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Bartlein Barrels Update

There are too many stocking dealers that anyone would just have to be without a barrel completely...

They may not get the EXACT barrel they want, but they could have a barrel

Frank has been nothing but a helpful in my couple small observations of his character. Seems more than glad to help those of us that don't know...

Now to the guy that won the cert and demanded a barrel.... I'd send him one! The ugliest one I could find and bend it into a pretzel before i mailed it to him.

Or maybe screw it up just enough to look fine, but shoot like crap.
I’m sure they have a few rejects laying around the shop this would be a good place for one of them!
 
Hello Everyone! Well I haven't been off as much as I thought! LOL! Ern and a couple of others can attest to that.

I don't have good news. We got in our recent invoice for steel we received last week. Our steel costs took a pretty big jump. So starting Monday any barrel that ships will be up $10.

Don't kill the messenger. Just being up front with everyone. We don't like it either. What's hard for us is how fast everything is changing even in a months time frame now it seems like.

Later, Frank
 
I’m sure they have a few rejects laying around the shop this would be a good place for one of them!
Ouch!

What happens sometimes is if a orders gets cancelled or in some cases where we have an order for lets say 50 or a 100 barrels all identical. We will throw an extra one or two on the order. That way if we reject something we are not setting up to make one piece to fill the order.

If we have an extra we will go thru and look at orders and if there is one we can put it on and fill it right away everyone is happy!

Two days ago an ammunition maker called and asked if they had caliber XXX on order for accuracy test barrels. I said no. Just pressure test barrels. They said we need 5. I said the stars are aligned. We had some extra drilled blanks that we could finish turn and get them on this run. They shipped yesterday. So those got done in 24 hours. It was by pure luck that they called when they did and that we had a few extra blanks that we could do it. If they would've called next week....time frame would've been in months.

Later, Frank
 
Ouch!

What happens sometimes is if a orders gets cancelled or in some cases where we have an order for lets say 50 or a 100 barrels all identical. We will throw an extra one or two on the order. That way if we reject something we are not setting up to make one piece to fill the order.

If we have an extra we will go thru and look at orders and if there is one we can put it on and fill it right away everyone is happy!

Two days ago an ammunition maker called and asked if they had caliber XXX on order for accuracy test barrels. I said no. Just pressure test barrels. They said we need 5. I said the stars are aligned. We had some extra drilled blanks that we could finish turn and get them on this run. They shipped yesterday. So those got done in 24 hours. It was by pure luck that they called when they did and that we had a few extra blanks that we could do it. If they would've called next week....time frame would've been in months.

Later, Frank
I was kidding, it was more about the caller with the attitude . of course you would never send anyone a barrel that was not up to your standards! I’m not a professional shooter strictly recreational targets and hunting I have used 4 of your barrels my latest one will be on a defiance anti-X action one of your carbons in 6.5 caliber 1in7.5 twist 22 inches long. I’m using (Southern precision rifle’s a.k.a. bug holes .com)they have always done a great job and I have always used your barrels from them!
 
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Hello Everyone! Well I haven't been off as much as I thought! LOL! Ern and a couple of others can attest to that.

I don't have good news. We got in our recent invoice for steel we received last week. Our steel costs took a pretty big jump. So starting Monday any barrel that ships will be up $10.

Don't kill the messenger. Just being up front with everyone. We don't like it either. What's hard for us is how fast everything is changing even in a months time frame now it seems like.

Later, Frank
Compared to inflation on everything else 10 bucks sounds very reasonable to me!
 
bugholes had it in stock at the time, so no wait. shipped next day
my first bartlein, wont be my last
 

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Hello Everyone! Well I haven't been off as much as I thought! LOL! Ern and a couple of others can attest to that.

I don't have good news. We got in our recent invoice for steel we received last week. Our steel costs took a pretty big jump. So starting Monday any barrel that ships will be up $10.

Don't kill the messenger. Just being up front with everyone. We don't like it either. What's hard for us is how fast everything is changing even in a months time frame now it seems like.

Later, Frank

You are a victim of “Let’s go Brandon”……
 
Hello Everyone! Well I haven't been off as much as I thought! LOL! Ern and a couple of others can attest to that.

I don't have good news. We got in our recent invoice for steel we received last week. Our steel costs took a pretty big jump. So starting Monday any barrel that ships will be up $10.

Don't kill the messenger. Just being up front with everyone. We don't like it either. What's hard for us is how fast everything is changing even in a months time frame now it seems like.

Later, Frank
With what I've seen with inflation over the last six months, your $10 increase is more than reasonable. Expected you to say much more than that while reading your post. Frankly, no pun intended, I was surprised it was only $10.
 
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I wish I knew how this worked. Steel Index pricing is down about 35% from earlier this year. Pricing on other base metals is down.
 
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I was kidding, it was more about the caller with the attitude . of course you would never send anyone a barrel that was not up to your standards! I’m not a professional shooter strictly recreational targets and hunting I have used 4 of your barrels my latest one will be on a defiance anti-X action one of your carbons in 6.5 caliber 1in7.5 twist 22 inches long. I’m using (Southern precision rifle’s a.k.a. bug holes .com)they have always done a great job and I have always used your barrels from them!
I know you where kidding bud! I didn't take it bad at all and I was teasing back when I said ouch! Didn't mean for it to come across bad at all.

Later, Frank
 
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I wish I knew how this worked. Steel Index pricing is down about 35% from earlier this year. Pricing on other base metals is down.
There are thousands of steel alloys from basic low carbon to uber expensive wonder steels, US production of steel is expensive with raising labor/regulatory/energy costs. Shipping costs have gone up.

The commodity price of steel is not even factor.

The actual raw steel price is negligible. Its all the shit from the raw foundry to a chunk of alloy suitable for Bartlien to use as a Raw material that costs and has increasing cost.

Not to mention Bartliens raising costs on everything.

Are people really this dumb they don't understand how the economy works?
 
I wish I knew how this worked. Steel Index pricing is down about 35% from earlier this year. Pricing on other base metals is down.
You and I both! I had a long talk with our steel rep the 2nd week of April. I asked him straight out where our pricing was going to be 6 months to 1 year from now. He didn't stutter either and came right back with....it's going up 40% to 50%!
 
There are thousands of steel alloys from basic low carbon to uber expensive wonder steels, US production of steel is expensive with raising labor/regulatory/energy costs. Shipping costs have gone up.

The commodity price of steel is not even factor.

The actual raw steel price is negligible. Its all the shit from the raw foundry to a chunk of alloy suitable for Bartlien to use as a Raw material that costs and has increasing cost.

Not to mention Bartliens raising costs on everything.

Are people really this dumb they don't understand how the economy works?
In April our coolant costs went up over 30%.

The letter I got and I quote....this time vs one year ago....

Oil is up 70%
Iron is up 120%
Phosphates are up 68%
Freight is up 33%
 
In April our coolant costs went up over 30%.

The letter I got and I quote....this time vs one year ago....

Oil is up 70%
Iron is up 120%
Phosphates are up 68%
Freight is up 33%
Don't forget machine tool inserts...

I am just shocked what inserts are running now. I'm literally trying to come up with a way to sharpen carbide inserts....

Diamond wheels anyone?

Sirhr
 
Don't forget machine tool inserts...

I am just shocked what inserts are running now. I'm literally trying to come up with a way to sharpen carbide inserts....

Diamond wheels anyone?

Sirhr
We don't sharpen inserts but we do have diamond wheels for making our cutting tools.

Yes the costs are up on everything!

Here is a good one. I was looking for a particular brand of grease as we make our own lapping compound! Everyone is out of it! No B.S. spent a week off and on looking for it. Nobody and I mean nobody had any.

So when I finally was able to get the tech guy on the phone at our lubricant supplier...he laughed and said...you almost won't find any either. I said what do you mean? He said, Didn't you see....the plant in IL that makes 75% of the grease for the U.S. market burned to the ground a few months ago. I said what?

Sure enough I did a google search....


Burned for 9 days.

He was able to find me a 40 gallon pail of the stuff but waited two weeks for it to get here. I was sweating it out as we we're down to our last one pound container of the stuff.

So yes of course the cost of the grease is up as well!
 
Thats not bad on the increase. Our actuals on major capex projects estimated last year are up 30%.

Lead times on major parts are 120- 200 days and that's even when we provided firm commitments last year.
 
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I was talking to the CEO of the company I work for yesterday. Asking him how he sleeps.

We are a petroleum dependent business with large energy needs.

Business knows how to handle the economy. The economy has cycles and it can be managed.

The problem right now is none of the traditional economic support structures are there.

When the economy shit the bed in the past politicians cared because unhappy, non working voters, would take their hide.

Actual measures were taken to help support business.

Now we get the opposite from those traditional support entities.

Its "Let them eat cake" time.
 
We don't sharpen inserts but we do have diamond wheels for making our cutting tools.

Yes the costs are up on everything!

Here is a good one. I was looking for a particular brand of grease as we make our own lapping compound! Everyone is out of it! No B.S. spent a week off and on looking for it. Nobody and I mean nobody had any.

So when I finally was able to get the tech guy on the phone at our lubricant supplier...he laughed and said...you almost won't find any either. I said what do you mean? He said, Didn't you see....the plant in IL that makes 75% of the grease for the U.S. market burned to the ground a few months ago. I said what?

Sure enough I did a google search....


Burned for 9 days.

He was able to find me a 40 gallon pail of the stuff but waited two weeks for it to get here. I was sweating it out as we we're down to our last one pound container of the stuff.

So yes of course the cost of the grease is up as well!
I can understand why prices go up when this sort of thing happens.
 
Not really a update on us but it will effect Bartlein and shipping in general. Fedex announced a 6.9 to 7.9% annual rate increase due to inflation costs.


Now I'm waiting to see what UPS will do.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
 
Not really a update on us but it will effect Bartlein and shipping in general. Fedex announced a 6.9 to 7.9% annual rate increase due to inflation costs.


Now I'm waiting to see what UPS will do.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
Man,

The hits just keep coming. But Joe said there was zero inflation last month.
 
Man,

The hits just keep coming. But Joe said there was zero inflation last month.
Yep! Anyone saying there is no inflation or that we are not in a recession isn't dealing in reality.

Late last week the Fed's also raised interest rates another .75%. Our 2nd oldest son has been looking at houses this year but it's basically gotten to the point he cannot afford anything decent. The higher interest rates is just another nail in the coffin for him and others!
 
I saw this coming when Dem's put out the student loan forgiveness package. I heard them claim time and time again that it wont effect inflation. BS! How can removing 300b in expected payments NOT affect inflation. They, in essence, added that amount of currency into the market by wiping it from the books.
Each time the government did a 'covid relief payment', Democrat or Republican, it was GOING to effect inflation. Each time my thought was "oh boy...we're headed down a dark path now". You cannot keep handing out money / wiping expected payments from the books and expect it to NOT impact the overall economy.
Both sides are guilty of doing these things its just the Democrats with their socialist morality are the biggest offenders. It's like they dont know how macro economics work or throw it all aside when they're trying to buy votes.

Welcome to the recession boys.
 
Not really a update on us but it will effect Bartlein and shipping in general. Fedex announced a 6.9 to 7.9% annual rate increase due to inflation costs.


Now I'm waiting to see what UPS will do.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
Had to arrange for delivery of a product from Taiwan at work.

FedEx was 80% mo money than UPS.
 
Not really a update on us but it will effect Bartlein and shipping in general. Fedex announced a 6.9 to 7.9% annual rate increase due to inflation costs.


Now I'm waiting to see what UPS will do.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
And Biden said: I DID THAT !!!!
 
Common man.

Remember when the national debt used to be viewed as a debt to payoff?.......now it is just used as a line graph to compare the angle of inclination against the other guy.
Painful truth. It's a ceiling to be raised in perpetuity. No one cares about deficits or payoffs anymore. All a part of instilling a lack of accountability in the nation and people. Meanwhile, i'll keep paying down/off my debts cause i'm f**king responsible.
 
You know the real sh1t of it all is? I have 3 bachelors degrees that I only had to take 10% of the cost on loan to get because I worked my tookus off to get scholarships to cover. I worked 2-3 jobs in high school to pay what the scholarships DIDNT cover. Then, realizing my degrees were going to be useless outside of checking the box of "having a degree", i pivoted into a separate industry starting at the very bottom. Worked my tookus off pulling myself up by the bootstraps to get where I am now which is pretty high level. My house will be paid for in the next 2-3 years because i stayed in my means to get it. It is LITERALLY the only debt i have. I have been super diligent with my money because, for the first 2 years of my career, i was juggling finances like a clown at a small time circus. Never once did i ask for help.

...and i'm going to be one of the ones to foot the bill for people who did not plan. Did not manage their money. Did not get educations that would make them useful to society (mine were...just not enough to make a living). Borrowed way beyond their means and are chasing dreams of being movie producers, basket weavers, and other things that frankly will not gain them enough monetarily to pay off their debts.

Venting over. I'll stop posting on this now apologies.
 
Common man.

Remember when the national debt used to be viewed as a debt to payoff?.......now it is just used as a line graph to compare the angle of inclination against the other guy.
It was mythical, even then.

But still at a level we could believe was possible.

Now we're in Neverland.
 
It was mythical, even then.

But still at a level we could believe was possible.

Now we're in Neverland.

I remember when the news was going shithouse because we were at 3 Trillion or so.

Shit until 2008 or so I think we were at 10T.

The last decade......insane. Why?
 
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I remember when the news was going shithouse because we were at 3 Trillion or so.

Shit until 2008 or so I think we were at 10T.

The last decade......insane. Why?
Because it is hard to siphon money unless you can throw it at a "problem". Sometimes there is no problem, so they need to create one.

Defund the police.....crime wave......throw huge amounts of money at crime prevention and loosely keep track of where the money goes.

Expect huge amounts of money to get ear marked for the massive illegal immigration related problems in the next 5 years or so.

Apply this model as much as the public allows. If the public starts asking questions, throw them a bone here and there so they get a warm and fuzzy then proceed back to the original plan.

Politics as usual in America.

Sometimes I look around and see how good this country is (relatively) and the lives we have and wonder how much better it would be if the corruption stated above was not happening. I mean think about it......no wasteful spending on abused social programs.......no wasteful spending on international BS........etc.

Would we all be working 20hrs a week and enjoying family/life/hobbies more often?

Lessening the burden of overworking to survive......or lessening the need to spend decades setting ourselves up to not overwork in the later part of our working career.

National level funding for preventative healthcare, education, etc. Not a no strings attached handout but a benefit for the employed.

This of course does not account for the sinful nature of man......that is why it will never happen. But I can imagine.
 
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The whole “I can’t find anybody to work” argument is way overplayed and just lame at this point. If you offer good compensation and benefits and have a good company culture, you should be able to find folks to work no problem.
The owners at my company have 500 employees, many doing PLANT work, menial, repetitive tasks, and they have a WAIT LIST for potential employees.
They pay very well, offering raises and bonuses to all employees based on production, safety, and quality. They give everyone in the whole company access to health and retirement benefits, some of which they pay for, and they also have a strong family type culture.
It’s unfortunate that you are pissing so many people off. That’s no fun for anyone. You might want to find a way to up your production or stop taking orders until you get caught up. Even Mark LaRue figured that out and he is cranking. Cheers
 
The whole “I can’t find anybody to work” argument is way overplayed and just lame at this point. If you offer good compensation and benefits and have a good company culture, you should be able to find folks to work no problem.
The owners at my company have 500 employees, many doing PLANT work, menial, repetitive tasks, and they have a WAIT LIST for potential employees.
They pay very well, offering raises and bonuses to all employees based on production, safety, and quality. They give everyone in the whole company access to health and retirement benefits, some of which they pay for, and they also have a strong family type culture.
It’s unfortunate that you are pissing so many people off. That’s no fun for anyone. You might want to find a way to up your production or stop taking orders until you get caught up. Even Mark LaRue figured that out and he is cranking. Cheers
Thriller apparently has his thumb on the labor market in/around Jackson, WI. If owning and running a business was as easy as Thriller makes it sound, I doubt he’d be working for someone else! Keep up the good work, Frank Green.
 
The higher the product quality the more important it is to keep up that quality if you are hoping to build and maintain a top quality reputation. Im sure this is something Bartlein thinks about in their hiring. They are in the business of making the highest quality precision barrels, not mass employment of all breathing life forms with a high school diploma.
 
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Hiring a warm body that will work is hard enough. Hiring a warm body in a precision field is hard enough. Hiring somebody that is good at what they do is hard. In a precision oriented business you have to do all 3 and even then they might be just a button pusher. Finding all of that (or even the potential for all of that) in a younger person is hard. Having someone who can't do their own setups can sometimes be completely useless. The more precision the smaller the pool of potential candidates can be.
 
The whole “I can’t find anybody to work” argument is way overplayed and just lame at this point. If you offer good compensation and benefits and have a good company culture, you should be able to find folks to work no problem.
The owners at my company have 500 employees, many doing PLANT work, menial, repetitive tasks, and they have a WAIT LIST for potential employees.
They pay very well, offering raises and bonuses to all employees based on production, safety, and quality. They give everyone in the whole company access to health and retirement benefits, some of which they pay for, and they also have a strong family type culture.
It’s unfortunate that you are pissing so many people off. That’s no fun for anyone. You might want to find a way to up your production or stop taking orders until you get caught up. Even Mark LaRue figured that out and he is cranking. Cheers
I'm in plenty I mean plenty of restaurants and other SMALL SMALL BUSINESSES who can't afford the upscale perks and sterling environments.

I call BULL to your comment.
 
The whole “I can’t find anybody to work” argument is way overplayed and just lame at this point. If you offer good compensation and benefits and have a good company culture, you should be able to find folks to work no problem.
The owners at my company have 500 employees, many doing PLANT work, menial, repetitive tasks, and they have a WAIT LIST for potential employees.
They pay very well, offering raises and bonuses to all employees based on production, safety, and quality. They give everyone in the whole company access to health and retirement benefits, some of which they pay for, and they also have a strong family type culture.
It’s unfortunate that you are pissing so many people off. That’s no fun for anyone. You might want to find a way to up your production or stop taking orders until you get caught up. Even Mark LaRue figured that out and he is cranking. Cheers
Try hiring some civil engineers....
 
The hiring issues I have seen recently are directly related to the "shitbag ratio".

When the shitbag pool goes up the decent candidates/employees think they are God's gift to companies and start demanding absurd wages.

Keeping good employees happy and well paid is always good management.......within reason.

For example, I had a recent talk with a highschool friend of mine and he was bitching about his job (locksmith) and how the pay was just "OK". As the details were unveiled......I saw he was just being a total whiny cunt.

- HS diploma
- no college
- no formal locksmith training.....all OJT from employer
- no after hours mandate
- all tools and transportation provided by employer
- low $3X/hr.....not including overtime.

WTF.....over.

And his attitude totally comes because he is a midwest born/raised hardworking country kid who can think for himself but is surrounded by Boulder Colorado lazy shitbags who avoid sweating like they avoid Covid.

Since when do you get special recognition for something you are supposed to do???

Ern
 
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Just finished watching this. Fits in with the thread creep about hiring. He has gone into lots of shops filming including Area 419.
 
I'm in plenty I mean plenty of restaurants and other SMALL SMALL BUSINESSES who can't afford the upscale perks and sterling environments.

I call BULL to your comment.
I wouldn't call good compensation, benefits and culture (which doesn't cost anything) upscale. If those small small businesses can't afford basic things like those then it sounds like they have a bad business model and either shouldn't be in business or shouldn't be hiring employees.
 
The hiring was originally brought up by Frank early in the thread. That will happen as people read older posts in a thread.

Getting it back on the stated topic saw this come up in my podcast listen later. @Frank Green on the @Rifles Only Accuracy Podcast.

Bartlein Barrels

Listening to it now. It's good to hear what Frank sounds like after reading his posts over the years.
 
The hiring was originally brought up by Frank early in the thread. That will happen as people read older posts in a thread.

Getting it back on the stated topic saw this come up in my podcast listen later. @Frank Green on the @Rifles Only Accuracy Podcast.

Bartlein Barrels

Listening to it now. It's good to hear what Frank sounds like after reading his posts over the years.

I don’t like the sound of my voice on tv or the radio/podcast! Hope you enjoy it.

An hour of time isn’t enough but I do understand why the time constraint etc…when I teach classes…it’s usually 3 to 4 hours. 3 hours is on the light side.
 
I must say how impressed I am with my first Bartlein barrel. 200 rounds thru it so far. Cleaned today with foaming bore cleaner and it was spotless after running 6 patches thru it. You can't beat that!
 
I don’t like the sound of my voice on tv or the radio/podcast! Hope you enjoy it.

An hour of time isn’t enough but I do understand why the time constraint etc…when I teach classes…it’s usually 3 to 4 hours. 3 hours is on the light side.
Nobody tends to like the sound of their own voice recorded. Sounds wrong. I think it's because we have the resonances in our head that we don't hear.

It's nice to hear voices to get to know the persons accent and cadences of speech. That way when you read what people write if you get to know their voice well enough you can hear it in their voice. Just like this.
292023_467509829936700_277356107_n.jpg


Would love to hear more explaining about barrels and barrel making.

What do the cut rifling chips look like? Machinist here.
 
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