulling the surplus from the web site but have ample stock for those who want them. Once they are out they are out for a
long time.
We will no longer be offering pre-paid delivery of order for Ft. Custer in the future. Don't ask, it won't happen.
April 9, 2012
We are working hard on export to Canada. It looks as if we should be able to start doing this in the next month or so
if all goes well.
We are excited about this as we have a large Canadian customer base and they have always been some of the better
guys we have had the chance to work with. This might open other doors for us but I will announce that when the time
comes.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THE SHUT DOWN IN MAY. IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED YOU WILL SEE
SOME BIG CHANGES AROUND HERE!
2 events in 2 weeks. I need to get back to work!
April 16, 2012
Interesting week. A farm vehicle lost its' load and took out several of the telephone poles about a half a mile from the shop. Our phones will
probably be down for the next few days while new lines and poles are brought in. I guess it is the downside to having the shop off the beaten
path. If you have any questions please e-mail and we will do our best to take care of you that way over the next few days.
On a happier note, we got to see many of our customers from out West last weekend at Camp Atterberry. We had a great time with everyone
and can't wait to see you all again next year.
Please remember the shutdown in May!
April 24, 2012
We are back up and running. Robb will be getting back to voice mails and messages ASAP. We
were unable to work on new calibers last week but will start up with this again this week. Not much
else other than we are working hard to catch back up and should be good in a few days. All orders
are going out within 24 hours so we still have you covered if you need your order soon.
April 30, 2012,
Heading out to Lowell this weekend so there will be no orders going out Friday.
We have decided to put the remainder of our low end .45 acp for 1917 revolver on sale and close it out. From now on it will be a longer
cased blank with better sound flash. The old round was OK and good for WWI reenactors in the trenches but time to move on to
something better. We will do the same to .455 Webley very soon. The price will change very little on the .455, but the round will be much
better.
We now have the Mp-40 BFA's in and will have a short run of M-1 Carbine BFA's in soon. The M-1 Garand BFA's are still back ordered
and will be for a few weeks due to an unexpected spike in demand.
Be sure to see the updated event schedule. There are more later in the year but we will get those up when it gets closer. There are some new
pre-order rules on that page that we unfortunately have had to put in place.
Remember the shut down next week (May 7-11) While we may answer the phone and
may be able to ship some orders, don't count on it.
May 1, 2012
Despite the shutdown we are still getting orders out slowly. We will get everything out no later than early next
week as the time we have the power on is limited. We have had good feedback on the new 45acp SMG rounds
as expected. This will now be a stock item. There WILL be a shortage of the full length "red tip" 8mm later this
year. We ask if you have an 8mm bolt action rifle that you try the 8mm standard round. The new rounds we make
are really nice and are pretty loud. This is one of the many items we have improved over the last year and the new
production rounds are top notch.
May 14, 2012,
You will start seeing some transitional changes to the web site. Once the change is made it will be really different with new features such a online
checkout for one. The small changes now are a taste of what things will be like once it is done.
The shut down is over. We were not able to get everything done but we can finish after hours this week on the minor things. The man part is done
though and we should be able to almost double our output - safer and easier. A big thanks to the guys who worked 12 hours a day last week and
through the weekend to make this happen.
.45acp SMG is in full production. We are getting hammered on orders for this so if you need them any time soon get on the list.
It is that time of year again - Memorial Day - all ceremonial orders go out before any others. This is the one time of year we put priorities on who
gets their order first.
All BFA's are now in stock again. The M-1 Garand may not stay in stock long though a larger shipment is due soon.
Time to get to work in the re-vamped shop!