There was no shortage of introductions and announcements from ammunition companies in 2022. New cartridges—like this year’s .30 Super Carry—grab attention and headlines, but there was a trend quietly gaining momentum this year, one that holds a promise of making those dreadful periods of ammo shortages shorter, or at least reducing their frequency.
The development is welcome news as we’re finally emerging from 2020 and 2021’s pandemic/social unrest-related run on ammo. That recent pain likely erased some memory of the frustration enthusiasts endured during 2013’s similar shortage, one that dragged into 2015. That one came on the heels of Barack Obama’s re-election as president of the United States.
It was the same when he first won in 2008, although the number of guns purchased annually and owned at the time pales in comparison to today. Now we have a whole new generation of first-time firearm owners, yet another contentious presidential election looming on the horizon and, more than ever before, a lot less to worry about, at least when it comes to ammo vanishing acts. We’ve kept you up to date on cartridge company expansions as they were announced throughout 2022, but this compilation of a few speaks volumes.
Federal Ammunition, for example, began expansion of its warehouse capacity in Coon Rapid, Minn. The multi-million-dollar, 100,000-sq.-ft. warehouse is being constructed on the eastern portion of the company’s property and will be fully operational by early spring of 2023. The facility will streamline production by allowing the storage of raw material closer to manufacturing.
Fiocchi is building a new manufacturing plant on 281-acres in the Port of Little Rock, Ark. The firm is investing $41.5 million to construct what will be only the sixth primer-manufacturing operation in the United States. When complete, it will employ 120 people.
Parent company of Norma Precision, Beretta Holding Group, is investing $60 million to build a state-of-the-art ammunition manufacturing and distribution facility in Savannah, Ga. The plant will cover 300,000 square feet.
Ammo Inc. cut the ribbon on a 185,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art expansion of its ammunition plant in Manitowoc, Wisc. One hundred new employees will join the current staff of 300 sometime next year.
True Velocity is ramping up availability of its polymer-cased cartridges—first unveiled in the 6.8 mm cartridge it submitted for consideration in the Army’s NGSW competition. It is available on the company’s website, expanding to even more retail locations, and the company could see an influx in funding next year if a merger plan is approved that would allow the firm to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Freedom Munitions broke ground on a new facility in Lewiston, Idaho. The 10,000-sq.-ft. building will provide the company more manufacturing capacity.
All the expansion in the world doesn’t guarantee there’s no shortage on the horizon. It does, however, provide some hope their lifespan will be shorter and arrival less frequent. That’s great news as we head into 2023 and, with luck, all that added production could bring cartridge prices down to the levels we enjoyed only a few years ago.
