16ga.com ~ View topic - Downrange Manufacturing still in business?

Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 52 Location: Michigan

Several people have told me that Down Range is out of business. I can't find anything to confirm or deny that but I can't find any of their wads available anywhere. I like the DR 16 wad; it works very well in my loads.

Does anyone know the status of Down Range Manufacturing?

Thanks.

Steve

Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 3178 Location: NCWa

According to the Downrange website, not the body armor site but the wads site; they can be contacted at sales@downrangemfg.com or calling Kevin at 402-463-3415

it would be nice if they rebound , but not likely . Still haven't recovered from the roof damage and have suffered a managereal loss . If you search dealers like Recobs , Precision etc , there are few DR wads avail . Precision has some , but most likely old stock . (they do have a good variety of 16 wads though - keep an eye on them )

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Guns Unlimited in Omaha recently picked up a variety of wads from Downrange, mostly 12ga but also some 28ga Red Duster. Might have gotten some 20ga as well, but no 16ga. I didn't get ahold of the individual(s) who actually went to the source to pick these up, so haven't asked yet if the 16s were even available. Indication, then, is they are still in business.

I visited with Jim Kerr at the Missouri State Shoot last Saturday.

Roof is still on the building , went with a membrane and ballast roof.

CANNOT GET PLASTICS , very hard to find.

I would suggest that the next time the mold runs that one purchase all of the DR 16'S that you think you might need or want .

Anything can happen now days.

Best regards Nick

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 756 Location: Mn.

I talked to Kevin back in late December, posted this on another site. Based on the XL-1 wad but also the DR16:

I talked to Kevin in December and he was hoping to have another run of DR16 wads by the end of January. Obviously it did not happen as mentioned he has had an issue with raw materials. Which I am afraid may mean the DR16 will not be a high priority when he is trying to catch up on other wads. He did have roof issues previously first with the straight line winds then in the repair of them.

I got lucky and split a case of DR16's and another case of SG16 (for 1 oz.) wads with a friend a few months ago. Hate to possible shoot myself in the foot by putting it out there publicly but Kevin did say when he made the DR16 wads most of them would go to Recobs Target.

You can create an account at Recobs then a wishlist of all items you are looking for. At a glance you can tell what they have available. Been awhile since they have much in stock though.

Have purchased a lot from them over the years although get most of my supplies at a couple of clubs I shoot at, or Spring Reloading Sales. Which didn't happen this year of course. Anywhere.

Back at the end of February I purchased the last case of XL-1 wads from Precision Reloading, my first time ordering from them and wouldn't hesitate to do so again. Like Recobs they use SpeeDee delivery if you are in the upper Midwest so shipping and HazMat fees are half the cost of other carriers. End of March realized I was getting low on XL-1 Blue (1 1/ Cool

wads and bought the last 8 bags of them from Precision that they had in stock.

Nick has it right. Don't think Kevin is going down yet. And almost hate to post where to get them where the will be when available. But seeing how we are among friends here....

He actually said all of them will be available at Recobs, not most.

Long story but it is through Recobs when I first met him when I had issues with green dusters. Recobs told me if I would had gone through them instead of Gander they could have refunded my money. Kevin said Duster had a bad batch of plastic and he wouldn't wish that on anyone even a competitor. He is a class act IME.

He now owns and manufactures Duster wads

Before he got a commercial freezer he would ask me to test wad/powder/hull combinations in the cold that others were complaining of not working. Living in the coldest State in CONUS not a problem and he would send me a bag of the wads if I didn't have them. The rest was up to me. Oh and crimp depth came into play. It is important for enough pressure in the cold. When I called him he remembered me well enough to say crimp them deep LOL. .055 to be exact using a notch of my RCBS calipers from the 70's.

Another long story but looks like my son and I shot more than 17,000 F616 that summer with Promo powder. To save money. When winter hit and the cold they no longer worked so well. Which would be a kind statement. Kevin and I involved Alliant but it was an exercise in frustration.Will leave it at that but was enough to put me solidly in the Hodgdon camp.

Until recently now I will take what I can get LOL.

His pressure gun revealed a lot once he got a commercial freezer and verified my results.

Almost 20 years ago and photobucket stripped off the legend on the graph I did for his pressure gun from the raw data. But still should get the "picture" based on primary and secondary ignitions. With primer powder combination.

Star of end result is that the Wad had nothing negative to do with it.

Now if he can only come up for air and make some more DR16 wads I know a lot of people that would be very pleased. Count me in.

Joined: 30 Sep 2019 Posts: 145 Location: Colorado

Thanks for the detailed update on DR and glad to hear Kevin is making it. The DR16 is my primary wad for low pressure 3/4oz loads so have been rationing my dwindling supply.
I try to buy everything I can from a local shop but talked to them yesterday and they are hurting. Understandable. You can’t make sales if you don’t have product to sell.
And thanks for the Recob heads up. Will open an account.
I managed to score two boxes of Ched 209’s a while back because I had an account at BP and kept a back order in their system. To be honest, it had been there so long I’d forgotten that it was there. But when they finally got some in I got first priority on them (as did all the other BO holders).
(Update: I noticed this morning, 27 May, that BP has changed their BO policy and now will only hold BO’s for 60 days.)
Also, been thinking about wad substitutions but will start a new thread on the topic.

Keep eyes on Recobs and Precision .... Recob not showing any 16's , but Prec shows pretty much all in stock but the DR!^ .... Raw materials are a real bugger if spotty unavailable . There is a very specific formula in the DR and can't be redily substituted . A real P.I.TA for Nick if new stuff needed ! THANX CI for the info !