Remington ammo production reboots, firearms production to follow soon

Finally, the great American ammunition shortage might see some relief. The Remington ammunition production line is back in business, under new ownership. The company's firearms production should reboot soon as well.

The Remington bankruptcy saga dragged on over most of 2020, and the timing couldn't have been worse. Remington's latest round of money problems came to a head in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The historic arms and ammunition manufacturer went bust last August, even as firearms, ammo and accessories sales skyrocketed in the US. With Remington's ammunition production offline, the ammo shortage worsened, and Canadians saw some trickle-down effect. Even now, retailers are seeing their wholesale costs rise, thanks to the out-of-whack supply/demand curve in the US. Canadian shooters will end up the final losers in those price hikes.

When Remington went bankrupt, the company broke up into smaller pieces, with investors scavenging the remains. US conglomerate Vista Outdoors bought the ammunition business; now, it has the Arkansas plant back up and running. There's a new website for Remington ammunition; presumably, we'll see the classic green-and-yellow boxes back in Canadian gun shops and hardware stores in time for fall hunting season. Core-Lokt fans, rejoice! Looks like Remington is also producing self-defense loads, to go with its usual hunting ammunition. Given the handgun and tactical rifle buying spree in the States, there should be lots of demand.

What about the firearms business?

What about the company's firearms line? Ruger bought Marlin, and is working on setting up production. As for the core Remington-branded line of rifles and shotguns, it seems the Ilion, NY, plant is also about to restart business.

Early in 2021, we saw hints of labour unrest between Remington's unionized workers and the new owners. The plant did not begin operations on February 15, as planned, due to disagreements between new owners RemArms and the union. It appears those have been worked out, though; expect Big Green to be cranking out Model 870 shotguns and Model 700 rifles in the near future, as a result.