American Military Ammunition Manufacturers: Are Any Publicly Traded?

[lwaldron]

It occurs to me the American military's need for ammunition, for both small arms and larger guns, is only going to increase in the near to medium-term future. So, maybe there's a good investment opportunity here.
I found online a company called American Ordnance. They seem to make tank ammo and mortar shells, but no small arms stuff. The problem is, it appears they're not publicly traded.
Are there any domestic ammunition manufacturers that both supply the military and are publicly traded?
Any info would be welcome.

THX

 

[mattw]

you might have better luck buying stock in Kimber (supplies the USMC and LAPD with pistols) or another company like that. Beretta, Barrett, I think colt's M4 contract is about to dry up, so maybe bushmaster. I think the US military has alot of its own ammo making facilities.

 

[striker3]

Lake City makes just about all of the small arms ammo that we are issued. They are government owned, but contractor run. Here is an article I found about it.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/aap-lakecity.htm

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) located at Independence, Missouri, in Jackson County, is the largest small-arms (5.56 - 20 mm) manufacturing plant in the world. With the exception of the five year period between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Korean conflict, this government-owned, contractor-operated facility has been in continuous production since October 1941.

Lake City AAP is within the city limits of Independence, MO, on the eastern edge of the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area. It encompasses 458 buildings on 3,935 acres.

Lake City AAP manufactures and proof-tests small arms ammunition. The plant was opened in 1941 and operated by Remington Arms Company, Inc. from 1941 through 1985 (except for the nonproduction years). From September 1941 to August 1945 the plant produced more than 5.7 billion cartridges. It was placed in standby status in December 1945 but was reactivated in 1950, again to produce small caliber arms ammunition. It stayed in operation after the Korean War and again expanded during the Vietnam War, producing 14.4 billion cartridges between 1965 and 1973. In the 1970s the facilities and production systems were upgraded.

In 1985, Olin Corporation won a bid to operate the plant and is its present contractor. Lake City is currently the only active small-caliber ammunition manufacturing facility within the Department of Defense.

In May 2001 the U.S. Army presented Lake City Ammunition Plant with its Secretary of the Army Environment Quality Award for an industrial installation. The Secretary of the Army recognized the efforts of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant to improve the environment. The Plant has reduced its hazardous waste generation rate by sixty percent eliminating twenty tons of air emissions per year. At the same time, it has operated in compliance with twenty-five different environmental permits and recycled over fifty-five hundred tons of material. Through the hard work of nearly eight hundred fifty employees, the Lake City Ammunition Plant has proven that it can continue to be the largest supplier of small caliber ammunition to the United States Department of Defense, while retaining a superb record on the environment.

As far as M16s go, all the ones I have been issued were either Colts or FNs, with FNs being the dominant ones. As far as I know, all of the M16A4s are FN made. I have never personally seen a Bushmaster in the USMC.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I couldn't find the post. I kicked this around in the past.

I think it's Alliant that is publicly traded. You may find Olin if you search enough (or they belong to alliant, can't remember).

After that Ruger and S&W are both options. Smith is doing very well now, Ruger not so well. However, they both are cheap in my mind and Ruger mails me some cool stuff every year.

I don't think anyone that Matt metioned are actually traded or public.

I think they have all bumped up from 9-11 so I'm not sure it's a real cash cow. However, for the long run I'm happy with both Ruger and Smith stock myself (if only they would ditch those stupid locks!)

A lot of the ammo/gun companies are buried in huge international firms so it's pretty hard to buy pure firearms/ammo stocks. There are many defense companies out there if you want to go big though.

 

[Smokeypcolt]

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) is a supplier of aerospace and defense products to the United States Government, United States allies, and major prime contractors. It is also a supplier of ammunition to federal and local law enforcement agencies and commercial markets. As of March 31, 2006, the Company has five segments: Ammunition, ATK Thiokol, Precision Systems, Advanced Propulsion and Space Systems, and ATK Mission Research. The Ammunition segment supplies military ammunition and other products. The ATK Thiokol segment is a solid propellant rocket motor manufacturer. The Precision Systems segment develops, demonstrates and manufactures ammunition, fuzes and proximity sensors, and others. The Advanced Propulsion and Space Systems segment supplies propulsion solutions for missile defense, space, strategic, tactical and other commercial application. The ATK Mission Research segment is a developer of technologies that address security and homeland defense requirements.

From Reuters website.

 

[mattw]

I don't think anyone that Matt metioned are actually traded or public.

They should be!

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Smokey,
Thanks, great addition. I wasn't sure if my memory was right or not.

I need to look into them also now.

 

[Leonovicz]

The Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN) is a conglomerate that owns Winchester.

Edit: Just noticed you specified manufacturers for the military. I'll leave the link just in case you're interested.

 

[Smokeypcolt]

More on ATK:

ATK manufactures and develops small-caliber ammunition for the United States military, United States allies, federal and local law enforcement agencies, and commercial markets. The Company also manufactures metal links for belting of all sizes of ammunition, ranging from 5.56mm rifle ammunition to 40mm grenades. In addition to production, the Company performs research and development for military ammunition and ammunition manufacturing. These ammunition products are marketed under brand names, including Federal (Premium, Gold Medal, and American Eagle), CCI, Speer (Gold Dot and Blazer), and Estate Cartridge.

ATK supplies medium-caliber gun systems to the United States military and allied nations. It is a supplier of medium-caliber ammunition and fuzes, and produces, designs, and develops medium-caliber ammunition. The Company manufactures, designs, and develops solid extruded propellants for use in over 25 types of ammunition and rockets. The Company produces ordnance energetic material for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). ATK also manufactures reloading equipment, gun care products and other accessories.

Reuters.

 

[dev_null]

Lockheed Martin (LMT) seems to be doing fairly well lately.

 

[lwaldron]

Thanks for the responses to this.