In March 1998 I was invited with a couple of other Aussies to tour the SK rimfire ammunition factory and testing facilities. The following is an account from the perspective of a keen shooter, not an experienced ammunition manufacturer. Just so you don't have any expectations of intelligent discourse.
The factory itself is part of a large industrial estate that is mostly unused today. SK make both .22 rimfire ammunition and shotshells, as well as some pistol and revolver bland and gas cartridges (popular in Europe as they do not require a licence in many countries). During the war the neighbouring factories produced large munitions and explosives. Much evidence that it was bombed extensively seems to be still there.
Our tour stars with the lead man. He is responsible for taking the ingots, melting them down in a large furnace and casting bullet blanks. These look nothing like the formed projectile that we know in the finished cartridges, more a double-ended pellet, both ends rounded. Working with such toxic material can't be healthy, but in an area where there is 30% unemployment he seems pretty cheerful. I notice the building is open-ended, letting plenty of air circulate. They do say, however, that in winter when it snows they have no choice but to close it up.
Through the next section are the two men who punch out cups for the cases, and put them through the drawing machine. The formed case, complete with rim, are then sent to the priming room. Large loading blocks which hold several hundred cases go through an automated priming system. Three different solutions are placed in the base of the case which make up the priming mixture. This is done by a succession of frames holding hundreds of tiny solution droppers, which are lowered into the cases from above. The conveyor moves the entire line one block further on about every thirty seconds. As they come from the third solution drop point they enter a heated section which lasts about six cycles, or three minutes. This bakes the priming solution in the base. As they come out of the "oven" a woman inspects all cases from above and discards any with any visable imperfection.
The cases are then put into a hot box for several hours to ensure the priming compound is properly set. When cases are primed but not loaded they are at their most vulnerable to humidity which can lead to misfires. If stories we hear are true about Winchester Australia importing primed cases from America before loading them this would account for such high failure rates in some of their batches of ammo.
The final stage of loading is one machine which places the powder charge in the case and then seats the bullet. While loading and crimping it in place the bullet is stamped to its final shape. The finished ammunition is then crated in batches and put aside for testing and grading. Results of the testing will determine whether it will be tinned or boxed Standard grade, or boxed as Match or S50. The packing room next door is packaging tins of Lapua Club.
I have no way of knowing the output of the factory, but for such a small number of workers it is impressive. Less than a dozen workers, plus a chief engineer, plus testers. The office staff probably outnumber them by two to one.
The testing range is a few minutes' walk. They have an impressive computer-controlled electronic target system which shows the fall of shot on a screen almost instantly. It also gives constant readout of extreme spread and 10-shot spread breakdowns. A late model Anschutz target rifle barreled action is mounted in a heavy vice fixture pointing down the firing tunnel. The tester takes a box of S50 and demonstrates how they shoot for groups. Fifty rounds take about 90 seconds to ping downrange. Overall group size for 50 metres is not exactly stunning, but considering the speed and lack of finesse displayed in firing the groups it's not surprising. If all ammo is tested in the same manner, and I have no doubt it is, then the final grading will be relative. It's easy to criticise the technique, but these guys do this for a living. Sure, they could take more time and care and shoot much tighter groups. But after the first five hundred boxes I guess anybody would start to do it quicker. Besides, we know from our own tests at home that this ammo shoots extremely well.
As a last treat they pull out an AK-47 lookalike in 22LR. And, you guessed it, it goes fully auto. We take ten minutes to load magazines that take two seconds to brrrrp. Using S50, I could cry. Les and I are like big kids. They do have target pistols but nowhere to set up a target properly, so we have no chance to shoot these. I suspect this is because they are mainly concerned with unction testing. They give us a couple of revolvers and a handful of blanks and tell us to go play outside. Not as much fun as the AK, but we do get a stream of people from the neighbouring building walk out to watch the kids with their toy guns.
And so ends the tour of SK's ammunition plant. Great people, good ammo, we wish them luck with the renovations.