Regrettably, I am further behind than ever for this early in the year - this is partly due to increased demand and also the [jacket availability] problems experienced throughout the entire past year,2005) - even my "ridiculously huge inventory",according to my accountant), was severely taxed. While nobody would like to have all of my back-log shipped more than I, the reality is that custom hand-made bullets require much more time to produce than do mass produced "match" bullets, which at the BIG name's plants, are produced at the rate of about 50,000 to 55,000 per ten hour shift!
I'll confess to being the kettle calling the pot black - but, truly hand-made BR quality bullets, whether mine or, my friendly competitor's, are a bargain worth planning ahead for. One thing that can be neither "taught" to, nor, programmed into a machine - "
tactile judgment"! During cor-seating and point-up, a good bullet maker "culls"
everyodd feeling bullet. Yes, a machine can perform tasks to a positive stop, a given pressure/dwell, or any combination imaginable - but, in our life-times, it will never have judgment; a particularly human trait . . . well, unless we're talking about
BIG MIKE, my alter ego)
Some of my competitors, who may not be as far behind with orders, but who make excellent BR quality, thirty caliber bullets: Ronnie Cheek; Ralph Council; Jeff Fowler. I hope that people who have been patiently waiting for BIB bullets will bear with me - by the end of April, I should be back to about a 4-6 week lead-time - a not unreasonable time to wait for "good stuff" - but I can understand if people cancel existing orders if they can locate other good bullets before I can get them done.
I get a number of targets, shot using the various mass produced "light weight" thirty caliber bullets, from customers "threatening" to switch permanently!

Some of the top aggers: Speer 125 Gr. TNT; Hornady 110 Gr. V-max; Nosler 125 Gr. BT. With these bullets, of particular "lots", some truly exceptional results are possible - just don't expect them to be as reliably consistent from Lot-to-Lot as hand swaged BR bullets.
And even within a good lot, don't be surprised by the occasional AGGREGATE wrecker . . . Keep 'em ON the X! R.G.