The CCI facility in Lewiston, Idaho has been running almost non-stop to meet demand in the United States for the last four years. It producing about four million .22 rimfire rounds a day.
To meed the increased structural demand for .22 rimfire, Vista Outdoors made the decision to increase and improve their rimfire production. The new plant automates the production to modern standards.
Also interesting is this:
The latest addition provides room for a variety of proprietary equipment used to make .22-caliber rimfire ammunition.
Much of the equipment was designed by company engineers, in cooperation with outside vendors. The focus, Mackleit said, is on “continuous flow” – starting out with raw material and moving through to the finished product in a sequence of steps without building any pockets of inventory along the way.
The result, he said, has been a substantial and “very satisfying” reduction in the time needed to complete an order.
In other words, they designed and built their own tools, in order to be more competitive. Can there be anything more American?
"Can THERE be anything . . ." for those of us native to this planet who do not share the telepathic powers of your regular readers.
ReplyDeleteNo snark intention, I'm sure it was the auto spell-check in its "helping" mode.
Ah ha! Thanks for the correction!
DeleteBully! Here's another, sadly long past---
ReplyDelete"TRW was ahead of Winchester and Harrington & Richardson in a number of ways. Because of its background, TRW had a broader and more sophisticated production experience. TRW considered itself to be highly skilled in the manufacturing techniques of precision forging and chain broaching. Because of its jet engine work, TRW possessed
state-of-the-art knowledge of metallurgy and heat treatment. The company was adept at making small batches of custom order aircraft parts. This knowledge and manufacturing flexibility served TRW well when setting up the M14 project. TRW made only eleven parts during its M14 rifle production. Those parts (receiver, trigger housing, hammer, bolt, operating rod, barrel, rear sight base, connector,
gas piston, gas cylinder, and flash suppressor) amounted to less than 65 % of the cost to the government. Only the first six parts in the list were marked TRW. TRW manufactured firing mechanism safeties which were likely replacement parts made after rifle production."
--and--
"The expertise of TRW is borne out by the 1962 American Rifleman interview of Stanley C. Pace. Mr. Pace explained how TRW applied its jet engine manufacturing experience to the production of M14 rifles. TRW settled on making what parts it could make economically well (based on its expertise), and subcontracted out the remaining parts
which were easily manufactured from conventional methods. TRW machined single piece operating rods from forgings. Barrel interiors were formed by German design hammer forging. Barrel exterior contours were formed in two turning passes by using a Seneca Falls tracer lathe. The Seneca Falls tracer lathe replaced six conventional
machine tools. The same barrel operation required four turning passes at Winchester. The TRW automatic barrel installation machine was similar to the other makers but it had some changes based on the experiences of the other manufacturers. As previously mentioned, TRW receivers gave about 6 % longer service life than others. TRW did
assemble, test and ship all completed M14 rifles stamped with its logo on the receiver heel. Later on, TRW became the only commercial contractor to ever produce the USGI M14 NM rifle.
From "M14 Rifle History and Development" by Lee Emerson
http://www.imageseek.com/m1a/
So glad to see some new rimfire production! I recall with sadness how little a brick of .22 used to cost Before Obama, and how difficult it is even to find a brick these days.
ReplyDeleteLast gun show I went to (Del Mar, CA) had bricks of 550 rounds for $60, which IMHO is ridiculous! They used to be $15 at Walmart, but reached a high of $90 toward the end of the Obama Reign. I sure hope those days never return.
None of my local Walmarts ever have any .22 in stock anymore, and if they had any there's a limit of 3 boxes. I don't know what size boxes, since there are never any to buy. Here's hoping that situation will soon be recified!
You said it. We need .22 back to pre progressive prices.
DeleteNot spam, this has been my go to source for finding ammo even during the "drought".
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wikiarms.com/group/22LR
Online ammunition inventory search engine
No shortage of rimfire available by buying online.Cheapest shown at the moment just a bit over 4 cents a round. Bricks,or cases.
Sadly I don't think prices will ever drop to levels we all remember.