I am new to the forum, casting and reloading. My first reloader and manual is to be hopefully delivered today. But the question I posed came from a conversation I had with my brother-in-law this morning at his recently opened (6-8 mo ago) small town gun/boot store. I stopped by for a minute at his store and asked about business. I asked what was selling well and what was just taking up realestate. He was able to identify several displays of items that had not done much. I talked with him about my new hobby and asked if he'd considered selling reloading supplys. He indicated that he'd had a number of requests for reloading supplys and wouldn't mind carrying some if he knew what to carry. He shared with me that a customer had come in looking for a specific powder and asked him to special order a pound of it for him. He did and the powder + shipping was close to $50..... the customer did not prepay and um, has not yet come to pick up his powder. We also talked about how if he was ordering bulk he could spread that hazmat cost over several items and still be very competitive with online dealers maybe.

Locally our biggest game is the white tail deer and wild hogs (usually 150-300lbs). Most common calibers I see around camp are 30-06, 270, 30-30. ARs have become very popular over the past few years for target shooting but I've not seen one in deer camp. Most common shotgun is the 12 ga for rabbit, squirrel, duck. Most common pistol calibers I see are : 9mm, 45 auto, 357 mag, 38 special, 40 cal probably in that order. I of course see tons of 22lr in pistols/rifles, the odd 32 auto to 45 long colt plinker, the 243 to 444 deer hunter, 7.62x39 to 308 hog hunter and 20/16/410 squirrel hunter but I would estimate that the above mentioned bolded cal/ga represent 80+ % of what I actually see people shoot in East Texas.

So, what would you see as the essentials for reloading supplys? What dies for what calibers. What powders for the most common loads. What primers for the most common usages. What molds, ladles, brass, reloader kits, manuals would have the broadest appeal. So, what would you put in a 12' wide x 8' tall retail space? What might bring the best bang for his investment, what would turn over most often?

1. Pistol powder (brand, name, applications)

2. Rifle powder (brand, name, applications)

3. Pistol primers (brand, name, applications)

4. Rifle primers (brand, name, applications)

5. Dies -

6. Molds -

7. Reloaders/kits -

8. Brass -

9. Reloading/Casting Manual -

10. Bullets -

11. Other essentials -