Free Republic

Soaring demand for guns and ammunition comes from a range of demographic groups Just two companies, Vista Outdoor and Olin Corp, meet the bulk of America’s demand for ammunition, and chiefly through two long-established brands. Remington, part of Vista, was founded in 1816, and Winchester Ammunition, owned by Olin Corp, started in 1866. Because of soaring demand for bullets, both firms are enjoying the sort of heady growth that only new businesses usually enjoy. Three times a day, queues of pick-up trucks appear outside Remington’s ammunition plant on the outskirts of Little Rock, Arkansas, to bear away the fruits of...

CLAYTON, Mo., Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Olin Corporation (OLN) announced today that its fourth quarter 2012 net income was $34.6 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, which compares to $18.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2011. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 were $587.6 million, compared to $445.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Joseph D. Rupp, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer said, "During 2012, Olin achieved $373 million of adjusted EBITDA, which is the highest in the history of the company. The record EBITDA was driven by strong results...

A day after union workers rejected for a second time a contract that might have saved their jobs, the Metro East company told them it was moving about 1,000 ammunition production jobs from Metro East to Oxford, Miss. As members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 9 left the East Alton catering hall where the ballots were tallied Tuesday night, more than a few of the employees ventured that Olin was bluffing. The company, they maintained, had no intention of following through on its threat to move their jobs. On Wednesday, Olin called their bluff by...

Talk about a rocky relationship ending badly… First, the union boss scolded his members for sharing information with their co-workers about what was going on behind closed doors at the bargaining table. Then, a couple of weeks ago, some individual(s) beat up the union boss. Now, things are going to get a lot more tense in East Alton, Illinois. On Wednesday, after workers represented by the International Association of Machinists voted down a contract offer for the second time, they learned that their employer was not bluffing about moving their jobs to Mississippi.

The Olin Corp. announced Wednesday that it will suspend production of centerfire ammunition at its plant in East Alton and re-locate the manufacturing operation to Oxford, Miss. The move comes less than 24 hours after members of the union representing over Olin 800 workers rejected concessions that would have allowed them to keep their jobs. "Our focus always has been on ensuring that we continue producing high-quality products for our customers in an increasingly competitive market," president and CEO Joseph D. Rupp said in a prepared statement. "While I am disappointed that employees represented by the International Association of Machinists...

The Elm City will soon be losing another of its links to history. US Repeating Arms Company announced last Tuesday, 1/17, that it will be closing the Winchester firearms factory in New Haven on March 31st. More than 19,000 men once worked in the Winchester plant. Their numbers had dwindled recently to under 200, and only 80,000 guns were produced last year in a facility that still had a capacity of 300,000. Sales of hunting rifles have declined precipitously, along with America’s hunting traditions. What was once a Nation of Riflemen is today a nation of metrosexuals and Dilberts.

Sometime this fall, the board of the John M. Olin Foundation will meet one last time and approve a final round of grants. By the end of the year, the foundation will release its staff and close its office. There will be a few checks to write in 2006, and perhaps several more as late as 2007 or even 2008. But for all practical purposes, the foundation will shut down — and one of the conservative movement’s most important institutions will cease to exist.Tonight, in New York City, the Philanthropy Roundtable will host an event honoring the achievements of the...