When the Remington bankruptcy sweepstakes ended last fall, Vista Outdoor, makers of Federal, Speer and CCI ammunition was the high bidder for Big Green’s ammunition business. That was very good news. As the nation’s largest producer of ammunition, Vista knows a thing or two about turning out quality gun food in very large quantities.
Vista has been working ever since getting Remington’s Lonoke, Arkansas production facility fully back up, on line, and cranking out rimfire and centerfire ammunition…all during a time of significant supply chain challenges and the biggest consumer demand for ammo since forever.
Now Vista wants to let the world know that process is complete and Big Green is back to cranking out lots and lots of ammunition 24/7/365.
From Remington Ammunition . . .
Remington Ammunition, America’s outdoor brand known around the world for generations by outdoor enthusiasts for its iconic green boxes, today announced the much-anticipated brand homecoming and factory reboot at its Lonoke, Arkansas facility. Hundreds of American workers are now working around the clock under the highest quality standards to meet the ammunition needs of shooters and hunters across the country.
The company just released a video featuring Remington Ammunition President Jason Vanderbrink showing firsthand that Big Green is Back. Vanderbrink tours the plant, talking about his plans to dramatically ramp up production, overcome supply chain issues, and demonstrate that the storied ammunition company is working overtime to address the needs of customers around the world.
Vista Outdoor, the new steward of Remington Ammunition and the Remington brand, took ownership of the “Big Green” Arkansas manufacturing facility last October after acquiring select Remington assets. Under Vanderbrink’s leadership, Remington has been working 24/7 to retool and reopen the plant, hiring hundreds of skilled American workers to revitalize operations.
“Today marks a historic milestone for our industry…I am joined by the hard-working crew at Remington Ammunition, the entire team at Vista Outdoor and outdoor and shooting sports enthusiasts across America in celebrating the rebirth and resurgence of Remington Ammunition,” said Vanderbrink.
“The shooting sports industry has experienced unprecedented growth and demand for high-quality ammunition, in large part driven by millions of new legal firearms owners joining our community over the last year. Our message to new owners and to our millions of die-hard Remington Ammunition fans is that our operations are in full swing, our quality control is second to none and our entire team is working tirelessly to make more ammo.”
Up-to-date information about Big Green’s comeback, ammo availability and future new products are available at the company’s homepage and social media outlets. Find legendary Remington ammunition at dealers nationwide and online.
“Find legendary Remington ammunition at dealers nationwide and online.”
Hahahahahahahaha.
Darn it Tom…ya beat me to it!
I’ll keep my eyes open for Golden Saber boxes.
I didn’t even finish my coffee and you went and took a dump on my enthusiasm Tom.
We’re going to have a little talk.
The hoarders are celebrating the news of more ammo to purchase and hoard.
I hoarded 7.62X39 years ago. I have more than enough for my lifetime excluding a societal meltdown, which is why I hoarded in the first place and why a majority of us put sufficient amounts away. It’s the 7.62X35 that I’d like to hoard a little more of. 🙁
It’s not hoarding. It’s an investment on Our Nations future or lack of one. Don’t need to purchase anymore. Hell I have more than most dealers and probably some distributors. You always want to be the Ant and not the Grasshopper for when times get short.
Well can’t hurt. If I ever had enough cash to get it started, I’d definitely start my own ammo company. I wouldn’t bother trying to become a gun manufacturer. But ammo? Hell that’s like being in oil.
Mr. Democrat, does’t this (Remington arms) qualify as infrasrtucture?
There was a time Sears manufactured several different brands of home appliances. Essentially the difference was the brand tag, but it worked for quite a long time. For some while, Vista will be stuck having to stamp different sources on the cartridge, but how long can that be economical?
Vista didn’t just buy the Remington ammo name, they also bought the Remington facility in Lonoke, Arkansas (watch the video for an aerial photo of it) and all the manufacturing capacity that goes with it.
It’s not like GM slapping a different badge on the same car and calling it a Chevy, Olds, Buick or Pontiac. The Remington line is separate and distinct from Vista’s other brands.
GM’s policy actually makes more economic sense. The various product lines – while using some of the same base parts – are traditionally aimed at different quality / prestige / price niches.
Vista continuing Remington alongside Federal is more like GM buying Ford and continuing to make a full line of Fords that compete directly with Chevys, while building incompatible parts at different factories to negate any economies of scale.
ya sure-ubetcha, gm moving most of their mfg’ing to mexico and china. only thing guaranteed is higher prices for inferior product thanks biden..but
remington,well maybe, we are going to realy need gun-food soon.
MBAs LOVE their classroom theories such as “economies of scale”. The REAL WORLD is a very different place.
It sounds like your point was trashed but you’ll be damned if you will let go of it. An entire manufacturing facility coming back on line is clearly not the same as writing Remington on a box from the old factory. You sure you aren’t a woman?
Lugnut,
Dan distinguished between two different business models. How did the fact that I expressed a preference for one over the other give you the impression that I claimed they’re the same?
So… Vista should dump the Gold Dots and Golden Sabers and push HSTs on everyone? Umm… that makes no (business) sense.
Gov,
Not at all what I said. First, as I noted elsewhere, anything will sell in the current market. More to your point, a variety of premium offerings tends to sell well – just like GM sells Corvettes, Cadillacs, and whatever they’re calling their line of showboat pickups these days.
It’s actually a basic high school concept, but maybe they steered me wrong.
Please enlighten me how the same company producing similar, competing trucks requiring different production lines, machinery, components, training for every worker, material specs, drawings, manuals, delivery networks, dealers, spares and parts distribution, maintainers, safety testing and certifications, etc. is actually more efficient and profitable in the REAL WORLD?
Or maybe if you just hold your breath long enough, facts and thinking won’t matter because this silly “Industrial Revolution” trend will pass on by. /s
If you have a factory that turns out two million rounds a day and you acquire another factory that can turn out another two million rounds a day and you can sell all of it you are now selling four million rounds a day, hence you are making more money.
What different components are gonna be in ammunition? All cases start out as a brass blank and a machine draws out the brass to form a case (while including whatever brand headstamp btw) For all we know Remington will have “Vista” powder inside the cartridges and most companies easily make identical FMJ projectiles and outsource other companies for “special” non-FMJ type projectiles. So where does all this specialized equipment and products and special training for that all come in again? Hate to break it for you but this is not like your Ford vs. Chevy reference and was a smart move by Vista Outdoors and much welcome to the POTG.
“Please enlighten me..”
Simple.
1. I’m a real world customer who really buys real products. If GM hopes to ever sell a vehicle to me, then they better buy Honda or Ford or Toyota and build them like the originals, or they’ll never have me for a customer.
2. Having several differently branded product lines that all use common parts is putting all your eggs in the same basket. A poor design in one of your parts will affect a larger portion of your product lineup. To wit, GM’s 4L*E line of truck and suv transmissions, poorly designed PCV and EGR systems that clog the intake and/or throttle body with oil and carbon residue, and the list goes on…and this is not just a GM problem, although they sure make for a handy example.
3. Economy of scale in this context works to smother innovation and competition.
Nemesis-Black.
Correct: Automobiles are not a great analogy for a much simpler product like ammunition. I was directly addressing neiowa’s criticism of the broader concept of economy of scale. Now that I know hawkeye also disagrees with this fundamental principle of all modern industrial production, my feelings are truly crushed.
On the other hand, your own mention of the possibility of using a common powder and outsourcing projectiles is a perfect example of the efficiencies of economies of scale.
Charles Cox,
Agreed. Any new production capacity, in these (desperate and artificial) market conditions, is like a gold mine – but hopefully these conditions won’t last forever.
“There was a time Sears manufactured several different brands of home appliances.”
Got a reference on that?
I thought Sears’s ‘innovation’ was contracting with existing appliance manufacturers to produce their ‘Kenmore’ brand…
I don’t believe Sears ever manufactured appliances. Instead, they bought models from well known manufacturers and slapped the Kenmore name on them. It didn’t matter because the appliances were of good quality and Sears would service them. The same was true of their competitors, J C Penney and Montgomery Ward. Now, they are no different from Home Depot or Lowes.
More than forty years ago, my wife and I were shopping for a microwave oven. J C Penney had a model that was clearly a relabeled Panasonic. When I pointed this out to the salesman, he insisted that it was a J C Penney product and had nothing to do with Panasonic. I annoyed him by referring to it thereafter as a “Penneysonic”.
Kendahl is correct, and appears to have a good sense of humor to boot!
I’ve owned a lot of Kenmore products over the years. Most of the time I could identify the original manufacturer and compare products. There was almost always some notable difference in products. Usually I decided the difference was an advantage towards the Kenmore.
With the decline in Sears that shifted more towards the manufacturer’s own label. For example, I bought a washer a drying set that used stainless steel drums where the Kenmore version used painted/coated steel.
“Penneysonic” is perfect. LOL!
Sears just bought stuff private labelled. They did not own factories.
There 12ga 00 buck shot was nice. Maybe I will go out and buy a case again…after the nightmare administration is out of office.
Seems like you have your order of operations backwards…
OK cool…put a gat on layaway yesterday(courtesy slow Joe) and bought a box of S&B 9mm for $35 which is “less” than I’ve seen but still horific. If Vista has cheaper it’s fine with me😖
I miss the 130gr .38 special. Been rolling my own lately.
“Been rolling my own lately.”
Oh, you have primers?
As Ralph once said – “Where do you live, and when are you not home?” 🙂
WHO CARES I WANT A TAC 13 THAT WORKS
“Vista Outdoor, makers of Federal, Speer and CCI ammunition was the high bidder for Big Green’s ammunition business. That was very good news.”
Oligopolies exist and grow by exploiting the consumer. Concentrating even greater market power in a single owner cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered “very good news” — unless your definition of “good news” is bending over and taking one in the shorts.
Ralph,
That thought crossed my mind (as did other potentially negative consequences I noted in a post above).
On the other hand, consider the full spectrum of alternatives. The best, as you implied, would be a strong and independent Remington competing with Federal, etc. – but what was the likelihood / path to that following bankruptcy? The others – ceasing to exist at all, being looted again, acquisition by an antigun company – make the Vista acquisition appear to be the “least-worst” of the feasible options.
Hi, Dan
Understand about separate (independent) manufacturing lines. Just wondering how long stamping brands on cartridges can be economical. Eventually, economy of scale comes into play. Some money monger will try to figure out how to cut costs of keeping several brands unique. Maybe changing out the brand stamping tool for a blank, with just the calibre stamped? GM managed to produce the same car at multiple plants, then pop a brand plate on look-a-likes.
If one brand of ammo is demonstrably superior to the others, commanding a premium, does Vista upgrade all the brands, or de-tune the premium brand so as to cut costs?
Vista might make more money just boxing the same, less costly ammo in under different colors. Does buying multiple companies that were not dominate independently, then maintaining that independence make sense? What is the value proposition?
Simply contemplating possible outcomes.
Sam I Am,
You raise interesting questions.
Many moons ago a friend of mine worked at a dairy plant. He revealed something to me that I will never forget. Their plant produced two kinds of milk: a “premium” brand and a “value” brand. Grocery stores sold the “premium” brand for about an extra 50 cents per gallon over the “value” brand. Guess what? It was the same milk! The dairly plant pulled the same milk out of the same giant tank and filled the cartons of both brands. The only difference was the artwork on the cartons — and the price.
I wonder if Vista will do the same with ammunition?
I’m sure a lot of ostensibly premium brands are like that. I mean, how is anybody going to know if the milk came from premium cattle or not?
People who buy premium ammo do tend to notice the performance, though. If a “premium” brand doesn’t produce premium results for competitive shooters and other detail-oriented types who tend to chronograph it and keep detailed records, it won’t be regarded as such no matter how it’s packaged.
Brand consolidation will likely happen at some point. It could also be one line goes to one range of the market the other to another range. That said, at the moment it doesn’t matter right now as they’ll sell as much as they can churn out in all probability and have at least 1-2 years of that left. I don’t see “cheap ammo in expensive boxes” being a thing, there’s just too much testing for that to happen these days with the socially networked world. Even pre purchase Federal had a ton of lines of ammo. Look at a common caliber. They make *18* different varieties of 6.5 Creed rounds.
In terms of it being healthy in the market in the long term, who knows? I think there’s a lot of smaller makers that are coming up in the ranks right now though as well as several companies like Nosler and SIG who have started their own ammo lines that could end up becoming bigger players; It’s not like we’re fully into a duopoly yet. The one that makes me nervous is supposedly Olin produces the vast, vast majority of brass cups to make cases from what I understand.
They are probably not so unique. Unlike cars which have to look different ammo doesn’t. Maybe a stamp on the head. Primers, propellant and bullets. If you look at hunting ammo you will see Federals with Speer bullets amongst others. They are not that unique. 223 w/ 55grain fmj from nearly all factories state the same muzzle velocity. Probably close to if not the same powder. They may have different levels of quality control but it all has to be pretty high considering what they are making.
Oh, now that’s wonderful: a major ammunition manufacturer was not operating during a period of the greatest demand for ammunition in the last 75 years. I wonder how much that (losing Remington ammunition production capacity) has been contributing to the outrageous ammunition prices over the last several months.
I guess we will find out in about eight weeks whether this additional ammunition manufacturing capacity will reduce ammunition prices significantly.
“I guess we will find out in about eight weeks whether this additional ammunition manufacturing capacity will reduce ammunition prices significantly.”
Yep, he talked the talk, let’s see if he walks the walk.
I found it interesting that he claims the raw material suppliers are able to deliver at volumes able to support 24-7 production…
Yeah, I thought everyone knew that part of the problem was one of, if not the biggest ammo factories went down. Kind of hard to produce ammo when you can’t pay your employees, though. And from what I’ve heard the other manufacturers were struggling to keep their supply lines on pace with production, so it may have been moot anyway.
“I thought Sears’s ‘innovation’ was contracting with existing appliance manufacturers to produce their ‘Kenmore’ brand…”
Something I came across studying supply chain management in the ’80s. Sears did subcontract for the Kenmore brand. IIRC, the major brands eventually found it more profitable to have sears manufacture in higher volume than any one brand could accomplish. Sears, finding they sold more brand name products than the brand names themselves, agreed to the reversal.
Admittedly, I did not go digging through the internet to pinpoint a source for the comment. Might have been better to just stick with the obvious GM example.
Sears and other stores did this so they could get you to use the revolving charge. Back in the 50s and 60s, most appliance stores could not afford to carry loans and you had to go to the bank(which got expensive). When the banks started issuing charge cards to the masses, this changed.
In this market, it’s worth having another ammunition manufacturer capable of large scale production. Welcome back, Big Green.
I just want to know who, exactly, has enough ammo and enough cash to get picky about what color the box is?
I shouldn’t have to buy ammo for the next 10+ years which is longer than I’ll probably live and I shoot 3-4K a year. Of course this all goes out the window if SHTF. I’ve never been to picky about brand since for the most part they all do the intended job. I do have my preferences especially for EDC, but i also have several brands on hand. Be the Ant…Not the Grasshopper.
“I wonder if Vista will do the same with ammunition?”
Think it will come down to whether Vista intends to stay in the industry, or just “pump and dump”. Seems that in modern times, sustaining any product is secondary to making the biggest profit fastest, then wringing the value out of the company…and moving on.
No mention of primers? Does Remington buy or make their primers. In either case where have these primers been over the last 6m whichg they now intend to use in loading ammo?
Apparently the make shotgun shell primers https://www.remington.com/handloading/primers/
They own CCI so they make their own primers now.
Dan,
Here is a question that has been plaguing me: PRIMERS! While I want to buy American, there are foreign primer manufacturers that are not laboring under the current Biden-driven ammo hoarding spree. I researched and found primer makers in Brazil, Italy, Turkey, and eastern Europe (not counting Russia). Why do we not have importing of primers to our market? Why? We import all kinds of foreign ammo. Why not primers?
This past Friday afternoon the local Ace Hardware got in an entire PALLET of Remington 250-round “Mega Packs” of .380 95gr FMJ.
Limit one per customer per day $118 + tax.
By the end of the day 3/4 of that pallet was sold. With the exception of one unit the remainder sold by mid-morning on Saturday.
Monday morning I went there at opening and that one unit was still there. It’s now in my ammo locker along with one I purchased first thing Saturday morning.
Sweet.
Hopefully, with Remington coming back on line, more pallets like that begin to show up around the country. Today’s price for .380 ball starts at around 90 cents a pop according to ammo seek. It’s some of the most expensive cheap ammo out there.
That video almost made me cry, specially the flag.
Remington CorLockt’s The Deadliest Mushroom in the Woods.
You betcha
I can roll my own of just about anything except 22 rimfire. If they would just concentrate on making match 22LR.
Yawn!!! Maybe if they’d spend time actually pushing product out the door, instead of bragging about “all they’re doing to ease/address the shortage,” we might see some product on the shelves.
I still suspect there’s something nefarious going on.