AND THE OTHER 301 SHOOTERS WHERE SHOOTING CUSTOM HOWS THAT FOR,CONSISTENCY).......
This is an excellent point of which I am very aware. When Berger was in Phoenix our bullets were seen regularly on the BR equipment lists. Some will recall that Bergers were one of the few commonly used and regularly successful brands.
In 1996, Walt knew we were growing beyond our ability to continue making bullets using hand operated presses. Our first bullet making machine was built. Since the 6mm 68 gr was our best seller the machine was set up to run these bullets. From late 1996 on all of the 6mm 68 gr bullet were made on this machine.
During this time Berger's maintained their success in BR and were still shot regularly by many top competitors. In 1997 Eunice won the Super Shoot and Walt won the LV 200 Yard and Grand agg at the Nationals using bullets made by this machine. You can imagine what these successes did for our sales of 68 gr.
Berger's reputation in the benchrest community suffered greatly when the business was sold and moved. Everyone,including me) was released except for Walt and Eunice. Walt did what he could to keep the quality up but he lived in AZ and those in CA running the presses were not properly following through with his directions.
When I came back I found many things that I know would make it impossible for Bergers to be successful in benchrest,or in any competition at the same level they were before). Cleaning up these issues was the first thing I did when I came back.
The same year I came back to Berger,2004) I traveled to the Super Shoot. It was very strange for me to learn that no one was using our bullets. I gave out a few hats and noticed that they were quickly tossed in the camper or on the loading bench. No one would diplay our name. It was at this match that I came to understand how bad things had become.
This was a difficult thing for me to experience. It strengthened my resolve to bring Berger back to prominence in the benchrest community which I believe has higher precision standard than any other shooting discipline.
We have two major hurdles to overcome. The first is that period of time when bullets were made of poor quality. Every BR shooter has groups that are bigger than they'd like even when their rifle is 'tuned'.
Those who trust their bullets look to things like powder charge, seating depth and neck tension to get things tightened back up. Because of this time when quality wasn't as it was before and is now, every bullet outside of a 4 shot bughole is considered a flyer due to a potential bullet problem.
I understand this concern and I understand how particular benchrest shooters are with their gear. It will take time but we will prove that we are making bullets to the same successful standards as we did with the first machine built and operated in Phoenix.
The second hurdle is that if you notice there are not one or a few dominant bullets in BR like their used to be because so many BR shooters are making their own bullets. I am thrilled that so many people have taken up bullet making but it makes it tough to get people to shoot Bergers when two or three of any given shooter's friends make good bullets too.
BR shooters have so many more options from which to choose. By the time they test a few different 'brands' they find something they like and don't test anything else until they want to experiment again. BR shooters don't typically switch brands until they get beaten regularly by someone shooting a different brand. This is not a rapid process.
I am committed to the same level of quality Walt taught me and that I achieved as the Plant Manager of Berger through our time in AZ. I am also committed to proving to the BR shooters that our bullets are the same Bergers that they could rely on prior to the move. We are going even further by testing different design configurations in a deliberate effort to reestablish our reputation among the most particular of the precision rifle shooters.
I am committed to getting Berger back on the equipment list of short range BR matches.
Regards,
Eric
