For several years, many shooters looking for bulk premium remanufactured ammo turned to Stand 1 Armory. The Dallas, Texas-based bullet farm was first incorporated in 2013 and soon became a popular source of ammo for shooters of many different calibers and styles. Offerings included a variety of 9mm, .40, .45, .223, .308, 300BLK rounds, and more. Stand 1 Armory struck a particular chord in the competitive shooting community, with their “chubbies”. These 147 grain 9mm reduced power (-P) loads were purpose-built for events like 3 Gun, USPSA, IDPA, and others in which such a load could prove advantageous. The -P characteristics were intended to allow shooters to still knock down steel plates during matches, but provide decreased felt recoil and enable faster reacquisition and followup than with punchier loads.

Stand 1 Armory looks to pick up where it left off, having specialized in bulk reman ammo from 2013-2017.

Unfortunately, trouble began to arise for the company in 2015 when competitive shooter and former Stand 1 Armory employee Michael R. Cooper sought 35 percent ownership in the company. Discussions never produced an agreement, deteriorated, and resulted in Cooper filing a lawsuit seeking more than $2 million in damages. This financial pressure was a leading factor causing Stand 1 Armory to cease operations as of September 2017. In a social media post from that month, the company’s founder and owner, Tony Miglini, stated:

With a heavy heart I have to let everyone know that Stand 1 Armory will be shutting down permanently at the end of this month. Its been one of the most difficult decisions Ive ever had to make but its time and I can’t ignore it any longer. I’m very proud of the brand that we’ve built and the employees here that make everything possible. We have a really talented bunch or folks. We have always strived to make the best possible product available even when that wasn’t the most profitable way to do things. We did so because we sincerely care about the shooting community- many of you whom have become very good friends over the years. Im grateful beyond belief for many of you. Thank you isn’t enough. I wont go into all the reasons that led to this decision because none of them really matter now. Many of you know that Stand 1 is being sued for a tremendous sum of money by a former employee. Its unfortunate and I sincerely wish things were different but they aren’t and we need to face that fact. We’re sorry that we wont be able to continue to serve the community any longer. It was an honor and a privilege to do so for as long as we did.

A photo from Stand 1 Armory’s pre-shutdown operations.

After the shutdown, the legal battle continued. Cooper eventually lost the lawsuit, after which Stand 1 Armory and Miglini brought a countersuit which succeeded. According to a July 2019 article from Yahoo Finance, a jury awarded up to $70,000 in attorneys’ fees. In the following months, all seemed to be quiet, but Miglini was making plans. On June 8, 2020, nearly three years after Stand 1 Armory had to shut its doors, their social media suddenly resurrected with the image at the top of this article. If you explore their website, you will find functioning product/shopping cart pages and the note shown below, declaring that Stand 1 Armory is resuming operations under new ownership. If you decide to give the new Stand 1 Armory version 2.0 a try, particularly if you used them before and can provide a comparison, we would love to know what you think. Please let us know in the comments how the new ammo stacks up! See you at the range.

The company’s founder updates fans on S1A’s incipient rebirth.

Photos courtesy of Stand 1 Armory.