Sellier & Bellot acquired by CBC
The 180 year old Czech ammunition manufacturer Sellier & Bellot has been acquired by Brazilian firm CBC. CBC also own Magtech Ammunition and Metallwerk Elisenhütte.
From the press release
We are pleased to announce that CBC has acquired Sellier & Bellot, an industry leader of quality ammunition since 1825. Acquiring Sellier & Bellot’s proven brand with over 184 years of history will complement our existing product lines and enable us to further expand our global presence in the ammunition industry. Sellier & Bellot fits perfectly within our philosophy of investing in leading, high- quality, highly recognized brands which complement our existing portfolio of branded ammunition product companies
The full press release can be read at Gun Holsters and Gear.
I am not sure I like the conglomeration of the consumer firearm and ammo manufacturers worldwide.
I love all things czech ( motorcycles, guns, beer, women ) so a bit dissapointed when learning of MagTech purchase of S&B. Not as much faith in Brazilian products and ironically (?) have had misfires w/MT handgun ammo ( both revolver & pistol ) No problems w/ S&B. Every time I see good prices on S&B .223 ammo it turns out to be 5.56x45nato. My CZis chambered for .223 Rem. What say you ?
For those that think that “Sellier & Bellot, an industry leader of quality ammunition” is a bit of a misleading statement remember- “poor” is a type of quality.
It’s like saying “I’m in shape. Round is a shape.”
or “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.”
It will be interesting to see if anything changes, for better or worse.
Matt Groom,
Doesn’t seem so ironic to me. If CBC runs at 110% capacity for long enough, they’ll either have to expand somehow or face losing the opportunity given by the market. The beancounters will look at a couple of options, likely including expanding the existing line, building a new factory, or “going outside”. If infrastructure concerns means the existing factory couldn’t get enough materials/water/power if expanded, or local codes and laws didn’t allow it or made it too expensive, and the new factory was going to be a nightmare given that it’s a munitions factory and all the BS the government applies to those shops, the option is natural… look around for a way to get factories that are already established and expand that way. S&B probably just happened to be on the market at that time, the price was right, viola, CBC buys S&B. No irony whatsoever…. in fact, that CBC said they were at 110% makes this purchase into something completely sensible.
This is ironic for me, because I am developing a cartridge for company K. We asked company Q to make us the brass, they said they could, but not for 2.5 Years. Back orders, you see. I asked Magtech, who’s owned by CBC, who said very little other than “We’re operating at 110% capacity at the factory and won’t be able to do it.” So, I get help from company H, who sources their brass from S&B, who will now be owned by CBC.
I’ve never had an issue with S&B’s rifle and semiauto pistol ammo.
The revolver ammo now… there are some issues, mostly in component selection. If I had any sitting around, I’d almost bet that the .38spl and .357mag FMJ they load is a .355 projectile. Granted, the last of it I shot was well over a year ago, I don’t know if the situation’s changed….
I’ve done fine with S&B. As long as they can keep making .303 British.
Company A buying up companies B and C is not the problem.
Chances are A can afford to buy other companies because they have a lot of money. And they have a lot of money presumably because they sell a lot of products. And this is probably because their products are good. So this means that a good company expands, increasing the scale, bringing prices down.
The problem is that companies X, Y and Z are never started, so A can get some decent competition from people with fresh ideas. This is because of too much taxes and regulation.
“Sellier & Bellot, an industry leader of quality ammunition”
Ha!
S&B ammunition could be described in many ways. “Quality” is not really one of them.