[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Who here works at an ammo manufacturer? Let's compare notes!*Wolf, Rem, Win, etc--are you out there (Page 4 of 8)
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not at all here at speer. We have great ventilation that sucks air up and out of all the buildings...especially near ovens and the big lead pots. Same here. While our buildings and machinery are not the newest and greatest, the plant is suprisingly airborne contaminant free...testing done by OSHA has shown some airborne lead hazard, but we are not supposed to eat or drink at the machinery, and all the water dispensers are covered. The smelliest area is the mil spec packaging. the new ammo cans and the crates are...aromatic. What do you guys start out as pay in your position? We start at $15/hour then raises every 3 months. The HR gal at Lake City said they start low (about $12), but then match our maximum after a few years. |
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We got our days/times limited for our ammo store as well, but I am able to get there twice a week on my long week (we work 3 and 4 twelve hour days). We almost never have any CCI or Speer ammo available, even when we make it at our facility.
Do you have pretty good hours? |
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A couple of questions.....
What about the odd ball calibers like .30-40 Krag, 7.7 Jap, .303 Brit, etc.... are they actually still made? Other then Fiocchi, does anyone make 5.7x28mm? (Not counting Elite Ammunition) Have the prices for base materials gone up? Why is it that some of the hottest selling calibers aren't produced to a higher number (ie .380 Auto)? What is with the LEO/Gov only ammunition types like Winchester's SXT Ranger? Yes, I know neither of you work for Winchester but both ATK and Speer have similar types of ammunition that is LEO/Gov only when it's only higher end defensive ammo. Thanks guys |
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No free samples...except the occasional hat or ID card neck strap or shirt from marketing. XM193 is really military rejects, packaged many different ways. It comes from Lake City in 35 gallon steel cannisters, packed loose, by semi. LC has already rejected it for military, and we go through and QC it again and put it into...whatever packaging it gets that day. We also put it on clips in 30 round boxes by the case. It gets dumped and re-dumped several times in 30.000 round lots and trucked around the floor and dropped into and out of steel hoppers, thus explaining some of the dings. Depending on whether you get a "gun guy" working the machines that day, depends on the quality of the product. I'm sorry to say that most days, you are getting non-gun guys and girls working these lines. Thanks for the info. What exactly would be cause for rejects? Surely they aren't going to be selling squibs or dangerous loads right? This doesn't directly answer your question but, a friend of mine works for Hornady. Since I live less than 30 mins from Hornady Manufacturing, I also see many of their employees at the range. Hornady provides its employees with blemished product for personal use. All of this ammo is ballistically copacetic. No squibs, no overcharges, etc. The blems the employees receive are cosmetically imperfect. Hornady is strict about QC and some of the "blemished" product I've seen looked fine to me. But yeah, Hornady likes their employees and does not want to blow them up with bum ammo. I've watched in horror as people have done mag dumps with TAP ammo. I've also met Steve and Jason Hornady. Absolute gentlemen, humble, and they do a lot to help the local shooting sports. |
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A couple of questions..... What about the odd ball calibers like .30-40 Krag, 7.7 Jap, .303 Brit, etc.... are they actually still made? We just ran a batch of 303 british, and it turns up in the employee store a couple times a year. But it's usually 180 grain. We also just ran an experimental batch of 7.62x54 R for the .gov, too bad we don't make that for civvy sales. We have ran a few runs of 10mm since the first of the year. As far as 30-40, 7.7, etc it's not cataloged. Seems like they like to do large runs. I don't think their new load for the M1 Garand and M1A are selling as good as we'd like. Other then Fiocchi, does anyone make 5.7x28mm? (Not counting Elite Ammunition) I think FN still makes it. Federal distributes it only...and every time I tried to order it, it's out of stock. We don't even catalog it in the 2009 catalog. Have the prices for base materials gone up? Why is it that some of the hottest selling calibers aren't produced to a higher number (ie .380 Auto)?  Wish I knew. I was hoping that Lewiston was cranking it out!
What is with the LEO/Gov only ammunition types like Winchester's SXT Ranger? Yes, I know neither of you work for Winchester but both ATK and Speer have similar types of ammunition that is LEO/Gov only when it's only higher end defensive ammo. When police, military, and LE are some of your biggest customers, you cater to them. that's my guess. and, truthfully, the ammo for those groups is subjected to many more processes than "civvy" ammo, even the premium lines...most of the time. Cost for consumer could be a factor? Thanks guys |
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No free samples...except the occasional hat or ID card neck strap or shirt from marketing. XM193 is really military rejects, packaged many different ways. It comes from Lake City in 35 gallon steel cannisters, packed loose, by semi. LC has already rejected it for military, and we go through and QC it again and put it into...whatever packaging it gets that day. We also put it on clips in 30 round boxes by the case. It gets dumped and re-dumped several times in 30.000 round lots and trucked around the floor and dropped into and out of steel hoppers, thus explaining some of the dings. Depending on whether you get a "gun guy" working the machines that day, depends on the quality of the product. I'm sorry to say that most days, you are getting non-gun guys and girls working these lines. Thanks for the info. What exactly would be cause for rejects? Surely they aren't going to be selling squibs or dangerous loads right? This doesn't directly answer your question but, a friend of mine works for Hornady. Since I live less than 30 mins from Hornady Manufacturing, I also see many of their employees at the range. Hornady provides its employees with blemished product for personal use. All of this ammo is ballistically copacetic. No squibs, no overcharges, etc. The blems the employees receive are cosmetically imperfect. Hornady is strict about QC and some of the "blemished" product I've seen looked fine to me. But yeah, Hornady likes their employees and does not want to blow them up with bum ammo. I've watched in horror as people have done mag dumps with TAP ammo. I've also met Steve and Jason Hornady. Absolute gentlemen, humble, and they do a lot to help the local shooting sports. This is great news and the type of thing I wanted to hear. Hornandy is one of our top competitors. at the last business meeting, top staff considered Hornandy our competition above Winchester and Remington! I would expect to hear good things from that side of the wire! |
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I will prolly get flamed for low post count but I work at Speer in ATK's Lewiston plant as a centerfire metal parts setup. Is it true that CCI/Speer manufactures all .17HMR, even for other brands?We do indeed..I think all 17 ammo and most 22 ammo is built here in L-town We are constanly changing what we are making in metal parts and on the load line in any given week we will be running mostly 9 and 40 and switching a few machines/lines between say 380, 45, 45 small primer, and 45 GAP... |
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The loyal employees here have stated they can't film or take pictures - and rightly so! I don;t want our enemies learning anything about this important strategic industry.
But, .gov has approved a 5 minute public promotional video about ammo manufacture from the similar Lake City plant where they make the ammo for our brave soldiers in the field (God bless each & every one!). I imagine some of the machines are similar to the ones in the civilian plants. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glqe5UM3r90 |
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Who's getting all the ammo? This. As an FFL, we're still having a bitch of a time getting ammo for our customers. Where the fuck is it all going? If these manufacturers are all running 24/7 like they say, you would think we could at least find more than 1 case of 45 every other week. I know an ffl who has skids of m193 in his place. What is the German machinery running? |
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It has an open tip. It has grooved rings like a TSX bullet. The bullet has an extremely suspicious weight of 130 grains. Yeah, I'm right.
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Looks like a Barnes TSX bullet. That's what I thought but it says OTM which a TSX is not. I was going to respond but the OP clarified below. I agree it looks very similar to a TSX. I'm fairly interested in this bullet... in both .308 and .223. Gimme! |
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The loyal employees here have stated they can't film or take pictures - and rightly so! I don;t want our enemies learning anything about this important strategic industry. But .gov has approved a 5 minute public promotional video about ammo manufacture from the similar Lake City plant where they make the ammo for our brave soldiers in the field (God bless each & every one!). I imagine some of the machines are similar to the ones in the civilian plants. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glqe5UM3r90 Thanks for posting that, it's a neat video. Brings back memories of when I was an engineer there for 4 years back in the early 90's. |
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Uh, you should ask Sierra, not speer. And you can tour Sierra. I make the drive once every few years to pick up 77gn smk w/ cann by the pound. Quoted: Quoted: not at all here at speer. We have great ventilation that sucks air up and out of all the buildings...especially near ovens and the big lead pots. WHERE'S ALL THE 77SMK GOING?!?!? |
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I work as a waiter, a few weeks back i had a bunch of guys from the Radford Army Arsenal Plant, Which I think is ATK. Anyways, I asked them what they do and they said work lathes. Do they make small arms rounds on lathes or is that the big boy stuff? I work at a company that makes high speed inspection equipment that is sometimes used by companies like ATK. Recently we made a machine to inspect the 20mm projectile used in the 20mm x 102mm IIRC used in the Vulcan cannon and we are quoting a machine for the 30mm shell used in the helicopter cannon. From what I understand, both of these shells are cold formed, turned or ground, and then heat treated. Our machines inspect for general dimensions and heat treat. (Heat treat is critical from what I understand for the shell to survive the trip down the barrel.) So... If they make 20 mm or larger at Radford I would assume lathes could be involved. But it would be automated production lathes, not one guy turning out projerctiles one at a time. The other posibility is they are tool room guys, in which case they would be traditional machinists. |
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No free samples...except the occasional hat or ID card neck strap or shirt from marketing. XM193 is really military rejects, packaged many different ways. It comes from Lake City in 35 gallon steel cannisters, packed loose, by semi. LC has already rejected it for military, and we go through and QC it again and put it into...whatever packaging it gets that day. We also put it on clips in 30 round boxes by the case. It gets dumped and re-dumped several times in 30.000 round lots and trucked around the floor and dropped into and out of steel hoppers, thus explaining some of the dings. Depending on whether you get a "gun guy" working the machines that day, depends on the quality of the product. I'm sorry to say that most days, you are getting non-gun guys and girls working these lines. Bu, bu but but but...ammo will teh blow up if you tumble it in soft media 
 Ok, I got a question...... I have seen first hand a primer go off from having a round "thrown back in the bin". It's happened more than once on our range (our dept probably goes through at least a million rounds a year). I've also seen a write up on this exact thing in on of the gun rags not too long ago. So, how often does this happen at work? what happens when one goes off like this? case fly around? |
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Looks like a Barnes TSX bullet.
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XM193 is really military rejects, packaged many different ways. It comes from Lake City in 35 gallon steel cannisters, packed loose, by semi. LC has already rejected it for military, and we go through and QC it again and put it into...whatever packaging it gets that day. We also put it on clips in 30 round boxes by the case. It gets dumped and re-dumped several times in 30.000 round lots and trucked around the floor and dropped into and out of steel hoppers, thus explaining some of the dings. What military is buying M193? This is an common point of contention when XM193 is discussed, do you have any answers to this? only what I have posted––somewhere along the line, LC makes M193 and federal gets the rejects, which are Xm193. We can only deduce that someone, somewhere is using M193. Soerry I can't do better than that. Someone from LC needs to hop on and fill us in. Quoted:
One thing I forgot about the .mil rounds––we make the SCAR load in 556 and 762, the bullets are made in house. All become SCAR rounds and are sent to various .mil and government agencies. the brown tipped training round (frangible and non toxic) is out sourced (bullet) and assembled in-house. What are these? Are these labeled as FN ammunition? Projectile type and weight? Here's a pic of one of the employee's 7.62 SCAR round boxes. Pretty special projectile and very effective. The material is "smart" and reacts differently depending on what it hits. Reports from the field have been very positive. http://i46.tinypic.com/e6vqzm.jpg We have a very good relationship with Barnes. however, if I understand the head of the SCAR munitions program correctly, these are all made in house. In fact, I have seen them being produced and the grooves or cannelures being cut with my very eyes. The munition is not entirely solid, it is powdered––that's how it's "smart"––just the mechanics of physics. Too bad I'm not an engineer so I could explain it better. so it is just repackaged DRT ammo? quick, let CTD know!
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When we change over to run 380 we know demand has been up so we even make a little extra...but we will run it at least a week it seems and then we usually NEED to start makin 45's again.
I think our normal batches probably are somewhere around 300,000. Give or take. Just depends on the current order as we are delivering first in first out priority. Again, this is the reason we are still expanding and getting more machinery constantly. Hopefully this will also help us have less change overs as we could potentially dedicate a machine on 380 and 45...and still have 2 on 9 and 40. |
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not at all here at speer. We have great ventilation that sucks air up and out of all the buildings...especially near ovens and the big lead pots. WHERE'S ALL THE 77SMK GOING?!?!? not produced constantly. The premium small rifle machines rarely run on my shift. |
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Awesome thread Chicken Daddy. Now what can you tell me about Wackenhut? That's where I interviewed for a job before I got in at Federal. I was bummed I did not get that job. Wackenhut is used at LC and Federal, armed at LC, not at Federal. Most of the guards are OK, a few crabby ones now and then... 
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Fifteen years ago I worked at LCAAP, but that was when the plant was run by Olin, before ATK got the contract. LC still has streets named after previous management companies...winchester row being one of them. I toured building #3. I was impressed that LC is actually a small city with it's own water and electricity. They still hand gauge all the 50BMG. |
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Who actually manufactures the Green military ammo cans? I'd like to be able to buy the cans brand new from the manufacturer and not have to obtain them used. We're trying to find out so we can do the same! I get a dented can about once every two months. Other guys are much quicker to spot and claim them. |
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The loyal employees here have stated they can't film or take pictures - and rightly so! I don;t want our enemies learning anything about this important strategic industry. But, .gov has approved a 5 minute public promotional video about ammo manufacture from the similar Lake City plant where they make the ammo for our brave soldiers in the field (God bless each & every one!). I imagine some of the machines are similar to the ones in the civilian plants. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glqe5UM3r90 thanks for posting! The can and crate job (you see the guy on the video swinging his orange hammer like a pro), is no fun. |
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Who's getting all the ammo? This. As an FFL, we're still having a bitch of a time getting ammo for our customers. Where the fuck is it all going? If these manufacturers are all running 24/7 like they say, you would think we could at least find more than 1 case of 45 every other week. What is the German machinery running? Depends on the day. |
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Wow, I think you're the perfect person for my question. Are the .223 Federal tactical TRU SP 64 grain rounds any good? I was offered some of this ammo, but I'm not sure how good they are. Thanks!! Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile they are from our premium line, so I would put them on the good guy list. The blems I have fired seem accurate enough, and no function problems so far. I think it's a plus they are non toxic––most of our non tox loads have an "N" indented on the primer. |
