Berger stock

[swadiver]

I am aware of Berger's physical plant move to Arizona, the change of corporate ownership, and the new distributor, but months after this all transpired, many Berger products are still not in stock around the country, and have been out of stock for some time. i am a big fan of Berger (that's all I shoot), but whatever business model they are pursuing at this point may drive me to some of their competitors.

maybe someone from Berger or Capstone can chime in and try to relieve my frustration at the inability to spend my money on their products

 

[Papa Charlie]

The lack of stock is not surprising. A move such as this is a huge disruption, no doubt they depleted what stock they may have had during the take down, moving, resetting of the equipment, infrastructure, etc. Not a small task as well as having to locate and train new employees to operate and run the facility.
I am seeing more of the their stock on the shelf and it will be some time before we see the volume we have been accustom to.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Custom bullets are always an option. Those orders are usually filled reliably but like mr p.c. said thats a huge undertaking and seeing stock already getting out says a lot about the money they must have thrown at that move to get it as fast as they did

 

[ballisticdaddy]

This has been brought up in a few threads and the response from Lapua was that it would not be until late summer before any new bullets would ship from the new facility. Seems like they have been rationing the available stock to compensate.

 

[swadiver]

This has been brought up in a few threads and the response from Lapua was that it would not be until late summer before any new bullets would ship from the new facility. Seems like they have been rationing the available stock to compensate.

Late summer?????!!!!!!!! that's piss poor, imho

 

[mikeeg02]

Dan Frazier, a local shooter that buys a ton of Bergers and sells them to help out the local shooters was told earlier this year that he should expect them at the end of may. I just saw him at Williamsport last weekend and he's not seen a single bullet. He's not entirely sure that they wont hit bigger stores then him first. Midway, Brownells, Midsouth, etc. He buys a lot, but not near what any of the bigger names do.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I won a certificate for Berger bullets back in April, emailed to Berger their response was they would ship when Juggernauts where available. Received them at end of May, so it would seem as though they are making progress on their new plant. I would also suppose they will be addressing their most common rounds first and their long term commitment contracts which require preset shipping schedules. So the estimate for the end of summer maybe for all models.

 

[Catfur]

Late summer?????!!!!!!!! that's piss poor, imho

Are you a millwright? Have you performed startup on many manufacturing plants?

 

[Thud]

It seems here that a lot of people don't understand the logistics of moving and resetting up a manufacturing operation.
Just the physical plan of moving the stuff from removal to resetup NEVER goes according to schedule. Then the people are your trained operators and maintance people coming along or do you need to train a new staff. Yes on paper is looks easy but in real life it isn't.
If we are told late summer bet you late fall is when you see stuff in quanity.

Just be patient and stop stirring the pot without understanding the process. I have a feeling they know what they are doing.

 

[Delfuego]

I am just moving to Sierra or other manufacturers. They also raised their pricing and changed a bunch of internal stuff such as pricing tiers, sales staff, etc. I am just about done with Berger...

 

[KevinThomas]

So far, we've been getting hit up with requests for the 6mm 105s, 6.5mm 140s and several of the 7mms more than any others. Right behind these are the 30 cals, in a variety of configurations. We've added a second shift and are starting to catch up with production, but yes, it takes time for everything to work its way through the system. In the past couple weeks, I've seen several large pallets of 6mm 105s and the 6.5mm 140s going out the dock. So they're on the way, and you should be seeing many of those backorders filled very soon. We're getting there, but it's a process, not an event.

In the future, we hope to see this sort of thing go by the wayside. Berger's previous owners had a reluctance to keep inventory on hand, preferring to try to fill orders are they developed. This was always a recipe for backorders. Nammo has an entirely different approach to this. We WANT to have inventory on hand, and to be able to fill orders with as few backorders as we possibly can. Ideally, no backorders at all, ever. But given the disruption of the move, the organization of a new distribution model and catching up on all the existing backorders, well, you get the drift. Hang in there, they're coming.

 

[swadiver]

So far, we've been getting hit up with requests for the 6mm 105s, 6.5mm 140s and several of the 7mms more than any others. Right behind these are the 30 cals, in a variety of configurations. We've added a second shift and are starting to catch up with production, but yes, it takes time for everything to work its way through the system. In the past couple weeks, I've seen several large pallets of 6mm 105s and the 6.5mm 140s going out the dock. So they're on the way, and you should be seeing many of those backorders filled very soon. We're getting there, but it's a process, not an event.

In the future, we hope to see this sort of thing go by the wayside. Berger's previous owners had a reluctance to keep inventory on hand, preferring to try to fill orders are they developed. This was always a recipe for backorders. Nammo has an entirely different approach to this. We WANT to have inventory on hand, and to be able to fill orders with as few backorders as we possibly can. Ideally, no backorders at all, ever. But given the disruption of the move, the organization of a new distribution model and catching up on all the existing backorders, well, you get the drift. Hang in there, they're coming.

thanks for replying.

i am not "stirring the pot" for the sake of it. i am a consumer. pure and simple. you have product(s) i need and i can't obtain them, that's all. and, i believe, i have been patient. that doesn't mean i can't vent some frustration at the inability to obtain these products when needed. i have been looking for 6mm 80gr FB Varmit and 6mm 108 Target bullets for some time. a shooting friend had e mailed Berger in March or April and was told the 108's would be on the shelves sometime in May. well, here we are in mid June and none to be found.

in the end, if Berger is unable to provide the products i need, i will have to look elsewhere. that's the free market, i hope that is not the case, because i think they make terrific bullets

 

[raptor1ronin]

I sent an email to Berger the other day about the 90VLD’s patiently waiting for a response.

 

[boltman13]

I have been able to get the 30 cal bullets I like, and I plan to wait for the 6.5 Hybrids as nothing works as well for me in my rifle. It looks like the pipeline is starting to fill and soon we may have all we need. That's what I hope anyway.

 

[Nature Boy]

As someone who has spent his entire professional career in manufacturing, and to date has been responsible for closing and moving 5 factories, I can attest to the challenges of keeping the supply chain intact.

Closing and moving a plant is like performing a heat transplant, but doing it simultaneously with revamping your distribution model would be like doing brain surgery too while you have the patient on the table.

It would be almost impossible not to have back orders with all that disruption. The only thing that would prevent it would be to build enough inventory ahead of the closure to cover the blackout period. You would have to have perfect knowledge of what your demand would be between shut down and start up because the inventory you have at shut down is all you’re going to have until production begins again. Here’s what makes that difficult.

1. Any delay in the transfer schedule = backorders
2. Don’t anticipate the volume of stocking orders from new distributors = backorders
3. Customers order more than they normally would because they know there will be backorders = more backorders

You get the point. Good luck and I hope you get thinks rolling. It sounds like you are almost there.

 

[KevinThomas]

I sent an email to Berger the other day about the 90VLD’s patiently waiting for a response.

Are these the .224" 90 VLDs? If so, they're on our shelves out back right now. If you have an order in through a distributor, they've probably already been sent out and are enroute now.

 

[dsculley]

If you really read Kevin Thomas' first post, you should understand that while there may have been some pain in this transition in the short term, the long term benefit will be that once the dust has settled you will benefit from a more consistent availability of product as they plan to keep inventory on hand for immediate shipment rather than make the product to order as has been done in the past.

I like and use a lot of Berger bullets, but if they are not available I have other alternatives. Compare the this issue to the availability of certain powders over the past few years and the short term Berger bullet shortage is nothing. I couldn't get H4350 for a long time. No real issue, there are other powders that I can use. I can promise you that this issue has worried Berger as much as it has us. Every time someone has to try an alternative due to Berger unavailability there is the possibility of lost business in the future.

 

[barefooter56]

I sent an email to Berger the other day about the 90VLD’s patiently waiting for a response.

RELOADING INTERNATIONAL has them in stock :http://www.reloadinginternational.com/search.php?s=berger&sort=1a&page=2

 

[barefooter56]

thanks for replying.

i am not "stirring the pot" for the sake of it. i am a consumer. pure and simple. you have product(s) i need and i can't obtain them, that's all. and, i believe, i have been patient. that doesn't mean i can't vent some frustration at the inability to obtain these products when needed. i have been looking for 6mm 80gr FB Varmit and 6mm 108 Target bullets for some time. a shooting friend had e mailed Berger in March or April and was told the 108's would be on the shelves sometime in May. well, here we are in mid June and none to be found.

in the end, if Berger is unable to provide the products i need, i will have to look elsewhere. that's the free market, i hope that is not the case, because i think they make terrific bullets

RELOADING INTERNATIONAL has the 6mm 80gr Varmints in stock: http://www.reloadinginternational.com/search.php?s=berger&sort=1a&page=6 . The 6mm 108 BT Target bullets are in production and should be shipping out end of June / first part of July. Our apologies for your wait and thank you for your patience during this time of transition for us. Kevins comments are all spot on. We are gaining ground rapidly on this issue. In fact , Thanks to all our Berger Bullet customers for their patience and loyalty through this !!!

 

[swadiver]

RELOADING INTERNATIONAL has the 6mm 80gr Varmints in stock: http://www.reloadinginternational.com/search.php?s=berger&sort=1a&page=6 . The 6mm 108 BT Target bullets are in production and should be shipping out end of June / first part of July. Our apologies for your wait and thank you for your patience during this time of transition for us. Kevins comments are all spot on. We are gaining ground rapidly on this issue. In fact , Thanks to all our Berger Bullet customers for their patience and loyalty through this !!!

thanks for the info and update. i managed to find an individual selling 80gr here on the forum. i will be looking for the 108's.