Wow, is summer flying by! Shooters are calling and e-mailing us in preparation for fall hunting – it seems like we just started summer shooting programs! A lot of new shooters have been contacting us about getting into reloading. Remember, if you need any help getting started our techs are only a phone call away and they really enjoy helping others get started into a great hobby – RELOADING! Many people want to begin reloading but are hesitant because they don’t have someone local that can help them get started, that’s what we are here for. Our techs are fantastic with helping you select the equipment and get started in a very enjoyable and rewarding pastime.

I just returned from spending several enjoyable weekends at the NRA National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. We were there for NRA Pistol, NRA Smallbore, CMP week, NRA High Power, and NRA Long-Range. It was good to see many of you come by our Commercial Row location and I always enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones out on the range during the long-range matches.

I am not sure the shooting industry is really yet aware of the outstanding performance put on by two highly respected individuals during the 2010 NRA High Power Rifle Championship held at Camp Perry, Ohio from August 10-13. Sgt Sherri Gallagher US Army (AMU Shooting Team) and Carl Bernosky put on a dual performance that may never be equaled in the NRA High Power Rifle Championship. For more information on the NRA National Rifle Championships, see the article in this newsletter.

We have a decent supply of IMR’s 8208 XBR powder now in stock. This is a powder benchrest shooters have been waiting for. We also have some good specials on some of our regular items. Keep track of special product offerings and new product additions by visiting our website frequently – www.sinclairintl.com. We enjoy hearing from you and look forward to helping you with your reloading and shooting needs.

See you in September and good shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

We are right in the heart of competitive shooting season and it is a busy time for the folks at Sinclair and our customers. We moved into our home at Camp Perry, Ohio for the NRA National Matches. Beginning with pistol, we moved through smallbore and are now ready to start shooting CMP Service Rifle, NRA Match Rifle, and then finish with Long-Range. We spend over 6 weeks at Camp Perry and really enjoy the camaraderie with our customers and plus many of us get to shoot!

If you get a chance to come by and see us at Camp Perry we would love to see you. I know I spend most weekends there so I can catch up with customers and see what they need. We are on Commercial Row and are usually open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Our last day for being at Camp Perry is Saturday, August 14th.

We are still catching up from our move in June and we apologize for any problems you have had with delivery. We are working most of the bugs out of our new operating system, new warehouse, and procurement system. I know a few customers experienced some problems and we have tried to work those out as fast as possible. Our new warehouse will allow us to ship faster and have more stuff in stock so eventually it will get better. Remember, those same guys you have been talking to for years are still on the phones and can help you if you run into a problem.

After the competitive season begins to slow down, our guys will get back to writing more articles on reloading processes and product reviews for our monthly “Reloading Press”.

Have a great month, keep enjoying the summer, and we’ll get back to you in late August!

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

What a month June has been for Sinclair and our customers! We moved our inventory into a brand new warehouse in early June, we changed our website to a different platform, and we changed our operating software that our phone representatives use. That is a lot of change for a company and their customers in a short period. Unfortunately, all those changes caused some disruption to our service. We had receiving problems so our stock doesn’t show an in-stock status when we really have it, we had process problems with international orders going to our fellow shooters in other countries, problems getting powder and primers through our hazmat system, etc. For a company that prides itself on providing exceptional customer service, any disruption to our customers drives us crazy. So, if you were affected in any way by our move, I sincerely apologize. I take problems in service to our customers personally so we are getting those problems changed as fast as humanly possible. All of the changes we are making are going to allow us to ship faster, ship more accurately, and have more inventory available for you. We are already seeing our same day shipping rates increase dramatically. We have a few more bugs to work out of the system and we have some upgrades to our website that will make it easier for you to use. Thank you to all the customers who worked with us, your loyalty and patience is sincerely appreciated.

One big improvement that came out of this system change allows you to place an order with Sinclair and at the same time you can add parts from the Brownells brand on the same order. Brownells carries thousands of unique firearm accessories, barrels, stocks, etc. that we can add to your order and have it shipped for the same flat rate and in the same shipment. That is going to be a great feature for many of our customers that want to upgrade their firearms.

Competition shooting is in full swing with matches all over the country underway. Part of the Sinclair crew just returned from the Firearms Industry Super Shoot held annually at Kelbly’s range in Ohio. For more on this event, see our brief recap article in this issue of the “Reloading Press”. We are currently preparing for Sinclair to be at the NRA National Matches in our usual location at Camp Perry. We are there for almost six weeks during the NRA National Matches and the CMP Matches. Hope you get a chance to come by and see us.

Have a great month, enjoy the summer, and I’ll get back to you in July!

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

We just got back from the 2010 NRA Annual Meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina. What a great place to have the show – the hospitality exhibited by the folks in North Carolina was fantastic! We were able to see a lot of customers and introduce a lot of people to reloading in our demo area. There were a lot of young people interested in learning about reloading and shooters that had reloaded a long time ago wanting to get back up to speed. Our friend Tom Gresham invited us to be on his GunTalk radio show live on the NRA Show floor which we always enjoy doing. Thanks Tom for having us on! Now back to Pittsburgh for the 2011 NRA Annual Meetings in late April, 2011– we look forward to seeing the shooters in that area again.

Your 2010 Sinclair Spring Flyer should be arriving in the mail or already has arrived. It is full of new products including the new Sinclair rifle rest, plenty of new reloading tools, and some special sale pricing only available for a limited time.

Our next outing is the 2010 Firearms Industry Super Shoot held at Kelbly’s Range in North Lawrence, Ohio from May 26 thru May 29. The Super Shoot is the largest benchrest match in the world with competitors from all of the United States and the world. If you are in the area come by the range and say hello.

Hope May is good to you and we’ll talk to you again in June.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

Wow, time flies! It seems like I just talked to you a few days ago and here we are in April. A lot of you must be doing a lot of shooting as our phone has been ringing off the hook and our website has been very active as well.

Congratulations go out to a few of our Sinclair Shooting Team members. Derek Rodgers, Danny Biggs, and Mason Parker turned in excellent performances at the recent United States F-Class Nationals in Sacramento, California. Derek took 1^st Place and won the gold medal in Open Class. Danny finished 3^rd  Place in the Open Class, had high X count for the event, and was also the top Senior shooter. Mason was the top Junior shooter. Nice job guys! For more information, see the article on our blog regarding the U.S. F-Class Nationals.

Speaking of F-Class, one of our new products that will be available shortly is our new Sinclair Bi-pod with Elevation. Danny Biggs (see above) has been working with us on one of our prototypes and used it in the Nationals in Open Class to take 3^rd Place against many shooters using traditional tripod rests. The new Sinclair bi-pod should be available by the 1^st week of May.

Folks, keep sending us your product ideas and we’ll do our best to tackle them. We really appreciate the input on products that we should consider building or improving. Some ideas we jump on right away, others make our longer term list, and well some just don’t materialize because of the cost impact to our customers.

In three short weeks we’ll be heading to Charlotte, North Carolina for the NRA Annual Meetings and Show – May 14 thru May 16, 2010. If you are in the area, please come by and say hello. We’d love to meet you. I’ll be there along with a few other members of the Sinclair staff. Our booth will be right up front when you come into the exhibit hall – Booth #1006.

We are always trying to help new reloaders out and have put together an introductory series just briefly touching on some of the steps on reloading. If you know someone that has thought about getting into reloading or are about ready to start, we encourage them to jump onto our website, go to “The Reloading Press,” and go through the series. They are short, well presented, and cover metallic cartridge reloading basics. They may be viewed on YouTube as well.

Have a good month and we’ll talk to you in May!

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

By now, everyone should have received our latest big catalog, Catalog #2010-A. If you haven’t received yours yet or know of a friend who would like one, just e-mail, write, call, or fax us and we’ll get one on the way.

With the weather turning a little nicer in our neck of the woods, the staff is hitting the range a little more each week now. Our harsh winter has kept them a little more cooped up than usual. Rod, one of our technicians wrote an interesting product review on the Hornady Annealing Kit. With today’s economy and brass availability, more reloaders are experimenting with annealing their brass to extend its useful life.

Be sure to take advantage of “Spring Savings” while ordering on our website through the end of this month. You’ll save $10 on all orders over $150. Just enter the Promotion Code PR411 during order check out. For customers that prefer ordering by phone, mention the Promotion Code and we’ll get you taken care of as well.

It is still a couple of months off but make plans to come by the NRA Annual Meetings and Show in Charlotte, North Carolina – May 14 thru May 16, 2010. The Sinclair booth is right up front when you come in – Booth #1006. If you are in the area, please drop by and say hello.

We appreciate your suggestions on new product additions. Our customers are the greatest test team in the world. We look forward to helping with your future reloading and shooting needs.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

This is deviating from talking about shooting to talking about football but I am finally paying up on a three week old debt to a friend in the shooting fraternity. It is shooting related because I am promoting one of the finest shooting programs in the media.

A few days before the 2010 Super Bowl featuring the New Orleans Saints and the talented and fantastic Indianapolis Colts, Tom Gresham e-mailed me and talked about the game. Now first I have to set the stage; most of you know Tom Gresham who hosts the extremely popular GunTalk radio show that is broadcast weekly all over the country including Sirius (channel 108) and XM Radio (channel 139). Tom has been a great friend to Sinclair International and Brownells over the years and he knew I was a long-time Indianapolis Colts fan and season ticket holder. It also just happens that Tom resides in Northwestern Louisiana and is naturally a Saints supporter. What follows is a re-cap of Tom’s e-mail:

Bill,
I thought it might be a good idea to have a little wager on the upcoming Saints/Colts game this Sunday, you know, kind of like the governors do!

If the Colts win, we’ll send you a supply of good Cajun food to chomp down on and if the Saints win you can send us ………..well, wait just a minute – there’s no such thing as fine Midwest Cuisine! You’ll figure something out.

Tom

Obviously Tom knows how to bait a guy into a bet. First, he knew I would take a bet against the Colts, second he questioned Indiana’s contribution to the culinary world (in fact I think he challenged the entire Midwest), and third he knew I couldn’t resist the Cajun food offer.

Well, it was a sucker bet right from the start because I was pretty certain my Colts would post a “W”, Tom knew I had lived in Louisiana about a quarter of my life during a portion of the Archie Manning era, and knew I really like Cajun food. I saw this bet as “easy money” and was already envisioning platters of crawfish etouffe, some deep bowls of fine gumbo, and maybe some Gulf shrimp stuffed with crabmeat. My wife and I had been longing for a good Louisiana meal so the timing was perfect.

We all know the outcome of the big game, congratulations to the Saints and their fans but finally its time to pay the piper. I searched high and low for some Indiana delicacies to send to Tom. The staff at Sinclair International suggested rounding up some fried tenderloins, Indiana State Fair corn dogs, or maybe some sweet corn (out of season). All of these items figured out to be too hard to ship and remain fresh (read non-soggy) so I had to start beating the bush for Indiana notables in the food category. I hate to admit it but after a weeks search I was beginning to think Tom was “on target” with his Midwest cuisine comment.

My package to Tom ended up with the following:

- A bottle of wine from Oliver Winery, a nationally recognized winery in southern Indiana outside of Bloomington (next to Indiana University and very convenient for the students)
- Some sweet bread and butter cucumber slices from Sechler’s Pickles in St. Joe, Indiana (right next to the trap and skeet club I shoot at)
- Cousin Willie’s Kettle Corn located in Ramsey, Indiana (Orville Redenbacher was my first choice but this Indiana brand moved their headquarters to Nebraska)
- A big bottle of Red Gold Ketchup out of Elwood, Indiana. Inside joke: Tom, ask Jason Hornady from Hornady Manufacturing about Red Gold.
- A five-pack of Old Fort Porter from Mad Anthony Brewery located in Fort Wayne, Indiana (I swear Tom, it’s an Indiana bottling tradition to leave an empty chamber in the box – like carrying a six-gun).
- Some of the finest truffles in the world from DeBrand’s Chocolatier in Fort Wayne, Indiana (very close to the home of Sinclair’s). Tom, I would suggest sharing this item with your lovely wife.
- Finally, some special sugar cookies made just for Tom by the Cookie Cottage located in Fort Wayne, IN (a nationally know cookie bakery). See photo.

Midwest Basket of Goodies

Cookies just for Tom from the Cookie Cottage in Fort Wayne, IN

Tom, your package is going out by air today. Thenext time you are in town I’ll buy you the biggest tenderloin I can find you. If the Saints and Colts play again in the big game, don’t e-mail me!

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International

Okay folks, this wasn’t part of the bet but since we are on the subject this is a great time to give you some info about GunTalk Radio., Tom’s radio show GunTalk is a great program and one of the biggest advocates of gun rights in our country plus its packed full of interesting guests from throughout the shooting industry (competitors, hunters, manufacturer spokespersons, etc.). There is a lot of good information shared on Tom’s program by Tom, his guests, and our fellow shooters that call in. A wonderful way to spend a Sunday night is to be sitting in your reloading room doing some case prep work while listening to Tom’s show. You can find out more about GunTalk at www.guntalk.com and find the radio stations that offer the broadcast in your area. The GunTalk website has a state by state listing that makes it easy to find your local station. Don’t worry, if you don’t get coverage in your area you can always download the show each week from the website. In addition, let your local station know you want them to pick up the show.

No sign of a break in the weather yet in Northern Indiana but it should be right around the corner. Many of us are finishing up our case prep work we do each winter to prepare for the upcoming season. I thought you might find it interesting to hear what the Sinclair techs are currently working on.

Ron is continuing to work the bugs out of his 6mm/223 that he wrote about in the December 2009 – Reloading Press. He also has been working on his 30-06 for some 1000 yard shooting using Berger 175 gr. BT’s.

Bob, who answers most of our tech mail, is working on forming some brass for his 6mm/284 long range varmint rifle while he is waiting on a new stock. He is also getting ready to test some new cast bullets in his 300 Whisper and 7mm TCU. Bob is also retiring some barrels on his .243 Ackley and is going to start shooting a new 6mm CM barrel from Satern.

Pete has been busy sorting his Berger 7mm 180 gr VLD’s using our bullet sorting stand, trimming meplats, and doing some bullet pointing using the Whidden Bullet Pointing system. He has his Lapua brass prepped and ready to go.

Phil is preparing for a full season of shooting Long-Range (Palma and other) plus some 3-Gun. Phil didn’t expand in much detail – not sure what he is up to.

For myself, I have been busy installing a new Hornady shot shell reloader setup for 12 gauge on my bench to do some shot shell reloading and a MEC for my 20 gauge. I haven’t spent a lot of time shot shell reloading but lately I wanted to start reloading my own so I could control my own supply. Many of our customers have asked us to start carrying shot shell reloading gear so we are slowly trying to expand our line in this direction. We have had many of our customers comment that they reload both metallic and shot shells and would like to get their tools from us.

All the others are busy just doing their routine brass preparation for spring. Remember, if we can help you with anything as all of us approach the busy shooting season, please let us know.

Our big catalog #2010-A should be arriving in your mail box sometime this week or next week. We have a lot of new reloading tools, components, optics, and cleaning gear – take some time to check it out! Based what we hear from you we are continuing to add to our line of products at such a fast rate that many of the new products didn’t make the catalog but they will be added to the website as fast as we can. I look forward to chatting with you next month. We appreciate your continued business and look forward to serving you again.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

We are just returned from another visit to the shooting industry’s big show – The SHOT Show. The show was held in Las Vegas this year and is the industry’s showcase of new products for manufacturers, distributors, and dealers. It was good to see some old friends and make some new ones.

Our new 2010-A Sinclair catalog will be printing soon and you should see it arrive in your mailbox sometime in mid to late February. Showcased in the catalog are a couple of new Hornady products that will be available soon – one is the new Lock-N-Load Auto Charge Powder Dispenser and the other is their Lock-N-Load Sonic Cleaner designed for case cleaning. I was given a prototype Sonic Cleaner a few weeks ago and it promises to be a very handy tool. I was amazed how clean the inside of my dirty cases were. I am still waiting on the arrival of the new Auto Charge Powder Dispenser so I can give it a workout.

Lapua has finally decided to produce some 22-250 Remington brass – this unprimed brass won’t be available until later this spring but we wanted to make sure you were aware that it is coming. We have been after them to make this cartridge for a long time. I am sure it will be of the same great quality as all of the other Lapua products. Another new product offering this year from Lapua will be their 308 Winchester Palma brass with a small primer pocket. There will be a big demand from both 308 shooters and wildcat reloaders. We should see this cartridge arrive in a few months.

I would be remiss in not mentioning two old product names that will be back in the Sinclair catalog. Redfield scopes are being re-introduced into the market by Leupold and Birchwood Casey has brought back the RIG products (RIG grease, RIG-Rags, etc.). Both of these product lines will be welcome additions. I am looking forward to trying out one of the new Redfield 4-12 scopes and also their compact, digital laser rangefinders. We should see these on our shelves shortly.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

Dear Friends and Customers,

As the final hours of 2009 tick away, I want to post a message to those that read our blog and wish you all the best in 2010. All of us at Sinclair and Brownells sincerely appreciate the business you have given us this year and in prior years. We hope to be of continued service to you in 2010 and beyond for all of your reloading and shooting needs.

We are fortunate to have a group of customers that provide us with great product ideas and valuable input on ways to improve our service and grow our business. It is really enjoyable to come to work everyday knowing you get to provide products and service to people who really enjoy shooting and reloading.

I am going to do a little shooting at our local club over the New Year’s weekend. I hope you get a chance to do some shooting as well.

Wishing you and your family a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

Good Shooting,
Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.