The Firearm Blog

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Ken Nelson, who blogs at his self-title blog Ken Nelson ]

My 12 year old son and I are in Georgia this week to attend the Army Marksmanship Unit Junior Shooter Camp.

Today, he and I visited Atlanta Arms & Ammo in Social Circle, GA. I needed .40 ammo for a training class I’m having on Friday, and they graciously agreed to show Brian & I around their plant.

If you reload then you know how frustrating and fussy reloading machines can be. Just imagine a shop filled with these:

Note that these are inline not rotary. Also everything is automatic. The only thing the operator needs to do is keep the primer rod full. They have a machine which fills the rod, the operator has to switch in a new one over every few hundred rounds.

Each of these machines makes about 60 rounds a minute, there were about 15 stations. So you do the math

Each machine, which they generally buy used, costs $10,000 to $12,000. They then add customized switches and electronics to test that the machines are operating correctly. For instance the case sizer has an air line to it, if air slips out there is no seal and a switch goes off and drops out the bad round. Pretty slick!

As you can imagine they use a lot of bullets. And primers, which they also buy in 5 gallon buckets. They buy new brass, but also get a lot of once fired brass that they prepare in a whole another assembly line, including a system of brass sorters they designed themselves and that are quite clever.

Here is a front on view of an ammo making station:

To the left is a bucket of bullets, at top are brass and bullet feeders. The slender metal tube in the middle is the primer feeder. The machine at far right is a primer filler tube filler. Moving that filled tube to the machine is the only manual step and is done every few hundred shells. The black box with switches is the custom QA monitor they have tied to checks they’ve built in the machine.

After the ammo is made it goes in for polishing and then into a vibrator that gets them heavy (bullet) end up:

and are then hand packaged using a series of steps that flip them in a special die until all are facing the right way:

The elite shooters of the United States use their ammunition, including the Army Marksmanship Unit.

If you are looking for excellent ammo, made by a group of top notch and friendly people then Atlanta Arms & Ammo is for you. As we left our guide stressed that today, in these high reloading component cost times, in many cases they can get ammo to competitive shooters for about the same as reloading. Similar price… and I don’t have to spend hours running a reloader? Or pull my hair out when it doesn’t work? Sign me up!

Many thanks to Danny at Atlanta Arms & Ammo for setting up our tour. And to Kim for being such an agreeable and friendly host.

A few days ago Confederate Yankee wrote that Remington were not developing a 6.5mm cartridge. This contradicted what Adam Heggenstaller reported a couple of weeks ago. I checked with Jessica Kallam (Freedom Group - Remington's parent company), and the statement Confederate Yankee posted on his blog is the official statement regarding the ACR and 6.5mm round ...

We are not currently in the process of developing our own 6.5mm round for the AR platform. We have mentioned the 6.5 in our communications on the ACR simply because that platform is capable of handling the Grendel or something like it. At this point, there are no plans to chamber the ACR for the Grendel. However, that may change if we receive enough input from the marketplace to make it seem necessary.

Remington Military Products Division still list it as a caliber on their ACR webpage.

Screenshot of the Remington ACR webpage.

I expect this has generated much confusion as the company now has an official statement regarding the issue. For now the only 6.5mm cartridge in the Remington stable is the .260 Remington¹

Many thanks to rootman for sending me the top link.

The British troops are also calling for a switch to something better than the 5.56x45mm NATO. The Telegraph reports ...

A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers 'tailed off' after 300 metres yet half of all Helmand firefights are fought between 300 and 900 metres.

...

The study, co-written by Nicholas Drummond, a strategy consultant and ex-Welsh Guards officer, described British soldiers' rifles as "not much more useful than a peashooter".

...

The Ministry of Defence told the newspaper the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by United States and other Nato allies are "proven to be both accurate and powerful."

Typical government response.

Many thanks to RootMan for the link.

This interesting grenade, manufactured by Bulgarian firm ARCUS Co., is designed to combat frogmen. The AR476 is fired from standard 40mm launchers at the area where combat divers are suspected to be underwater. When the projectile hits the water, a time deployed fuse is activated.

Many thanks, again, to Lusaka for the photo and info.

Back in July, when the specification for the original Remington ACR specifications where announced, I said one of the cartridges it would chamber was the 6.5mm Grendel. Remington said "6.5mm", and in the context I assumed it was the Grendel.

Not long after posting it, I was emailed by a well placed industry insider who told me that he very much doubted Remington would ever produce a gun chambering the Grendel. His reason? The management behind the development of the cartridge left a lot of bad blood in their wake. He suspected that the listing of "6.5mm" was a marketing ploy.

His prediction that Remington would not offer it has come to fruition. Adam Heggenstaller reported (emphasis mine) ...

Ongoing development will focus on the 6.8 mm Rem. SPC, 7.62x39 mm, a yet-to-be-disclosed 6.5 mm round and, get this, the .30 Rem. AR.

Will we ever see this cartridge? I don't know. At least we know why Remington are not just saying "Grendel".

UPDATE: My original source just emailed me to suggest that the .30 Remington AR necked down would make a lot of sense! He has a good point. (This is just speculation - not inside knowledge).

7.62x51mm NATO, 6.5mm Grendel and 5.56x45mm NATO

I just received a press release saying that RUAG Ammotec, a Swiss firm, has just established a subsidiary in the United States.

RUAG 9mm Luger SINTOX Action 4

It seems like they are more interested in law enforcement and government contract that they are in civilian sales. From the press release:

Precision Ammunition, established in 2001, holds extensive patents for their Copper-Matrix NTF® Non-Toxic Frangible bullet. Providing a healthier shooting environment, Copper-Matrix NTF is particularly well-suited for training law enforcement, military and security personnel, as well as being a perfect match for use in shooting ranges.

“RUAG Ammotec and Precision Ammunition are a perfect fit for each other and will drive forward RUAG Ammotec’s growth strategy worldwide by opening up new markets and strengthening individual product groups. The combination of innovative bullet design with large scale, high quality component production reflects the increasing demand for non-toxic frangible ammunition,” stated Cyril Kubelka, CEO of RUAG Ammotec and a member of the Executive Board of RUAG Holding AG. “Additionally, it establishes a US presence for the RUAG family of business to actively bid on US Government contracts.”

I hope they decide to sell to individuals in the future. They make some very interesting rifle and pistols round.

Just last week we discussed RUAG Ammotec on The Firearm Blog.

This video is a must watch. It is hands down the best slow motion video I have ever seem!

It demonstrates ...

• Frangible bullets on different angled surfaces
• What happens when bullets collide with flying objects
• Air gun pellets
• Shotgun pellets
• Bullets that hit the corner of a hard object
• ... and more.

Frangible bullets do live up to their claim of not ricocheting. I was impressed that the bullets did not ricochet from the low angled surfaces.

The video was shot by Kurzzeit, a company that sells a high speed video camera that can capture one million frames per second!

A big thanks to Jay for emailing me the video!

This year the Dutch Police have been trailing new pistols which will replace their current service pistol, the Walther P5.

A new cartridge, called the 9x19mm NP (Netherlands Police), has been developed for their future service weapon. The 9mm NP features a 94 grain (6.1 gram) solid copper hollow point bullet with a plastic cap inserted into the hollow.

The "AA" stamp indicates that this is trial/prototype ammunition. Photo by Marco.

Ballistically it is the same as 9mm Luger / Parabellum. It is given a separate designation because some firearms, such as the MP5, will need to be modified to function correctly with the lighter bullet.

Many thanks to my source for this information.

Snowflakes in Hell is hosting a very interesting discussion about the pro's and con's of handloading ammunition for self-defense.

There is also a smaller discussion on the same topic at SaysUncle.

Earlier this month an explosion in the Prvi Partizan ammunition factory took six lives. Yahoo reports:

Prvi Partizan is Serbia's largest ammunition factory. It produces military and hunting ammunition as well as gun powder and explosives.

Maric said firefighters had "doused the fires and there is no danger of more explosions." He did not elaborate about the causes of the blast pending the end of the initial investigation.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic was on his way to the site, said a ministry spokeswoman.

Serbian defense industries have stepped up production in past two years, mainly exporting to Iraq, Libya, the United States and Myanmar. The total value of export deals in 2008 exceeded $600 million.

Prvi is notable for being the manufacturer of many obsolete cartridges. This year they started manufacturing the 8mm Lebel, which has not been manufactured by any other factory in the past few decades.

8mm Lebel

Thanks to mrwon and Himmel for the info and link.

UPDATE. Sadly the final casualty count was 7 dead and 14 injured.

Thanks Matt for the link.

A few days ago Remington announced their line of 12 Gauge HD Ultimate Home Defense Shotshells. What intrigues me is that these shells are not loaded with buckshot, but with bird shot.

The HD Ultimate Home Defense comes in two loads. The one load contains BB bird shot and the other has a mixture of #2 and #4 sized birdshot. The shot is made from the Remington HD (High density) tungsten alloy.

Both contain 1.25 ounces of shot (547 grain) which is launched at a velocity of 1250 fps. That works out to be 1898 ft/lbs of energy.

Just a few months ago Federal launched a line of self-defense .410 Shotshell, also loaded with bird shot. There was a long discussion on The Firearm Blog about the suitability of these shells for self defense. The consensus was, to borrow an old maxim, that birdshot is for the birds!

The fact that a two major ammunition manufacturers are selling bird shot for self defense makes me wonder if they know something we do not?

The HD ammo is loaded with very hard, but dense, tungsten alloy shot which would give it greater penetration than lead. On the other hand, 00 (”double-ought”) buck shot is .33″ in diameter, much larger than BB birdshot (0.18″) and more than twice the diameter of #2 (0.15″) and #4 shot (.13″). It is almost universally accepted than bigger == better for self defense.

For the sake of those who purchase it, I hope it performs well. Remington and Federal could certainly ease our fears by releasing their test data for public scrutiny.

If any of your want to test the ammo and do a write up for The Firearm Blog, get in touch with me.

UPDATE: I forgot to list the price. Both loads cost $34.99 for a box of 10 rounds.

The 5.7mm Xpress (left)

Yes, it is a joke If it were fired the force would likely rip the copper jacket from the lead, disintegrating the bullet.

Hat Tip: Say Uncle

If you were wondering why Remington would recall their entire line of .17 HMR Model 597 rifles just take a look at these photos which show a magazine and cases fired from a .17 HMR Model 597. This type of damage was not uncommon!

Cracked Remington 597 magazine


Blown out case head.


Split Case

Thanks to Joe for the photos.

Introduction by Steve: This is a guest post is written entirely by Y-Man. He has shown incredible ingenuity in a country that severely restricts the firearms and ammunition civilians can purchase. I have previously blogged about Y-Man’s exploits.

Imagine that all you could ever get in terms of ammunition is this:

Ordinary 12 gauge, BB Birdshot.

Well, I got some of that, but was I satisfied? NO! I needed something I could really use to “Reach out and touch…” Something that would penetrate at range with some accuracy.
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