do folks buy or make their minie balls?

[Mark VII]

Hello everyone -- I've got a question for the group that touches on a couple of things.

First, do folks that do a lot of live fire tend to buy minie balls, or cast their own?

The reason I ask, is that I'm considering starting a side business selling minie balls that I cast. They would be hand cast, inspected and weighed to ensure consistency. (I have a bit of manufacturing and statistical process control background, so I'm hoping to use consistency of product as a selling point.) Lead would come from RotoMetals to ensure purity.

This leaves me wondering how much demand there might be for pre-made minies, and the price folks would be willing to pay. I'm not seeing them on the WTB / WTS section of the forum. This leaves me wondering if there's an untapped market here, or if there's simply a lack of demand.

I have found commercial minies ranging from $0.62 to $0.72 each plus shipping. I could still make a worthwhile profit at the lower end of this price range.

Would appreciate any thoughts. Do enough people buy enough minies to create a worthwhile market?

Thanks, Mark

[Lou Lou Lou]

Most skirmishes cast their own. There are some who buy from Pat Kaboskey or Paul Weber,neither is as expensive as the prices you indicate. My minies cost me about $0.03 w/out my labor. I have a friendly plumber

[Muley Gil]

I started casting my own Minies in 1969 at age 15. I still cast for my muskets. The only time I buy lead bullets is for my modern pistols and revolvers.

[Maillemaker]

It's hard to imagine skirmishing and not casting your own bullets. I'm sure there are some out there who buy them. Casting gives you full control over the lead used and the resultant bullets. And you don't have to worry about them getting dented up in shipping.

About the only reason I would buy pre-made muzzle loading bullets is to try out a new design.

Steve

[rgsheppard]

Hello everyone -- I've got a question for the group that touches on a couple of things.

First, do folks that do a lot of live fire tend to buy minie balls, or cast their own?

The reason I ask, is that I'm considering starting a side business selling minie balls that I cast. They would be hand cast, inspected and weighed to ensure consistency. (I have a bit of manufacturing and statistical process control background, so I'm hoping to use consistency of product as a selling point.) Lead would come from RotoMetals to ensure purity.

This leaves me wondering how much demand there might be for pre-made minies, and the price folks would be willing to pay. I'm not seeing them on the WTB / WTS section of the forum. This leaves me wondering if there's an untapped market here, or if there's simply a lack of demand.

I have found commercial minies ranging from $0.62 to $0.72 each plus shipping. I could still make a worthwhile profit at the lower end of this price range.

Would appreciate any thoughts. Do enough people buy enough minies to create a worthwhile market?

Thanks, Mark



Mark:

There probably is a need, but there are others who are providing the product. Two have been identified to you in other posts. I've bought from Pat Kaboskey in Wisconsin and have found his product to be very good. I now mold my own bullets. However, this sport is an expensive start-up. Making bullets requires equipment, materials, and molds which aren't cheap. A new guy who has purchased two guns, a uniform, and paid dues has little left to buy the bullet making needs. Therefore, there is a small market to sell already made bullets.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Gary
At approximately $60 a skirmish those purchased minies could buy a Lee Pot and Ladle in short order. Just my two cents. I just casted approx 6,000 rounds for next season. . That is for five guns should just about make it with 12 skirmishes planned.

[ms3635v]

I have always casted my own. I started in 1979 and casted right from the beginning white a small furnace that my grandfather used when he was a cable splice with Bell Telephone. I get my lead from a number of sources, my plumber, a friend who renovates homes (he gives me the lead he tears out and most recently from a scrapyard that has good soft lead at between .90 and 1.00 a pound). I use a propane furnace and can cast several thousand bullets with a 20 pound propane tank ($19.00 to fill). I find it more cost effective to do it myself. I will say that Pat Kabosky makes really nice bullets and I if were to buy them it would probably be from Pat. Paul Weber's bullets are also well made.

[Mark VII]

Thank you to all who responded. Sounds like my target market is already covered. Time to go in a different direction.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a Happy New Year.

Mark

[cwbulletman]

I just want to thank everyone for their kind words about my bullets. I do stand by my work totally
and try to give the best ones I can make. With that said Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.
Sincerely Pat

[jonk]

Within the N-SSA, I think most guys cast their own. For a few reasons. 1. To be able to control quality. 2. To size their bullets to their gun. 3. To choose the bullet that their gun shoots best. 4. Cost. In no particular order that is.

Are there some shooters who only shoot once every year or two who buy them? Or who buy a sample from a good manufacturer to try a different style before buying a mold? Absolutely.

I think, though, that the biggest market for them is the re-enactor who only live fires his gun very rarely, the hunter or casual target shooter who might shoot 20-30 rounds a year, that sort of thing. They probably are looking for an original style bullet, not a target minie. They probably want them at .575 too.

I have on occasion sold some of my bullets on gunbroker or the WTS section on the cast boolit forum. It's not something I make a business of, just extra minies of a style I don't use that were extra to my needs, and I felt I could make a slight profit on them vs. just re-melting. Kind of a 'clearing out the reloading room' type deal. I never had a problem selling them in those venues.

A word of caution though. I got my cost back and a slight amount more, but it's no game changing business.

I know that there are gun shops too that will buy them to resell. Log Cabin Gun Shop is near me and they will occasionally have the customer that needs some minie balls, though they cater more to the patched round ball crowd. I'm sure if I walked in with a pack they would buy them off me.

In short I wouldn't discourage you from trying it, just know that within the N-SSA there isn't a huge demand.

[bones92]

I would look at the sellers on Gunbroker and determine if you can match (or beat) their pricing and still be worth your while. My instinct tells me you can do well if your quality and customer service is top-notch.

As said above, asking this question on an N-SSA forum is not very reflective of your potential market, because a lot of us already cast our own. But there are a lot of people who do not cast their own, so you can reach them via Gunbroker (and maybe eBay) and on various forums. You just need to be price-competitive and provide high-quality bullets.

You will want to invest in top-notch molds, with a few choices in each caliber, at the least. You will also want to offer both non-lubed and pre-lubed bullets, with a few options for lube.

Casting Minie balls for muzzleloaders is great, but there are many other bullets you can cast. Try to offer bullets that are not readily available. For example, I bought .446" bullets for reloading 11mm Mauser before found a mold. The seller (Maplewood Bullets on Gunbroker) was one of only a few options. Also, bullets for .54 Sharps would be a good product with strong demand.

[Maillemaker]

My instinct tells me you can do well if your quality and customer service is top-notch.

On that note, one thing that will put you light-years ahead of the competition is simply a web site with the ability to click a button and order.

This hobby has lots of old-timers in it who have zero web presence and you have to actually call someone and mail a check to place an order.

Click-and-ship is the way ecommerce is done today and you will pick up a ton of impulse buyers just by having this ability. Guy surfing the web at 11pm sees your stuff and with one click BAM he can buy it.

Steve

[bones92]

+1 on what Maillemaker said. Web ordering is critical.