The folks at American Rifleman Television recently had the chance to tour the Winchester Ammunition rimfire factory in Oxford, MS. A large portion of the billions (yes billions) of rimfire rounds produced every year in the U.S. are made at Winchester's Oxford plant. Watch the video above for a behind the scenes look with American Rifleman magazine Editor-in-Chief Mark Keefe.
The Winchester plant in Oxford runs three shifts, 24 hours a day. Since rimfire shooters have an enormous appetite for .22 LR ammunition, having enough volume from a manufacturing standpoint to supply consumer demand is something that Winchester take very seriously. As such, the company is building as much quality rimfire ammunition as it can.
To build a rimfire cartridge is not your typical assembly-line process. Different components (some explosive) come from different parts of the factory to facilitate assembly in what's more accurately described as a batch process.
One major challenge in rimfire cartridge manufacture: building the cartridge rim to the right dimensions so the proper amount of priming mix can be added for consistent ignition.
Going beyond .22 LR, Winchester has been a key player in the rimfire game for decades with innovations like the first magnum rimfire, the .22 Win. Mag., and the improved .17 Win. Super Mag.—the fastest rimfire load available.
With companies like Winchester working hard to produce rimfire ammunition in the amounts needed to satisfy shooter needs, it looks like we are safe from any shortages in the near future.
See more: Rimfire Ammunition Reliability
