Cross post from the Reloading forum.
Disclaimer: I am not a PSA employee. They did not pay me for the below- but I did get some cool t-shirts and other swag. I was "Pro PSA" before, but after meeting a ton of people from assembly line workers, to Lead Engineers, to CEOs, I'm now even more so. They are 100% the type of people you want to have a beer or 10 with.
These tours were a result of this thread and their willingness to "go the extra mile". They're good people.
The AAC (America's Ammunition Company) primer facility construction has begun. AAC is a different company than Palmetto State Armory- both are owned by JJE Capital. It's pretty tough to separate the two mentally and not think of everything as "PSA".
There are a few, interesting things to know- and appreciate about this effort. If you've ever done commercial construction, you understand permitting issues. Imagine adding the EPA on to it due to the chemicals involved, a whole new level of fire code due to the flammable powders, then, of course, BATFE due to the primer compounds being legit high explosives, and, oh, why not add the FAA into it as a result of proximity to the airport. I'm sure the FBI, DHS, and a few others had to be involved as well because.government, right?
So, the "$64,000,000 question" When will it be online? Current target is Q4 of 2022. That is when they are planning to be up and running to supply their ammo production first. As production ramps up to exceed their needs, they will open up to the secondary market. But let's not forget, as AAC produces ammo, that influences overall supply in a positive way. When AAC is producing their own primers, that's another pressure point on the supply chain relieved.
Also, this is AAC- America's Ammunition Company. NOT PSA- Palmetto State Armory. Two different companies, different CEOs, etc. under the same umbrella of JJE Capital. It's hard to separate them.
Let's see some photos:
This is the initial wall- it may not seem like much, but they've already built bunkers to house the powder and priming compounds separately. Those are off to the left.
Attached FileTo give some sense of scale, take note of that gray cube that's in center left. The one that looks like it's about 15x15x15. It's actually lined up directly across from the wall. That will be relevant in a bit.
Panning directly left, we see the bunkers that have already been built. That hill on the left is the powder bunker-as in underground storage to feed the 300,000 sqft ammo production facility.
If you zoom in on the upper right, you'll see the top vents from the primer compound bunker. They have state of the art environmental controls built into these facilities. That is waiting for it's final top coat of burial.
Attached FileThis is a shot of the drainage area between what is soon to be the primer plant and the powder bunker that will feed the ammo facilities.
Attached File Attached FileRemember that little gray cube? It is the beginning of what will be several primer manufacturing "rooms". Each will be an encased area with more steel in the walls than any construction I've seen. There was a lot of what looked like " and larger stacks of rebar. My tendonitis flared up just thinking about tying all that.
Each room will be connected to the priming compound bunker so that only as much compound as necessary will be brought in. I'm not sure how but it will be interesting to see.
This is the least complete of the rooms. You can see the foundation and some of the steel going into the walls. This should give you an idea of how wide and deep the concrete will be at the foot of each of those walls.
Attached FileAs we continued to walk to the left, each successive room is further along in the process. Note the construction worker to get a sense of the size- so much for the "15x15 cube" in the earlier photo.
Remember that big, monolithic wall? From here you can see it in the background.
Attached File Here's the third room with progressively more of the forms up.
Attached FileIf we keep moving to the left and go around the corner, this is the outside of that wall. There might be a tad bit of steel in there.
Attached FileSo, while it certainly looks like there is a lot of work to do, I asked Jamin twice when they were planning to be producing primers and both times he said "Q4"- rather firmly. Anything can happen in a construction project of this size and complexity in normal times- let alone in the current climate(I can't imagine the amount of concrete they are going to have to source), so we will see how it progresses. I have to believe that getting clearance from local, county, state and federal agencies and then getting the bunkers built was as big or bigger problem than actual construction.
But he did light up on the walk back pointing to a section of the foundation that was still below ground level saying "This is going to change the industry."
Every time there has been a primer shortage, people say "Someone should build a plant". They are doing it, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't a response to the debacle that was 2020, I think it had to start planning prior.
Maybe we can get @palmettostatearmory to add some photos to this thread from time to time. (hint hint).