J4 Jacket Troubles

B

Bart

Member
I am doing the best I can to fill orders, but I can’t do it without jackets. I have been in a terminal shortage since December. I called and spoke with the Production Manager Eric Stecker and found out that they are in the process of moving the machines. Hopefully they will be up and running shortly. I’m not banging on J4. They make wonderful jackets; it’s just that I am having trouble getting them.

So for those who have bullets on order please be patient. I’ll get them to you as quick as possible. But not much I can do right now.

Thanks

Bart Sauter

Bart’s Custom Bullets
 
Thanks for the info Bart.

I am still waiting on 2500 Ultra 68's from Sinclair. They said they expected to ship soon. Just so I have it from the horses mouth, have you managed to get some to Sinclair ?

Not rushing you by any means, just want to plan the finances on how I am going to pay for them if they are ready when they said, I got a couple of barrels from Kelbly's due about the same time !

Thanks a lot.

Bryce
 
Bryce,

Sinclair’s is at the top of the list (along with Hoehn Sales and Bruno’s). But I can’t predict when I can get bullets to them. Everything comes to a grinding halt without jackets.

Bart
 
Thanks Bart, nice to have the correct information from the man that knows for certain. No sweat, I have 1000 bullets left so I am good for a little while.

Good luck with your efforts on the jackets and keep cranking out those fine bullets !

Bryce
 
I just wanted to echo Bart's post. He has jackets on order and we were moving the presses and have been unable to produce them. (the only thing he got wrong is that I am the General Manager not the Production Manager):)

The machine move is completed and we expect 6mm jacket production to start again (with the .790 long first) either by the end of this week or the first part of next week. We did manage to find Bart a stash of .790 long to get him going again.

Once the machine starts running good jackets we will complete all the .790 long jackets needed by Bart and everyone else in 3-4 days. The 6mm .825 long will run after the .790 long. The .825 long jackets will be on the press for 2-3 weeks.

Regards,
Eric
 
Good news. Where are the J4 jackets made? Been alot of "machines" moved south since NAFTA. I'm sure yours are not among them, but I did cringe at the thought. DW
 
The machines that make the J4 jackets were moved from one side of the plant to the other. Berger Bullets is located in a 180,000 square foot plant. We share this space with our sister company Caran Precision.

The J4 presses were located in the middle of the Caran floor. Over the last 2 years Berger has been reorganized and moved to one section of the plant (that is considerable less than 180,000 square feet).

This is the final phase in a project to bring all Berger equipment into one area. Most will understand why it is better to have all our presses at arms reach rather than spread across the plant (which used to be the case).

For those who don't know Berger makes J4 jackets. We own the presses, tooling and the operators are on our payroll. This has been true since January 2006.

Berger merged with J4 in 2000 and even though the production of the J4 jackets was the responsibility of another company we were a big part of quality control since Berger was the sole distributor of J4 Jackets since the 80's. Berger acquired all the J4 equipment and personnel in January 2006. We have no intension of changing the name to Berger Jackets.

Regards,
Eric
 
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Thanks

I would like to thank Walt Berger and Eric Stecker for going out of their way to roundup some jackets for me. The 790s will make a lot of the new Boat tail guys happy.

Hopefully once the jacket making equipment is moved and consolidated Eric and J4 will be able to keep a continuous flow of jackets coming. I know that other bullet makers are hurting as well.

Thanks for the Help!

Bart
 
Eric,

I'm sure you have heard from some shooters about the desire to have you make 6.5 jackets in .920 length. Do you have anything on the drawing board for this? There seems to be quite an interest in 6.5 BR for HV. I know of at least nine people who have gotten all tooled up only to be roadblocked by the lack of a suitable and reliable supply of jackets in the proper length. There is a great deal of interest in this and a very large potential. Your continued attention to this matter would be much appreciated.

Thank you.
Larry
 
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6.5br

Eric,

I support Larry's request, as my plan is to start making my own bullets pretty soon.

Thanks,

George
 
We are making a 1.050 long and frankly did not plan on making a short jacket until we started receiving many requests for a lighter 6.5mm bullet (the requests for a shorter jackets were few).

We are putting all of our resources into making the tooling for a complete line of thicker jackets for the heavy bullets. The list is long so this will take some time. After this tooling is completed we can start working on a shorter 6.5mm.

Follow up with me directly in May so that I am reminded to pursue this situation if I don't get any other reminders between now and then. We will make these shorter jackets.

Regards,
Eric
 
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