PTR Industries aims to ship out 'Made in SC' guns

WMBFNews ^ | 3/20/14 | Stephanie Robusto

[RC one]

AYNOR, SC (WMBF) - The gun plant is already manufacturing parts to be put together for the first shipment of guns to be stamped with "Made In Aynor, South Carolina."

PTR Industries officially moved in to the empty building at the Cool Spring Business Park in Aynor in January. The Connecticut-based business is the first gun manufacturer to open in Horry County.

For the first few weeks, crews assembled parts previously made in the old Connecticut plant. It was the easiest way to train new, local employees and keep production going while transitioning to the new plant in Aynor.

Now, PTR Industries is operating at the Cool Spring Business Park with plans to have 80 percent of the gun parts manufactured there. We have different machines that mill different parts. We get metal to turn into the receiver, the bolts, the bolt heads, the carriers," explained purchasing manager Bob Grabowski during a tour of the facility.Every piece is inspected by human hands."If anything is a little bit off, the gun wont function right," said Grabowski, stating safety and quality control is a top priority at the gun plant.Employees are trained to detect any defect, which includes sanding off metal burrs and making measurements exact."We want to make sure when we send a gun out they have it for a long, long time and it doesn't give them any trouble," Grabowski said.

The company aims to not give purchasers any trouble and to abide by the law. Crews can alter machines to make the guns state-legal across the county.

"Our guns typically come with a 20 round magazine. But we create different parts for someone in California, for example, because by law guns there can only have 10 rounds," Grabowski explained, showing a machine made specifically to trim the magazine.

All the finished pieces are put together and put to a test fire. PTR Industries doesn't shoot outside, but in a controlled environment in the back of the plant. The company uses a bullet trap where crews put the muzzle of the gun into and fire off 10 to 15 rounds."We do that many rounds because it's a semi-automatic and we want to make sure everything is cycling through and working properly," said Grabowski.

PTR Industries is now offering a 'First Run Sale' for gun enthusiasts that want a piece of the history being made. The company will even allow a purchaser to pick out their own, unique serial number for the first run of guns.

[TurboZamboni]

So far,so good.
I mostly use surplus foreign ammo.

[ops33]

There was another prominent Huguenot family from the Colonial period, Huger. Charleston has a Huger Street but in Charleston it is pronounced Hew-gee. BTW, the reason why there were Huguenot, and many Jewish families, in South Carolina is because South Carolina had a religious tolerance clause written in the Royal Charter.

[Vinnie]

On a recent trip to Charleston we visited the Huguenot Church there. IIRC the only one in the U.S.
Pretty, very nice people greeted us.
They have a placard on the wall w/ a list of the American Presidents of Huguenot descent. Amazingly long list.