Shotgun Primer Shortage - With the nation's largest ammunition manufacturer unable to do anything to alleviate the ongoing ammo shortages and prices, one new company, Expansion Ammunition, wants to help make the shot again. Expansion hasn't hit the 10-year mark as a company yet, but it's building a 200-acre ammunition manufacturing campus in Texas and is poised to become the next big player in the factory ammunition game.
"We have a lot of room for expansion and we are not depressed. We plan to be the main employer in the area in the future," said Richie Smissen Jr., National Marketing Director of Expansion. He co-owns it with his father, Richard, who is president of the company. Richie's brother and uncle also had a share. "It's definitely a family business."
Shotgun Primer Shortage
"During the last major ammunition shortage, my father and I decided that it was not right that we as Americans could not have access to quality shooting products at affordable prices. The expansion began because we strongly believe in the Second Amendment.
No Primer Shortage
About a year ago, Expansion Munition bought the old Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant west of Texarkana from the state and completed a $35 million construction project there that will create a plant dedicated to the production of primers. Soon, the company hopes to make its own brass cases and projectiles, so all components of the expansion ammunition will be made on site in Texas, except for the powder.
The company currently has corporate offices in Dallas and R&D and manufacturing operations outside of Joplin, Missouri, in addition to its newest Texas facility. The story of expansion is an American story, born of necessity from humble beginnings.
The old government Lone Star Ammunition Plant site was built during World War II. Expansion bought a 200-hectare parcel from the state and continued to renovate it.
"The expansion started in my mom's basement. I learned how to run it on my own after college, and a lot of it had to do with the last big munitions scare of the Obama years," Smissen said.
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. "I can't really find work at the time and I'm a pretty average shooter. But I care a lot about the Second Amendment.
"During the last ammunition shortage, my father and brother decided that we as Americans did not have access to quality shooting products at an affordable price," he said. "The expansion started because we believe strongly in the Second Amendment. A lot of companies say it's a marketing line, and we wrap ourselves in red, white and blue — it's all in our [ammo] box — but it's true.
"At the beginning of the pandemic, we just decided to double down and now produce all ingredients without powder."
Since 2013, Expansion has gone from a one-man, basement-based operation to something that promises to be bigger. This primary production facility is just the first step in what Smissens says will eliminate the biggest bottleneck in the ammunition manufacturing supply chain. He added that it was difficult to get the raw materials for the primer, but the Expansion was already working.
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The company is also developing a brass and projectile production facility at its Texas site. They hope to become a major player in the US ammunition market.
Smissen said the Texas site has completed the first hiring phase, with about 400 people hired as machinists, operators, chemists, line workers, material handlers and some engineering and administrative positions.
"We've been very impressed with the supervisory staff we've hired and the veterans we've hired. In fact, many of our supervisory staff are veterans," he said. "So if veterans are looking for a job, send us your resume."
Building an old government munitions factory isn't easy. Smissen said that the building chosen for the first plant is the newest in the property; it was built in the early 1990s to build cannons.
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The expansion primer will be used in the company's own ammunition, sold to other ammunition manufacturers and sold in the retail market for reloaders.
Which is good, he said, because every room in the place is rated to withstand an explosion equivalent to 50 pounds of TNT. Although primary production can be dangerous and involve volatile compounds, this is serious overkill in a good way. The expansion is now complete at the facility and is expected to be operational soon.
"Last year we tore down all the old buildings and crushed all the concrete. Everything was rebuilt for the army and in some places we were dealing with concrete walls 10 feet thick. It took a lot more than we wanted to.
The Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant was originally a large, 15,546-acre, government-owned, contract-operated facility established in 1942. It got its name because in 1941 the Lone Star Defense Corporation, B.F. A subsidiary of Goodrich Rubber Corporation. , won the contract to manufacture cannons, bombs, fuses, boosters and other munitions on site.
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Ammunition Expansion will start making the most popular ammunition, such as 9mm and .223 Rem, and gradually expand the catalog.
The plant produced ammunition during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It operated until September 2009, when it was officially shut down after nearly 70 years. In short, there's a lot of ammunition history built on that foundation - all the better to build the backbone of a new ammunition company.
So what is the key to Expansion's success so far? Smissen said the company adheres to the concept of mobile manufacturing. Instead of traditional production lines, they make each ammunition component as needed and assemble it into cartridges as needed, allowing them to quickly and adapt to a changing market. Currently, Expansion offers the absolute most popular caliber in the US: four pistol cartridges (9mm, .45 ACP, .40S & W and .380 Auto) and two rifle cartridges (5.56 NATO and .300 BLK), but Smissen will change. coming soon
"Within two to three years, you'll see us doing 20 to 30 SKUs of different products. It's easy," he said.
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Expansion Ammo recently held a job fair for its new Texas facility. There were an incredible 2,000 people.
As for the new priming facility, it will handle the development of all sizes of primers for Expansion ammunition, as well as supply several manufacturers of small, medium and large ammunition within a year. The expansion plots will also be sold directly to the public.
With ammunition still in short supply and prices on the rise, all gun owners in the United States should be happy to hear about a new ammunition manufacturer ramping up production. However, Smissen is not convinced that the crisis is all it cracked up to be.
"This is partly an artificially created crisis. A lot of these things can be solved if people just have the will to do it. That's why we do what we do. Is it difficult? Yes it is. What we do is very difficult. I can't promise that the price will go down to pre-pandemic levels. I can say that we are working hard to at least make sense again," he said.
Expansion Industries To Open New Primer Facility
Currently, the company produces six calibers, but hopes to have 20 to 30 products in its catalog in two or three years.
"I don't want to disparage other companies, but a lot of [the ammunition crisis] I think is created. Let's face it, [the big ammunition companies] are happy with their profit margins right now. If they can keep their profit margins high and not have to produce as much—you know what? What would you do if you had a big munitions company? You'd probably be very happy," he said.
If you live in the Texarkana area, check the Expansion Munition website for product announcements and job opportunities.
. For more than ten years, he has worked for various outdoor publications as a writer and editor and has contributed to the development of various tactical and outdoor brands, including Field & Stream, Outdoor Life,
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, Ballistics and more. He is a hunter, target shooter, and big gun and movie nerd who lives in the Northeast with his wife, Madeleine, and his trusty Texas gardener, Hunter. It's no secret that the industry is going through tough times right now. As ammunition and firearms prices soar to record highs, firearms enthusiasts of all kinds are beginning to feel the stress of an industry growing in uncertainty. Reloaders, quite a subset of firearms enthusiasts, were not spared this tumultuous time. If you've ever thought about reloading any components (copper, bullets, powder and primer) you'll be hard pressed to find anything in stock at the price it is, and even expensive items seem to be off the shelves. no matter what? The primary is especially close
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