Everyone is trying to find ammo and some prices have gone through the roof when you do find some. An option you may not know about is Gorilla Ammunition located in Vero Beach, FL.
Mrgunsngear visited their factory in 2017 and shared a video showing their ammo, AR-10 and AR-15 rifles.
Kit Badger visited in 2018 and talked to both sides of the house – brass case and their polymer case ammo. His coverage of the polymer ammo was very interesting and he assembled the following video:
Good to Go
So, from everything I have read and watched, their ammo is reliable and accurate – by all accounts I read, very accurate. They aren’t the cheapest but the quality in terms of reliability and accuracy are there and that’s what I want these days.
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As you know, I tend towards modern military arms but I also have a deep appreciation of craftsmenship and history. While surfing the web one day, I happened across a video about “gunmaking craftsmanship” at Holland & Holland (H&H). It was probably in the mid- to late-1980s when I encountered my first H&H double rifle and it was a functional work of art and I have seen more over the years. So, I added the video to my list of things to watch.
H&H was founded in London in 1835 by Harris Holland and he started manufacturing sometime in the 1850s. His nephew, Henry William Holland, joined in 1860 and became a partner in 1876 leading to the Holland & Holland name we know. (Click here to visit their website’s history page.)
Today, H&H continues the firearm craftsmanship of fine hunting arms – that is their niche. When you watch the video, you will see some automation, such as in the machining of the action, but you will see a tremendous about of handwork. What they turn out are absolutely stunning firearms.
The video steps you through barrel making, the stock, fitting and finishing. It’s really neat to watch them at work. If you appreciate fine arms, you really need to watch.
Here’s the Video
Please note that all images are extracted from the video and remain the property of their respective owner(s).
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This amazing video has four parts. First is a private tour of the FB “Łucznik” Radom factory and you will note the extensive automation, cleanliness and attention to detail. The second part is a media group touring the facility and the third is a montage of military groups shooting Beryls and different weapons.
You get to see a variety of weapons including the Mod.96 Beryl, Mod.96 Mini-Beryl, PM-06 and PM-98 submachine guns, the MSBS GROT and more.
Here’s the Video
Please note that all images are extracts from the video and remain the property of their respective owner(s),
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Military Arms Channel (MAC) visited the Beretta USA facility in 2015. To be honest, I really didn’t expect anything surprising because three years had passed and Beretta really hasn’t done anything of interest to me for years and years. Well, that changed in this video at the 10:12 mark but let’s not jump ahead.
MAC got a good tour with tons of photos of the M9 service pistol, notably the M9A3 with its Picatinny rail and other updates. You get a chance to see some automation but also considerable handwork. When I watched the video on Beretta’s Gordonne, Val Trompia,Italy, facility, there seemed to be much more automation.
Regardless, it was interesting to watch purely from a manufacturing perspective. Nothing really noteworthy to be completely honest – just another factory … and then the video kept going on and knocked my socks off…
The Picatinny Rail as a Platform
Now this is where I need to point out that my jaw dropped starting at about the 10:12 mark. If you have been around weapons in recent years, you are probably very used to seeing the Picatinny rails on weapons for mounting accessories. Historically, firms would have proprietary means for adding accessories and this would limit your ability to find devices that could be mounted and your ability to move them from weapon to weapon.
MIL-STD-1913 was published by the Picatinny Arsenal in 1995 and finally created a standardized solution. This enabled all the different light, lasers, optics, mounting points and more to have a standard way to connect to the weapon.
So, let’s come back to the video. Beretta realized that the rail can be far more than a dumb mounting point. It can be a backplane that enables both shared power and data. I really had a “holy cow that makes so much sense moment.”
No more different battery types or some full and some not. You can attach to the rail and the device taps in via exposed connectors for power and data services. Beyond the battery, you could, for example, have a laser designator and range finder providing data to an optic and uplink all modularly.
Note the gold colored contacts nestled inside the top of the rail. Modularr CR123A modular battery pack.Good photo of contacts on the side rail.Another view of the top rail.
I like the idea of a hard wired connection vs wireless that can be compromised or outright blocked. As more and more electronics show up on small arms, engineers will need to figure out how to make them both reliable, resistant to electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) and secure and that last part I am referring to information security.
Bottom line, kudo to Beretta. They thought of this over three years ago!! I think we are seeing a future direction for the industry here if it can leap frog from Beretta and get some other big players behind it notably Magpul and other DoD suppliers.
Here’s the Video
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Please note that all images were extracted from the video and remain the property of their respective owner(s).
This brief video provides an overview of Beretta’s facility in Gardone, Val Trompia,Italy. They have a long history of making firearms there and can produce up to 1,500 per day.
Hammer forged barrel machine.Beretta makes a lot of hammer forged barrels and some broach cut barrels for pistols.
The factory is an interesting blend of very automated manufacturing with a lot of robotics and then also old school hand fitting in the assembly area.
Here’s the Video
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Please note that all photos were extracted from the video and remain the property of their owner(s).
Hatsan Arms Company is an innovative builder of air guns and shotguns that was founded in 1976 and produce over 300,000 units per year. Hatsan is located in Kemalpaşa, which is a large town located in the Izmir Province of Turkey. There they product Hatsan airguns, Escort shotguns and Optima shotguns.
One interesting facet of Hatsan is that they handle all facets of production – machining of wood, machining of metal parts, heat treatment, finishing of work such as honing, different types of chemical plating & bluing, injection molding, metal injection, mold making, welding, barrel manufacturing, laser marking, laser engraving on wood & metal parts, camouflage coating, assembly, quality assurance testing, and test shooting.
Hatsan has over 650 workers, 599 machines in 35,000 square meter production area. To produce products to high standards, Hatsan uses total quality management (TQM) and are ISO 9001 certified.
You’ll note factory looks well used, is relatively organized and bright.
Work centers are organized and appear well equipped.
Substantial automation including a variety of CNC systems.
This is an interesting 5:28 video that showcased their facility in 2015:
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In April 2018, Larry Vickers visited the Kalashnikov Concern factory in Izhvesk, Russia. Given that armory was established on the orders of Russian emperor Alexander I in June 1807 plus most Westerners having mental images of antiquated machines and dimly lit dirty facilities, one might make some very, very wrong assumptions about the modern JSC Kalashnikov Concern.
The very modern Kalashnikov Concern facility is brightly lit, clean and using world class machines. I thought it was interesting seeing all the quality boards and neatly arranged tooling.
Also worth noting was Larry’s observation that with many AK manufacturers trying unsuccessfully to product cast trunnions and bolts that Kalashikov still forges those parts and there is a reason for it – durability.
At any rate, it’s a cool but brief 6 minute video.
Here is the link to Larry’s book on AK rifles that he is selling directly and not through Amazon.
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Molot published this walk through of their production facility in March 2017. It’s in Russian but with English subtitles. It’s only 5:31 long and worth your time. Yeah, I drooled when I saw the injection molding.
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