You knew the firearms industry was big business, but we bet you didn’t know just how big. According to a report by TheStreet.com, the overall firearms, hunting, and ammunition sectors of the economy collectively represent a $76 billion dollar industry. At SHOT Show, TheStreet.com TV interviewed Mark DeYoung, an executive with ATK Ammunition Systems. DeYoung revealed some amazing statistics:
Annual Sales of “Hunting and Sporting” ammunition alone total $750,000,000.
ATK’s sporting, law enforcement, and military annual ammunition sales total $1.5 Billion dollars. ATK is now the largest ammunition producer in the world.
ATK produces 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.
ATK uses 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 pounds of copper each year in ammunition production.
DeYoung also explained that commodity costs have skyrocketed. A few years ago copper was $0.77 per pound. Now it is $3.20 per pound. Lead prices have also increased substantially. This explains why precision brass and bullet costs have gone up significantly in recent years.
While you may not be familiar with the ATK business name, most shooters will recognize the many commercial brands under the ATK umbrella:
Alliant Powder for reloaders
RCBS reloading equipment
CCI, Speer, Lawman, and Blazer ammunition
CCI and Federal Primers
Federal Premium, Fusion, and Estate Cartridge ammunition
Speer bullets
Champion traps and paper, metal and clay targets
Gunslick and Outers gun care products
Shooters Ridge rests, and gear bags
Ram-Line gun stocks
Weaver mounting systems
RCBS Chargemaster 1500 Electronic Powder Dispensers are normally quite accurate. However, build-up of static electricity can cause some issues, such as kernels of powder clumping together. Nat Lambert found that reducing static charges can “cure” the clumping problem: “Discharge the static in your machine and you won’t have those clumps. Either use static wipes inside and out on your machine or use a Zerostat. It will make a huge diference. Walmart has the anti-static wipes in the computer section.” Forum member J. Cummings reports: “My Chargemaster drifted due to static electricity after a thunderstorm. I contacted RCBS. They told me to turn it off, wipe it down with an anti-static cloth then try it. That was more than six months ago. It has worked fine ever since.” Forum member Harvey concurs: “As long as I use the static dryer sheets my Chargemaster VERY RARELY will drift. [If it drifts now] it’s usually me breathing hard or moving things like seating bullets or bumping the bench with my knees. I had problems until I used the sheets and ran pieces thru the tube on a pipe cleaner.”
