Archive for the 'Ammunition' Category

Reader Ned sends this our way.

I’ve sent a note out to Steve Hornady and so far there has been no response to my questions.  I’ll post a new article if I get a response.

The American Prospect.

At a glance, Americans appear to have a variety of ammunition companies to choose from: Remington, Winchester, Speer, CCI (Cascade Cartridge, Inc.), Federal Premium. Winchester bills itself as “The American Legend” and has been in business for over 150 years, while Remington has been making guns and ammo for over 200 years and states that their company is as “boundless as the American spirit.” These companies associate their brands with freedom, independence, and toughness. What most customers do not know, however, is that they are all owned by the same two entities: Olin Corporation and Vista Outdoor.

This consolidation in the small arms ammunition market by corporations and private equity firms is hurting businesses, consumers, and workers. And it’s producing a massive shortage, just as demand for ammunition picks up. It looks like the problem could get worse, not only in the commercial shooting market, but where it really matters: for our national security.

He goes on to talk about the ability of the FBI, DHS and others to get ammunition, something I don’t care one whit about.  I’d prefer they have none.

But due to consolidation within the industry, only a couple of incumbent companies have that ability to make it through low-demand periods. When demand surges, they are no longer forced to produce, but can focus instead on “efficiencies.” They can raise prices and generate shortages, knowing that no one else exists to meet the demand that they cannot or will not fill.

Such refusals to invest in increased capacity can clearly be seen as Vista’s plan over the last few years. According to their annual reports, Vista is focused on “long-term shareholder value,” and when they have influxes of cash, they acquire more companies that “deliver top-line growth … within one year of purchase.” They do not build more plants, even though they project more long-term increased demand; building a plant to increase capacity is a long-term project, one that does not return a profit in a year, much less a quarter.

[ … ]

Remington’s story involves some twists and turns and financial engineering. In 2007, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management bought the then-thriving Remington, using it as a piggy bank. To execute the buyout, Remington borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars it immediately handed over to Cerberus, which meant that Cerberus would make money on the deal no matter whether Remington succeeded.

Initially, Cerberus made “hundreds of millions of dollars” from Remington, due to high gun sales during the Obama years. But when demand decreased after Donald Trump’s election, Remington was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2018. The firm restructured its debt and continued operating under new creditors, but due to continued mismanagement and lawsuits, Remington filed for bankruptcy again in 2020. Vista Outdoors bought Remington’s ammunition brand later that year.

Winchester’s story is more straightforward. Chemical producer Olin Corporation bought Winchester in 1931 and is now “a leading U.S. manufacturer of ammunition.” Olin’s most recent annual report revealed that Winchester sales increased from $665.5 million in 2019 to $927.6 million in 2020. This increase is reportedly due to “higher commercial and military sales, which included ammunition produced at Lake City, and higher commercial ammunition pricing.” Olin won a $28.3 million, ten-year contract to operate the Department of Defense’s Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in September of 2019. It also won contracts with the Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI.

It’s certainly the case that the proliferation of law enforcement entities in America is one of the causes of ammunition prices.

On the whole, I think consolidation is a very bad thing.  I did when Cerberus bought Remington (they set their sights on others as well), and I do now.  I think it’s better to have many medium size and small companies.

This ensures competition and innovation, despite the fact that a large corporation can bring financial resources to bear on R&R.  Corporations rarely focus on their employees, R&D or building.  Rather, they focus on stock prices, dividends and returns.

BLUF: The results of the budget ammo are fairly impressive.

Ammoland.

Mr. Mann told me he is producing 35 million to 45 million rounds of ammo a month. The operation runs seven days a week for 21 of every 24 hours in a day. There is no margin for error and there is no wiggle room to make up production. It is that critical. If there is a two-day statewide electrical power outage causing Ammo Inc to shut down operations, there is a very limited possibility to make up those two days of missed manufacturing.

The article also focuses on primers and how they are the bottleneck of the production campaign, as well as in the comments it’s pointed out that the safety protocol is expensive to ensure during the process.

It’s a shame, I think, that the new manufacturing capability is located in Wisconsin.  I wonder why the company chose that state, and why they didn’t choose North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Texas?

But there is also bad news for muzzle loading hunters.

Hodgdon Powder Company announced it would cease manufacturing operations at the GOEX blackpowder manufacturing facility in Camp Minden, La., effective immediately. The closure eliminates the only domestic source of blackpowder in the United States. According to a company press release, Hodgdon will evaluate “strategic options for the blackpowder business,” including a potential sale of the company.

The Camp Minden facility will wind down operations during the evaluation process. All affected employees will be retained through Dec. 31, 2021, to assist during the closure of the facility and will receive severance commensurate with their years of service. “The Hodgdon Powder Co., Inc has been honored to have been a part of the GOEX Powder legacy and sustains a fond appreciation for sporting customers who have enjoyed shooting GOEX Powders,” the release reads.

From the Hodgdon site.

Established in 1947 by Bruce and Amy Hodgdon, today, sons J.B. and Bob have grown Hodgdon Powder Company into the largest US supplier of smokeless, blackpowder and blackpowder substitute propellants. The company distributes gunpowder under the Hodgdon®, IMR®, Ramshot®, Acccurate®, Winchester®, Pyrodex®, Triple Seven®, Blackhorn 209® and GOEX® brands.

This is sad news.  Tomorrow or some time this weekend, I intend to make a trip to load up on “white hots.”  If you do the muzzle loader scene, I suggest you do the same thing.

Ron Spomer does the 6.5 Grendel.

I’ve done the AR-10 scene and didn’t like it.  An AR-10 is heavy, unwieldy, and stiff recoiling – everything the AR-15 isn’t, negating the very advantages of the AR-15 platform.  I wasn’t all that pleased or impressed and sold what I had.

On the other hand, a 123 grain bullet travelling this fast in an AR-15 size package is very appealing.  Folks like Pat Hines may say “I told you so.”

Also, if you can make it past the two idiots to get to the knowledge of Ryan Muckenhirn, this is a good video on the virtues of the Grendel round, including out of a bolt action rifle.  Posted eight months ago.

Results not unexpected.  And a reminder – 9mm is a very penetrating round, probably not any better than 5.56mm for home defense of you’re worried about over-penetration.  5.56mm is a very damaging round specifically because of its propensity to whiz-bang and fragment and tear apart and redirect.

Guns Magazine.

To understand how we got here we need to look at its military origins. Some years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Eugene Stoner at the SHOT Show. We were able to sit down and chat for an hour or so, which I considered a privilege then and still do.

Back in the 1950s, he said, the U.S. military had just adopted the M14 rifle using the 7.62mm cartridge, ballistically similar to the .30-06. What might be called the “Old Guard” supported the concept of powerful battle rifles and carefully aimed fire at individual targets.

Other military theorists noted enemy soldiers for the most part don’t stand around in the open waiting to get shot. They hide behind things and shoot from cover. Combat in WWII and in Korea had shown the value of suppressive fire, “shoot and move,” and the integration of infantry, artillery and air power.

The rifle they wanted would be lightweight, with moderate recoil, selective semi- or full-automatic fire, compact and fast-handling for house-to-house fighting and adequately powerful, using non-expanding bullets. Hmmm, you don’t want much, do you? Stone said the only way he knew of to make a small non-expanding bullet behave like a bigger bullet is if it tumbles on impact. Original rifles had a 1:14 twist so bullets were just barely stable in flight, but would destabilize and tumble when they hit something.

Almost as soon as it was adopted the twist was changed to 1:12 to improve stability, which some argued also decreased effectiveness. In the ’70s and ’80s military users began shifting to heavier bullets for improved downrange ballistics, requiring faster barrel twists. It took a while, but faster twists eventually appeared on sporting rifles.

Faster twists and sleeker bullets, notably from Berger and Hornady, greatly enhance the versatility of the .223. Compare a 55-grain FMJ bullet (G1 B.C. 0.243) at 3,200 fps to a Berger VLD 80-grain bullet (G1 B.C. 0.455) at 2,750 fps. With both sighted at 200 yards, bullet drop at 600 yards is 91.5″ for the 55 grain versus 82.3″ for the 80 grain. Now check the 10 mph wind drift figures: 55 grain, 60.8″; 80 grain, 32.5″. That nearly 50 percentage advantage in wind drift is huge. Moreover the 80-grain bullet starting out 450 fps slower reaches the 600-yard line going over 400 fps faster (1,271 55 grain, 1,680 80 grain).

So what is a fast-twist .223 good for? Training with moderate recoil and noise. Teaching new shooters the fundamentals of center fire rifles and longer range shooting. Moderate cost due to smaller bullets and powder charges. Excellent hunting performance for most varmint shooting and for deer, the most popular big-game target. Untold millions and billions of .223 and 5.56 rounds have been loaded over the past 60+ years. Even in times of chronic shortages there’s a good chance of finding quality brass.

In my experience 1:9 will stabilize 70- and some 75-grain bullets, 1:8 will stabilize up to 80-grain bullets. Here’s some examples of twist rates in various rifles. The Savage Elite Precision is 1:7. Browning X-bolt, Ruger American, Sako 85 and Tikka T3X are all 1:8. Ruger’s Hawkeye, Howa, most Savage models, Kimber, Steyr and Weatherby Vanguard are all 1:9. Decide what your priorities are then buy accordingly.

I have heard that from multiple experts (i.e., that 1:9 twist barrels will stabilize 62 and 69 grain bullets, or even slight heavier like the Sierra Match King bullets).

I too and very fond of the round.

And I love hearing stories about Eugene Stoner.  I think we ought to build statues of him and John Moses Browning as the premier weapons designers in American history.

As I think about it, the only thing I ever thought it might do to consistently shoot 5.56mm in a rifle chambered for .223 is throat erosion.  I think they confirm that.