Visit to the Forster Products Factory in Illinois

This article, written by Sinclair’s Phil Hoham, originally appeared in the Sinclair Int’l Reloading Press.

Forster Products’ Heritage
I toured Forster Products’ Lanark, Illinois plant with Forster owners Robert Ruch and Rod Hartman. Forster Products was founded by the Forster brothers in 1935. The company’s first production was in the basement of their home. There, the brothers crafted the famous “Forster 99” model airplane engines, establishing a reputation for quality right from the start. In 1946 the company expanded into firearms reloading products, starting with headspace gauges, universal sight-mounting fixtures, and Forster’s famous case trimmers. All of these tools are still being manufactured and sold by Forster Product today.

In the 1950s, Forster’s reputation for precision allowed it to become a Rolls-Royce subcontractor making fluid and fuel control parts used in Rolls-Royce aircraft engines. Forster also manufactured fluid control parts used at the Hoover Dam and in the United States MX missiles. With this precision background it is no wonder that Forster Products holds an ISO 9001-2008 quality certification!

Forster Acquired Bonanza Reloading Co. in 1984
Forster reloading dies and presses came into being in 1984 when Forster purchased the Bonanza Reloading Company from its owner Clarence Purdie. Mr. Purdie designed the CO-AX press with its floating jaws, easy die installation and tremendous leverage. He also held the patents on the famous “sliding sleeve” featured in the Forster “Ultra” and “Benchrest” seaters. His sizing die design positioned the expander ball high up in the full length and neck dies so the case neck is supported as it resized while it is being withdrawn from the die. This design feature is also unique to the Forster brand. All of these innovations make Forster dies a quality product for producing precision ammunition. No wonder Carl Bernosky and John Whidden (NRA High Power and Long-Range champions) swear by them! It was great seeing that “Made in the USA” quality is still alive and well and that Bob and Rod along with their staff have such a great commitment to precision manufacturing and quality customer service.