# 50 caliber machine gun shell pens



## Scooley01 (Jan 9, 2011)

I purchased two of these kits from PSI and made them with the Camo Crush blank.

I posted pictures on my Facebook business page, and within an hour I've been contacted by 3 people that want to buy them (One wants four of them!).  

That's about as "flying off the shelf" as I've experienced so far!  Crazy!


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## Woodlvr (Jan 9, 2011)

Congrats. Hopefully it will keep rolling customers in for you.


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## Jgrden (Jan 9, 2011)

I tried to sell them at fifty bucks and sold one. I sold four more at twenty-five dollars. How much are you getting. ?


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## Scooley01 (Jan 9, 2011)

I sold them all for $20 so far.  I feel bad selling them for too much more because the kits aren't expensive, and there's so little work that actually goes into them.


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## JamesB (Dec 30, 2011)

I sold a couple for $15.  I guess I  could charge more but since they were the first two pens I sold I did it like that.
Have you ever had a problem with the twist mechanism being hard to turn after assembly?    
I bought more of these of kits and the mechanism is smooth and easy until it's pushed almost all of the way into the sleeve then it gets real hard to turn.  I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it.  It's vexing me.
Thanks


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## Bellsy (Dec 31, 2011)

Maybe it's just me, but a bullet pen should at least look like a real bullet. I've seen the kits and it just amazes me that customers are buying these up with the belief that these kits are so authentic. Unlike the Sierra or the Jr. Gents and all of the other pen kits out there, the bullet pen kits have grown in popularity at an unbelievable rate, I believe it's called a novelty. The idea of making the bullet pens from real bullets was a huge success, but now that the manufacturers are seeing a sure thing, they have come up with a facsimile that resembles the real thing. Are people that naive that they think this is the real thing? Or are they happy enough knowing that it resembles the real thing and treat it as a novelty?

So if we sit here and ponder or brag about the price we can get for a facsimile, what does this make a real bullet pen worth?  The pen kit of shame should be the 30-06, at least the 50 caliber uses a real brass casing.

I would hope to think that the folks who make the real bullet pens see my point.

My 2 cents.

Dave


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## williamcr (Dec 31, 2011)

*Real 50 Cal brass and bullet*



> I would hope to think that the folks who make the real bullet pens see my point.



I do see your point and here is one that made with a real 50 cal bullet.


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## Bellsy (Dec 31, 2011)

Now that's what I'm talking about.


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## keithlong (Dec 31, 2011)

Hey Dave,
I also get your point and I make several bullet pens using real rifle casings and bullets for the nibs. I in an area where there are lots of deer hunters and they want the real thing. I have a couple of the 30.06 replica pens and they will choose the real ones over them every time. As a matter of fact, I still have 2 of the replica pens left.


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## JamesB (Dec 31, 2011)

I see your point.  Real bullet pens do look much better than the facsimile.  It's the responsibility of the turner to inform people if they are buying a fake bullet and not a real casing so the buyer doesn't believe it's real.

A pen made from a real bullet will be worth much more than one with a wood tip or a replica casing. It takes much more skill to make them I think.  I don't have the skill right now to do it so if I can use wood tip with a 50 caliber brass, sell them, help satisfy the market in this $$ range, gain experience and make a buck to help me buy more supplies, I will.
There's a market for real bullets, facsimiles, and high end pens, we all work in the market we're comfortable with.

When I was in the Navy there were 5 inch shells everywhere with obviously wooden "bullets" for show.  I chose a wood tip for the 50 cal shells that I think resembles that wood.  

My 2 cents.


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## Florida Marine (Dec 31, 2011)

I have a few .50 cal rounds I found with 1943 and 1944 head stamps when I was diving in Okinawa - and have a few loose projectiles...

hmmm...that would be a serious pen

i have a hunting spot on Quantico I go to from time to time where I have a pretty much unlimited supply of .50 cal cases and 20mm.  The Cobra's hang over this one area while firing on the targets over the range.  I spent one slow turkey hunting morning picking up brass and links and linked up a foot or so for my son.  Might have to go score some more this spring.


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## Buzzzz4 (Dec 31, 2011)

The 50 cal real bullets sell for us at $50 without a problem. We sell both real and replica 30-06. The real ones do much better in sales. People look at both but are more drawn to the real thing.


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