laststandonzombieisland

Across 3900-acres of sprawling land just outside of in Independence, Missouri lies the US Army’s primary factory that produces almost all of its supply of small arms ammunition. Founded just months before the United States’ entry into World War 2, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) is still churning out the brass.

Founded in 1940, LCAAP was put into service in October 1941 producing small arms ammunition, mainly 30.06 caliber– then the military’s standard rifle and machinegun round. By the end of the war nearly 6-billion cartridges left the city for the GI’s in the field. It was a drop in the bucket of the estimated 100-billion rounds that were produced for the military during that great war by dozens of private companies and publicly owned ammunition plants.

It is currently a Government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) facility, in which the Army still owns the 485 buildings, property, and machines, while a contractor staffs and operates it. Remington ran the plant for the Army from 1941-1985, and Olin (Winchester ammo) ran it from 1985-2001. The contractor since 2001 is ATK, a company that you may know best for its commercial line of ammunition that includes CCI and Federal…..

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk