Now, I'd like to point out right now that the gracious hosts of this forum, Beartooth Bullets, make excellent bullets and I'd personally love to use their products. But thanks to the State Department and other US authorities there's not chance of me getting them on a regular basis. So, as a consequence, I'd like to talk about HRBC as they provide an excellent product for Australian shooters, and as turns out, overseas shooters as well.
The other day I rang Les, who currently owns the business, and he told me last year that he bought the business as something to do with his father, who I gather is retired. It's fair to say that he underestimated the demand for cast bullets. When I first spoke to him last year I was after 500 flat base .313" 122gn RNFP bullets for my BSA Martini Cadet rifle in 310 Greener and despite the fact he was still getting the business up on it's feet after moving it from NSW to Victoria he filled my order quite quickly and was very easy to deal with.
Fast forward to this year and I was enquiring about the .323" 128gn heeled bullet for myself and a mate who has just bought himself a Martini Cadet. Since neither of us are completely sure which bullet will suit best but I had some success with 4 handloaded rounds using heeled bullets I asked Les for some samples which he was happy to send along, knowing I was good for the money. It was at that point that he told me he's been working 6 and 7 day weeks to supply both the shooting community here in Australia AND - which surprised me most - Winchester Australia.
Many of you may know that Olin here in Australia load a STACK of 22lr ammo. Which explains why we could always get 22lr ammo but you guys in the USA often couldn't get it for love nor money, especially when Obama was doing his worst to panic folks. What is less well know is that much of Winchesters boutique ammo is made here in Melbourne and it turns out they're also making handgun ammo which is sent to the USA. No sooner had Les got his manufacturing up and going he got an order for 100,000 357/9mm 125gn RNFP bullets from Winchester. Apparently the manager there couldn't make enough for themselves. Not long afterward the order doubled and about a month from then the order grew to 500,000 projectiles.
Then there's the 10,000 projectile orders for various shooting bodies all over Australia and the smaller orders from people like myself. Les had to take on a young fella to help and while he already had made bulk cast projectiles I suspect he has learnt on the run what works best. He's spent a lot of money getting new molds and altered things to assist the whims of customers.
Whatever the case, I recommend if you're in Oz and you need cast bullets give Les a call. He can talk the leg off a table while telling you he's got no time to chat and is busier than a 1 legged man in a butt kicking competition. Suffice to say, the product and service are great and if you're in the US and using Winchester 357 or 9mm cast ammo you might find yourself shooting Les's product.
Possibly the nicest thing about the whole situation is that as people within Australia and outside of it celebrate the fact we have some the strictest and most ineffective gun laws in the world our shooting industry is thriving in it's own way. In fact I said to Les that what he was doing at HRBC was true alchemy......turning lead into gold!:D