Category Archives: Ammunition Manufacturer

Hodgdon

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1947
Shawnee, Kansas

  • Bruce drafted into service during World War II
    – Navy aerial gunnery instructor
    – used skeet to teach his students about the lead required to hit targets
    –  loaded shotshells each night so he could teach class the next day
  • 1947 started by Bruce and Amy Hodgdon
  •  first surplus powder offering after World War II
    – government sold him surplus 4895 gunpowder
  • Nov 1947 first ad selling surplus powder in American Rifleman magazine
  • 1947 – brought surplus powder to market
    – as Hodgdon H4895
  • acquired the IMR®
  • acquired Goex®
  • licenses the Winchester® Smokeless
  • supplier of gunpowder and blackpowder
    – handloading and muzzleloading enthusiasts

6430 Vista Drive
Shawnee, KS 66218

(913) 362-9455

Hodgdon.com

Sierra Bullets

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founded in 1947
California

  • Frank Snow, Jim Spive, Loren Harbor, Clint Harris
  • in the Harris Machine Shop in Whittier, California
  • 1963 moved to a new plant in Santa Fe Springs, California
    – 30,000 square feet
  • 1968 the Leisure Group bought Sierra Bullets
    – hired Robert Hayden from Remington Arms, Lake City Army Ammunition Plant
  • 1990 moved to Sedalia, Missouri

Sierra Bullets
1400 W Henry St
Sedalia, MO 65301

(888) 223-3006

sierrabullets.com

Weatherby

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 founded in 1945
California, Wyoming

  • 1945 founded by Roy Weatherby in Huntington Park, California
    – Weatherby’s Sporting Goods
  • original rifles  built on commercial Mauser actions
  • 1956  contracted Sako to build firearms
  • 1958 introduced the Mark V bolt action
  • 1964 .22 rimfire Mark XXII
  • 1967  first Weatherby over/under shotgun
  • April 4, 1988 Roy E. Weatherby passed
  • 1988 Weatherby Foundation International created
    – formed to“to educate youth and the non-hunting public on the beneficial role of ethical sport hunting and its contribution to wildlife conservation, and to protect our constitutional right to do so”
    https://www.weatherbyfoundation.com/
  • January, 2018 relocated from Paso Robles, California to Sheridan, Wyoming

high-powered magnum cartridges

  • .257 Weatherby Magnum
  • .270 Weatherby Magnum
  • .300 Weatherby Magnum
  • .340 Weatherby Magnum
  • .460 Weatherby Magnum.

Weatherby, Inc.
1550 Yellowtail Dr
Sheridan, WY 82801

307.675.7840

weatherby.com

Olin

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started 1944
Connecticut, Missouri

  • 1892 Founded in East Alton, IL by Frank W. Olin
    – blasting powder for coal mines
  • 1898 Franklin Olin formed the Western Cartridge Company
    – competitors got suppliers to limit raw materials
    – Olin diversified
  • 1931 Western bought the Winchester Company.
  • 1935 formed Winchester-Western
  • 1944 Franklin Olin companies organized under Olin Industries, Inc
  • 1954 Olin Industries and Mathieson Chemical merged
    – Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation
  • 1963 John Olin retired
  • 1964  “re-tooled” the Winchester line, which damaged their reputation of quality
  • 1969 became the Olin Corporation
    – sold off many of its acquired businesses
  •  December 12, 1980  Olin sold Winchester firearms to the employees
    – with the name US Repeating Arms Company
    – Olin kept the Winchester brand and licensed it to US Repeating Arms Company
  •  2006 entered a new license with Browning Arms Company
    – to make Winchester rifles and shotguns
  • World’s number one chlorine producer
  • #1 producer of small ammunition globally

Speer

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started in 1943
Lewiston, Idaho

  • 1943 Vernon Speer started building bullets
    –  reloaders couldn’t get components from ammo companies during World War II
  •  initially focused on hunting rifle bullets
  • he also built the first mass-produced jacketed handgun bullets for hunting and law enforcement
  • 1960 Lawman line
  • Speer Gold Dot
  • Vista Outdoor

Speer
2299 Snake River Ave.
Lewiston, ID 83501

1-866-286-7436

speer.com

RCBS

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Rock Chuck Bullet Swage dies

 founded in 1943
Oroville, California

 leading manufacturer of ammunition reloading equipment
for rifles and pistols

  • 1943  founded by Fred T. Huntington in Oroville, California
  • made a die to swage .22 rimfire cartridge cases to form jackets for bullets
  • in the back of a laundromat
  • 1948 relocated to a small shop
  • 1954 expanded into 7,500-square-foot factory
    – grew to 50,000 square feet
  • 1976 acquired by Omark Industries
  • 1985 purchased by Blount, Inc
  • 2001 purchased by Alliant Techsystems (ATK)
  • 2015 Vista Outdoor Inc. spun-off from ATK

 

 

(800) 533-5000

RCBS.com

 

Nebraska Ordnance Plant

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1942 – 1945
17,250 acres
Mead, Nebraska

  • one of Nebraska’s 5 major ammunition plants
  • 1942-1945 Nebraska Defense Corporation operated the site for the Army
    – Ammunition was loaded
  • 1950-1956  reactivated for the Korean War
  • 1959  transferred to GSA
    –  National Guard & Army Reserve retained roughly 1,000 acres
    – 12 acres as a Nike Missile maintenance area
  • 1960 Air Force  Atlas missile Area (AMA) site S-1
    – 2,000 acres Atlas Missile site
  • bomb factory during the Vietnam War
  • 1990 added as a Superfund site
  • 1997 – 2020+ soil excavation and water treatment
  • 1998 Incineration of 16,449 tons of explosives -contaminated soil

LCAAP

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Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP)
established in 1941
3,935-acre
Independence, Missouri

  • 1941 established by Remington Arms
  • first of 12 small arms plants run by the Army
  • WWII  21,000 full-time workers produced 50 million rounds per year
  • 1985 operations taken over by Olin Corporation
  • April 2001 operated by Alliant Techsystems (ATK)
  • 2018 acquired by Northrop Grumman
  • 1.6 billion round per year production capacity

  • 5.56 mm
  • 7.62 mm
  • 50 caliber
  • 20 mm
  • Foundation for Exceptional Warriors
    – annual turkey hunt for veterans
    – 4,000 private acres

Barnes

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1932
Colorado

  • Fred Barnes in Bayfield, Colorado
    – spent 100 days per year hunting
  • sold  to Burford Corporation in Mayfield, Oklahoma
  • sold again, moved to Montrose, Colorado
  • 1974 purchased by Randy and Coni Brooks
    – moved it to American Fork, Utah
    – worked together with Fred Barnes
  • moved to Lindon, Utah
    – 40,000-square-foot
  •  grew to  biggest custom bullet manufacturer in the U.S.
  •  1985, Randy Brooks developed the “X-bullet”
    – made entirely of copper
  •  2010 sold to Remington
    – Randy Brooks continued to work
  • 2015 Randy and Coni Brooks retired

 Barnes Bullets
38 Frontage Rd
Mona, UT 84645

(435) 856-1000

barnesbullets.com

Prvi Partizan

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May 1928
Krcagovo, Serbia

  • 1928 Jakob Posinger
    – Originally called FOMU
  • 1935 moved to Uzice, Serbia
    – first privately owned factory in the Balkans
  • WWII facilities were heavily damaged
    – explosion killed more than 120 people
  • After the war – equipped the National Liberation Army
  • produce over 400 types of small arms ammo
  • unusual and rare cartridges
    –  8x56mmR
    – 7.92x33mm Kurtz
    – 7.65x53mm Argentine
    – 8mm Lebel

ППУ “PPU.” This is an abbreviation of the company’s name in Cyrillic letters

prvipartizan.com