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May 9th, 2014
Lake City vs. Lapua — which brass is harder? And how about Remington vs. Winchester? Is the widely-held belief that Win brass is harder than Rem brass really true? To help settle these burning questions (raised in a Forum thread), Forum member Catshooter recently sampled the base hardness of four brands of .223/5.56 brass. He employed a very impressive tool for the task — a $2,500 Ames Hardness Gauge. Catshooter explained that his Ames Guage “is FAA certified and approved for testing aircraft engine parts — it does NOT get any better than that!”
Catshooter measured four cases picked at random from batches of Lake City (LC) 2008 (5.56x45mm), Lapua .223 Rem Match, Winchester .223 Rem, and Remington R-P .223 Rem.
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| Lake City |
Lapua Match |
Winchester |
Remington |
Photo Shows Ames Gauge Base Hardness Measurement on Lake City Brass
Photo Show Ames Gauge Base Hardness Measurement on Winchester Brass
 TEST RESULTS
Using Rockwell hardness standards (.062″x100kg, Rockwell “B”), the brass measured as follows:
LC 2008 = 96
Lapua 223 Match = 86
Winchester 223 = 69
Remington “R-P” = 49
Summary of Test Results
Catshooter writes: “For all you guys that have believed that Winchester cases were tougher than Remington — you are vindicated, they are a lot tougher! However, Lake City and Lapua are ‘the pick of the litter'”. Catshooter notes that both Lake City and Lapua are significantly harder than either Winchester and Remington .223 brass. That’s something that we’ve observed empirically (Lapua and LC stand up better to stout loads), but now we have some hard numbers to back that up. Hats off to Catshooter for settling the hardness debate with his Ames Hardness Gauge.
April 30th, 2014
 Alliant Techsystems (ATK or Alliant) is merging its aerospace/defense operations with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences. At the same time, ATK plans to spin off its sporting arms, ammo, and outdoor gear operations into a separate, stand-alone business. ATK sells sporting products under numerous brands including Alliant Powder, Blackhawk, Bushnell, CCI, Champion, Federal Premium, RCBS, Savage Arms, Speer, and Weaver Optics. The new Alliant sporting business will operate from Utah, while the merged Orbital-ATK aerospace business will be managed from Virginia.
According to the Washington Post: “The separation of ATK’s core segments gives it the opportunity to focus on its sporting goods sector, which has grown to a $2.2 billion business through several mergers and acquisitions over the past decade. The company manufactures commercial sporting equipment for hunters, shooters and law enforcement agencies.”
 The announced merger of Alliant and Orbital, and the spin-off of the sporting business, should benefit Alliant shareholders. Alliant shares rose 8% yesterday. Alliant shareholders will own 53.8% of the new Orbital-ATK aerospace company, and Alliant shareholders will retain full ownership of the new spin-off sporting enterprise. Alliant’s current CEO and president, Mark DeYoung, will take over as chairman and CEO of the new sporting business.
Will the new Alliant Sporting operation continue to grow? Analysts believe that it will. Management has shown interest in building the company via more sporting industry acquisitions. Analysts believe the Alliant sporting division is poised for continued expansion. While Alliant’s aerospace operations have suffered in recent years from cuts in defense spending, the sporting division has seen impressive revenue growth.
According to StarTribune.com: “The sporting unit’s rocket-like growth has captured the attention of Wall Street analysts. Barclays Capital analyst Carter Copeland recently boosted his forecast on Alliant, noting that “over time … the sporting group has made a more significant portion of the total company’s sales and earnings. … The last seven quarters the business has posted average organic growth on a year-over-year basis of 23 percent.”
For those in the shooting community, the spin-off of ATK’s sporting operations is probably a good thing. The new company can focus on guns, ammo, and outdoor accessories, rather than aerospace programs with long development cycles. Likewise the new company should be more responsive to consumers, as it can adjust production to current market demands, rather than fixed government defense contracts. ATK officials stated that “the company’s Sporting and Aerospace/Defense businesses operate in two fundamentally different markets with very different operating dynamics, compliance requirements, customer sets and growth opportunities. As standalone companies, they will be more focused businesses, with clear and distinct strategic visions and objectives, additional operational flexibility and the financial strength to make the most of their unique opportunities in their respective industries.”
Under the terms of the transaction agreement, ATK will distribute ownership of Sporting to ATK shareholders in a spin-off transaction, following which, ATK shareholders will own 100 percent of Sporting. The spin-off will be immediately followed by a merger of Orbital with a subsidiary of ATK, with Orbital surviving the merger and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of ATK. In connection with the merger, Orbital shareholders will receive 0.449 shares of ATK common stock for each share of Orbital common stock that they hold. Upon the closing of the merger, ATK shareholders will own approximately 53.8 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis and Orbital shareholders will own the remaining approximately 46.2 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.
November 13th, 2013
 Why is ammo in short supply? Quite simply because Americans are buying ammunition (and reloading supplies) like never before, grabbing everything that comes off the production line. Consider this, ATK (NYSE:ATK), which owns Alliant Powder, CCI, Federal, RCBS, Bushnell, Savage and many other gun industry brands, reported a huge increase in revenues, mostly due to increased ammo sales.
ATK reported that second-quarter sales in its Sporting Group — which includes ammunition as well as optics, reloading gear and sport-shooting and tactical accessories — were up 48 percent to $421 million compared to $284 million in the same period last year. The company said the increase in sales was driven by higher volume in ammunition, sales from Savage of $57 million, and a previously announced ammunition price increase. ATK reported that its overall net income for the quarter was up 42 percent. Counting both military and civilian (Sporting Group) production, ATK produces over 6.5 Billion rounds of ammunition every year. Yep, that’s “B” as in Billion. That includes everything from .22 rimfire up to tank ammo.
$387,000,000 of Ammo for the Military
In related news, ATK announced that it has received orders for approximately $387 million for ammunition to be produced at its Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. The orders fall under the plant’s new production contract, which began Oct. 1, 2013, and include a mix of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and .50-caliber high-quality military ammunition.
August 3rd, 2013
 Need inexpensive .30-caliber major-brand bullets? Graf & Sons has you covered. Grafs.com just made available a large number of pull-down Sierra 175gr HPBT MatchKing bullets at a cost of just $21.99 per 100 bullets. This price includes shipping, but there is a single $6.95 handling fee per order. These .308 Sierra bullets are pulled down from Lake City LRM118 millitary ammo. Note, since these are pull-down bullets (taken from dismantled ammo), the bullets may exhibit scratches or pull marks. Still, if you are looking for a supply of .30-caliber bullets available right now at a great price, check out this current offer.
Product tip from EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
August 2nd, 2010
 MidwayUSA now offers milspec 5.56x45mm Lake City brass (item 197849) at $114.99 per 500 cases. That works out to just $23.00 per hundred. Shooters report this brass is “very uniform” and shoots great in AR-type rifles. It can also be used in rifles chambered for the .223 Remington. MidwayUSA reports: “This is true 5.56x45mm mil-spec, new, unfired, heavy duty brass with the LC 09 headstamp. It is the same brass supplied to our fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. We made a special buy on a limited supply and it will not last long. Cases should be sized, neck-chamfered, and deburred before loading. With this brass, there is no primer crimp to remove.”
User Report: “Brand new Lake City brass made to 5.56 NATO spec, fresh annealed necks and no primer crimp. It cycles perfectly fine in my AR, loads with no fuss, and I’ve had NO issues with it.” — J.H. from Abilene, TX
April 20th, 2010
Need “value-priced” .223 Rem Brass? Then give Graf & Sons a call. Graf’s has NEW Lake City Mil-Spec .223 Rem (5.56) unprimed brass on sale for just $19.99 per 100 cases. That’s right… just twenty bucks per hundred. But this sale price expires Friday 4/23/2010 at midnight. Large quantities of sale brass were on hand at this price as of 12:00 noon CST on 4/21. To order, visit Grafs.com, or call 1-800-531-2666.
Many shooters feel that Lake City makes some of the best .223 Rem (5.56×45) brass available. And it’s hard to beat Graf’s price for this LC 2009 headstamp brass (item FDU223). This is a good opportunity for varminters and service rifle shooters to lay in a large supply of quality brass.
March 25th, 2010
Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, has revealed that once-fired military brass is being converted into scrap metal rather than being sold in reloadable condition with revenues going to the U.S. Treasury. The destruction or mutilation of once-fired brass runs contrary to the efforts of Congressional leaders to ensure that fired military brass be resold rather than destroyed. Marbut claims that once-fired brass is now being destroyed as the result of “sweetheart side deals with installation commanders that [are] being aggressively promoted by ATK.”
According to Marbut, ATK/Alliant Techsystems has encouraged military base commanders to sell their used cartridge brass directly to ATK. The brass is then demilled and rendered down to scrap metal for use in ATK’s future new cartridge production. Marbut states: “ATK even provides portable equipment to demil tons of cartridge cases at the military installations, destroying the brass for reloading purposes. Because the destroyed cartridge case brass is not suitable for reloading, it cannot command a price driven by auction for the highest-value use of reloading. Military installation commanders sell the Alliant-destroyed brass to ATK at a private, non-auction, special price. Commanders are willing to accept the reduced price because the sale proceeds go to the commanders’ discretionary accounts and not back to the U.S. Treasury via Government Liquidations.”
As a result of this reported arrangement between military commanders and ATK, Marbut believes, millions of used military cartridge cases, which otherwise could enter the commercial market for surplus brass, are being destroyed rather than sold at auction for fair value. In a time when there are still acute shortages of reloading components, this reduces the supply of reloadable brass, while depriving the U.S. Treasury of sales proceeds. Marbut calls for Congressional action to stop the “sweetheart deals” and ensure that “expended military brass of civilian-usable calibers generated domestically goes through the public auction process.” Marbut believes that “will benefit the U.S. Treasury, America’s gun owners, and the adequacy of the ammunition marketplace.”
CLICK HERE to read full story: Military Cartridge Brass Destruction 2010 – Round 2
April 7th, 2009
 Alliant Techsystems (NYSE:ATK) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army to continue operating the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant for an additional four (4) years. Under the new contract, ATK will continue to supply small-caliber ammunition through September 2013. The contract extension assures an uninterrupted supply of ammunition to the U.S. military beyond ATK’s current 10-year contract. The U.S. Army also awarded ATK $481 million under the new contract for production of 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and .50-caliber ammunition and to continue work to modernize the Lake City facility.
ATK is now the #1 producer of small arms ammunition in the world, manufacturing billions of rounds each year. Lake City is a key source of ATK ammo production. ATK began operating the plant, located in Independence, Missouri, in April 2000 and has increased production from 350 million to more than 1.4 billion rounds annually. The plant has the capability to produce a mix of 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50-caliber, and 20mm cartridges, as well as ammunition links.
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