Starline’s hot brass

What did they say about .45-70?

jski said:

I called Starline today, well actually I returned a call from Starline about a 2 month old backorder of 32 H&R brass. Orders actually expires after 6 weeks.

I happened to ask about how they decide to manufacture certain cartridge brass and how much of it, noting that 44-40 and 38-40 and 327 are eternally:



She then told they just finished some large runs of all 3 cases but all 3 sold out in just 1 day. Evidently, .32 H&R is popular but not on par with the other 3.

Click to expand...

Grafs actually has Starline 32 H&R brass in stock right now. I’ll bet that most of those intermittent runs go to fill orders for distributors.

jski said:

She then told they just finished some large runs of all 3 cases but all 3 sold out in just 1 day.

Click to expand...

I've often wondered about that. I shoot a couple of 'odd' cartridges... .41MAG, .348WCF... where brass can be tricky to find. They make a run of it... and it sells out nearly immediately. I would think that would be an indicator that they should extend the run past their existing orders. I don't know what it takes to set up for a new case, but it seems like time well spent if they would extend the run.

If you see anything on backorder that you want, place an order. They use backorder as a way to judge how much to make.

And I also would like some 45-70 when it pops up.

Graf’s recently had nickel Starline .45-70. I got 100 since I’ve been watching for some for years but otherwise waiting on my back order to come up.

https://ammoseek.com/ Have your tried. Only 1 i dont see is 327

jski said:

The really interesting question is: Why didn’t they run much larger batches of 327s, 44-40s, 38-40s, etc. if they’re selling out in 1 day ?

Click to expand...

Because McKinsey has sold ‘ cash conversion’ as the metrique du jour to manufacturers and analysts. If you’re sitting on inventory, regardless of margin or demand, you’re “inefficient”. Ergo, ‘selling out in a day’ entails a very rapid cash conversion (input materials to revenue), which is efficient.

Hard to know the number of backorders when backorders are suspended. They are apparently aware of the approximate demand and schedule runs accordingly. Perhaps they briefly open backordering prior to those occasional runs to slightly modify the size of an upcoming run.

At the moment, it appears 32 H&R Mag and 38-40 are open for backorder.

I use Starline brass for just about all of my brass needs. When they have it in stock or it can be back ordered I stock up. I will eventually use it and if I don't it can be sold. Just like ammo have a stash...

9mmepiphany said:

It is both wasteful and inefficient. Selling out the first day the product is available is ideal. Having inventory "In Stock" , for anything but high demand items is never the goal.

Click to expand...

It seems to me that having product available to sell to your customers would be the end goal. Brass is a durable good, it's not like it's going to expire like a ham sandwich on the shelf. The whole system of ordering on backorder is a bit specious... for the customer. Starline is both a wholesaler and a retailer... they HAVE to have product on the shelf to ship or sell... unless they are the only game in town and they can keep their customers hanging on, begging for brass on backorder.

Look at it this way... you are going shooting... does it make sense to stop and load one box of 9mm, retool, and load one box of .45's? ...or just run 1000 9's and 1000 .45's... and draw from your stock as need arises? Yes, you have the investment of material, and space for storage, but it seems a lot less 'wasteful and inefficient' that way. You could also say the same thing about your stash of reloading components... do you wait to go buy a pound of powder when you want to load, or do you draw on your 'inventory' of powder?

I just use Graf’s and when brass becomes available I get an email. Grafs has orders in to Starline and will order enough to fill their back orders and some inventory. Plus you can order 50 or 100 and if I remember Starline minimum for most cartridges is 250.

Im still waiting for my back order of 7.62x39.

Starline's large wholesale customer orders likely drive the timing of their runs. Smaller retail orders from individuals are likely estimated and filled using intentional overruns and backorder windows.

CoalCrackerAl said:

Im still waiting for my back order of 7.62x39.

Click to expand...

How long ago did you ordered it?

On the 4th.

I think I received my last backorder from them in about 3-4 weeks.

CoalCrackerAl said:

Im still waiting for my back order of 7.62x39.

Click to expand...

When they opened orders for 6.5 Grendel brass, it took nearly 5 weeks before I received it. I can't remember if it was on backorder or not.

jski said:

The really interesting question is: Why didn’t they run much larger batches of 327s, 44-40s, 38-40s, etc. if they’re selling out in 1 day ?

Click to expand...

T H I S !!!

If it sells and sells fast, stock it!
I was in retail sporting goods quite a bit when younger. That was the First Rule.

9mmepiphany said:

While already answered above, it bears repeating

It is both wasteful and inefficient. Selling out the first day the product is available is ideal. Having inventory "In Stock" , for anything but high demand items is never the goal.

Companies base their production runs of uncommon products on the number of "Back Orders" they have in their system. They know that a certain percentage of the Back Orders won't actually order product, that excess is what it available to folks who want their product but don't want to click the "Backorder" button/link

Click to expand...

But don't you risk losing customers (permanently) that way?
For example Montana Gold is eternally out of stock on just about everything. I've stopped bothering even to look and have found replacements that I can reliable get.

Perhaps you can sell out in 1 day, but maybe you will sell 10x as much if you have stock that typically lasts 5 days.