OK I'll jump in here.....
If someone has a blank you can get your hands on or should I say if you already have a blank you've got 50% of the battle already done then finding a smith to put it on....usually can be done pretty quick and again depending on the smiths back log/work load.
Pandemic, riot, election year, the fear of guns/ammo being taxed or taken away, defunding the police etc...and not to mention the amount of new gun owners buying guns and ammo....none of it could've been predicted or even geared up for to some extent.
I seen a guy a month ago at the local Fleet Farm store wailing his arms all over the place and complaining out loud that the ammo companies are not making any ammo. So I finally said to the guy...."all of the ammo and bullet makers etc...are working over time!" After explaining everything to him....he says, " so we have the perfect storm going on!" I said, "yep!"
If you haven't seen already.....ammo is tough to find, bullets, primers etc...We also make ammunition test barrels and not just test barrels but on all kinds of barrels we make....just in the last 8-9 weeks our orders are up 40%.
Back in late June thru July (let's say 4-5 week time frame) test barrel orders where up 3x more than normal compared to a regular month.
We don't make inventory per say. There is no way to predict even on a bolt gun blank what the next guy is going to want. If I had that crystal ball to pick caliber, contour, twist, number of grooves, barrel length and type of steel I could work at any company on this planet and name my salary.
Word on the street is....primer makers are no longer taking any orders as they are booked into 2022 now and brass makers seem like they are in the same boat. Go on Lee reloadings website. Back in April they are asking customers to not even call and place orders but go thru distributors only. That tells me they cannot handle the amount of orders/demand being put on them and they are working over time and weekends.
If Biden gets in.....expect the problem or the demand to get worse for everything in the firearms industry. We will all be in this boat for the next 2 to 4 years at a minimum. Remember what it was like when Obama was President. He was the best gun salesman this country has ever had.
We are making stuff as fast as we can as well as trying to help with emergency orders to some extent in regards to test barrels etc....if a bullet maker/ammo maker doesn't have test barrels....then that product gets put on the back burner or has to get rescheduled etc...and don't forget the ammo maker is also supplying ammo to the military and law enforcement agencies besides us match rifle shooters. One guy I talked to testing 300 Norma for the military told me last week he had to stop testing. Why? Out of ammo!
Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels