AMI ammo plant to be built in Alcoa

[peejman]

http://wate.com/2015/10/20/haslam-expected-to-make-economic-development-announcement-in-maryville/

 

 

AMI will invest $553 million in a new campus for distribution and R&D operation. This will create 605 new jobs in the area.

 

The Alcoa plant will hire chemists and engineers with backgrounds in metallurgy, engineering, physics and energetics technology.

 

The ammunition manufacturing company is known in the firearms industry for its HPR Ammunition brand. The company supplies ammunition to the military, law enforcement and civilian markets.

 

The 235-acre site is expected to break ground this spring and open in 2018.

 

Company executives say they chose Tennessee due to proximity and resources of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

 

 

 

 

Good news for the community.  :up:

[gary_boom]

Can't wait.

[gun sane]

Brings 600 jobs to East Tennessee, plus shows the world where we stand on defense.

 

http://www.local8now.com/home/headlines/Munitions-company-bringing-more-than-600-jobs-to-Alcoa-334749991.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WVLT_Volunteer_TV

[Steelharp]

Lots of .22, please...

[peejman]

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/91652-ami-ammo-plant-to-be-built-in-alcoa/

 

:)

 

Sounds like it will be more R&D facility than manufacturing, but we'll see. 

Edited October 21, 2015 by peejman

[Pete123]

They are moving the headquarters here.  Based on the amount of investment and number of jobs expected, my thinking is that it will also have a manufacturing plant.

 

While we all want more .22s, economics of the industry make it hard for a manufacturer to justify new capacity.

 

The issue is that rimfire technology is 150 years old and it is very difficult to produce a quality product.  That difficulty translates into many millions ($100-$200MM) of dollars of equipment.  The next issue is that the profit margin on .22s are small.

 

It doesn't make sense to expand capacity until there is a true increase in demand, which we don't have.  The reason that .22s are so scarce is due to hoarding - not actual true demand.

[greenego]

Great news Hope more follow them. How about a nice Ruger plant. :love:

[Steelharp]

The issue is that rimfire technology is 150 years old and it is very difficult to produce a quality product.  That difficulty translates into many millions ($100-$200MM) of dollars of equipment.  The next issue is that the profit margin on .22s are small.

 

It doesn't make sense to expand capacity until there is a true increase in demand, which we don't have.  The reason that .22s are so scarce is due to hoarding - not actual true demand.

CCI doesn't seem to have that problem.

 

And the hoarding thing is bull :poop: . You can't hoard what you can't purchase; and obtaining it from the distributor level is the issue. They don't have it to ship down to the retailer. We get dribbles from our distributors. Folks can't "hoard" a hundred boxes when only ten come in a shipment.

[bucnball]

Very interesting..  Does anyone remember back in the early 90's when CCI made aluminum-cased ammo ? i wonder if they could make aluminum 22 caliber ? Wonder if after development costs it could be cheaper than brass/copper cased per unit ?Pushing the dream a bit further, how about a polymer composition projectile that has a reduced range of 3 or 4 hundred yards ?

[Oh Shoot]

Very interesting..  Does anyone remember back in the early 90's when CCI made aluminum-cased ammo ? .

 

They still make it. All the centerfire Blazer, unless branded "Blazer Brass",  is aluminum cased. Bunch of different calibers.

 

Basically, anything in the box that looks like this:

 

 

- OS

Edited October 24, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[Pete123]

CCI doesn't seem to have that problem.

 

And the hoarding thing is bull :poop: . You can't hoard what you can't purchase; and obtaining it from the distributor level is the issue. They don't have it to ship down to the retailer. We get dribbles from our distributors. Folks can't "hoard" a hundred boxes when only ten come in a shipment.

 

Your comment regarding CCI doesn't match what I wrote.  I didn't say they couldn't make good rimfire ammo.  I said the equipment to achieve that is extremely expensive and that companies don't want to invest that much to make products with a very low margin.

 

You comments regarding hoarding fail to account for important information.  Why do you think the distributors can only send limited orders?  You may not realize that existing plants are making as much as they can.  Due to hoarding, everyone is trying to order more and the orders can't be filled - whether from the manuf, distributor or other party.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Pete123

[Steelharp]

Your comment regarding CCI doesn't match what I wrote.  I didn't say they couldn't make good rimfire ammo.  I said the equipment to achieve that is extremely expensive and that companies don't want to invest that much to make products with a very low margin.

 

You comments regarding hoarding fail to account for important information.  Why do you think the distributors can only send limited orders?  You may not realize that existing plants are making as much as they can.  Due to hoarding, everyone is trying to order more and the orders can't be filled - whether from the manuf, distributor or other party.

Your exact quote was, "The issue is that rimfire technology is 150 years old and it is very difficult to produce a quality product." My response is a direct answer to that. You need to pay attention to what you say.

 

Existing plants are indeed making as much as they can. That's why we need new plants. There is demand; but the demand can't be met, and "hoarding" has to have a supply to feed it. When we get ammo, it sells, many customers buy it. One guy doesn't come in and buy it all so he can "hoard" it. Folks buy a box or two, and politely leave the rest for other customers.

[crossfire]

Your exact quote was, "The issue is that rimfire technology is 150 years old and it is very difficult to produce a quality product." My response is a direct answer to that. You need to pay attention to what you say.

 

Existing plants are indeed making as much as they can. That's why we need new plants. There is demand; but the demand can't be met, and "hoarding" has to have a supply to feed it. When we get ammo, it sells, many customers buy it. One guy doesn't come in and buy it all so he can "hoard" it. Folks buy a box or two, and politely leave the rest for other customers.

You guys seam to forget about all the scalpers out there. Just on GB there is 7 pages of adds for .22LR, of course you have to pay though the nose for it. This drives shooters to buy anything they can find at .05-.07 cents/round. Even if it's 1 or 2 boxes at a time. I'm not sure if you want to call everyone that has 10-20k of .22lr a hoarder or a scalper, most are just shooters that don't want to be caught short again. The average shooter that had 500-1k rounds laying around the house now has 10x that amount, because he just can't go to Wally World or the local Mom & Pop store and pick up a box or 2 before going to the range. Who knows how much the scalpers have laying around. It's been 3 years since the run on .22's started, is it getting better? Somewhat. Will it ever get back to the way it was? Who knows.

[Garufa]

They still make it. All the centerfire Blazer, unless branded "Blazer Brass",  is aluminum cased. Bunch of different calibers.

 

Basically, anything in the box that looks like this:

 

 

- OS

 

Unless it's Blazer .22 of course, which is brass.  But I know you know that. ;)

[JohnC]

Very nice to see more jobs coming to TN! Especially those from the guns, ammo, and military munitions industry. :up:

[Pete123]

You guys seam to forget about all the scalpers out there. Just on GB there is 7 pages of adds for .22LR, of course you have to pay though the nose for it. This drives shooters to buy anything they can find at .05-.07 cents/round. Even if it's 1 or 2 boxes at a time. I'm not sure if you want to call everyone that has 10-20k of .22lr a hoarder or a scalper, most are just shooters that don't want to be caught short again. The average shooter that had 500-1k rounds laying around the house now has 10x that amount, because he just can't go to Wally World or the local Mom & Pop store and pick up a box or 2 before going to the range. Who knows how much the scalpers have laying around. It's been 3 years since the run on .22's started, is it getting better? Somewhat. Will it ever get back to the way it was? Who knows.

 

This comment dovetails nicely with my assertion.  Rimfire cartridge manufacturers aren't going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new rimfire cartridge factory unless there is a real increase in demand.  A real increase in demand would be a significant increase in the number of .22 firearms sold.

 

So, there is a fixed amount of production.  As this poster stated, the average shooter has much more .22 ammo than they normally would so they won't be caught short.  That is hoarding.  We could debate exactly what hoarding means, though it really doesn't matter.

 

Until people stop making purchases to keep from being caught short there will not be a change in the market we see.  Cartridge manufacturers aren't going to invest $150-250 million when they know that eventually everyone will feel like they have enough .22s and demand will return to normal, especially on a low margin product. 

 

I caught myself doing this exact thing and have personally quit buying .22 ammo until I see that I'll need it.

[1gewehr]

Remington, Winchester, CCI, and others have all added capacity or new rimfire production in the past four years. Gun sales have broken records the past five years. Any wonder that ammo demand is high also? Supply is slowly catching up.

[crossfire]

Remington, Winchester, CCI, and others have all added capacity or new rimfire production in the past four years. Gun sales have broken records the past five years. Any wonder that ammo demand is high also? Supply is slowly catching up.

I agree and plus the new AR style 22s with all the new 20+ mags will rip thru a brick of ammo in no time. Even the 10/22 has a high cap. mag now. You can run thru a 500 round brick in an afternoon of plinking. I'm not saying its all being shot up, but the demand sure went up over the past couple years.

[DWARREN123]

Well I for one am glad there will be more and happy it will be in Tennessee.

[Oh Shoot]

Unless it's Blazer .22 of course, which is brass.  But I know you know that. ;)

 

Yep. But jeez,  one "centerfire" qualifier wasn't enough for ya? ;)

 

- OS

[Sunfish]

I'm thinking that the percentages in margin are with other rounds than .22. That being said they probably don't want to spin their wheels but a minimum amount. They are running 24/7 but they are making stuff that has way bigger profit margin. It's good business. Sunfish

[AtomicRooster]

Waiting for Glocks 2nd US plant to come to Knoxville.