Rio Ammunition
 | |
| Industry | Manufacturer of ammunition components |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1402 South Custer Road, Ste 301, McKinney,TX 75072 |
| Products | Shotgun shells |
| Parent | FN Browning Group |
| Website | www |
Rio Ammunition, now Rio Outdoors Corp, manufactures shotgun shells at a factory in Spain and Italy. This former subsidiary of the Spanish explosives firm MAXAM, a member of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI).[1] MAXAM originated as Unión Española de Explosivos (UEE) in 1896, and began marketing shotgun ammunition in the United States in 2002.[2] The Rio Ammunition plant in McEwen, Tennessee, was damaged by an explosion in 2014.[3] The Texas factory began operations in 2015 loading locally manufactured shotgun shells with smokeless powder, wads, primers, and shot manufactured in Vitoria-Gasteiz.[4] The labor pool for the Texas manufacturing site includes skilled personnel formerly employed at the nearby Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant closed in 1997.[5] Rio Outdoors produces conventional target and hunting ammunition plus specialized cartridges for law enforcement use. Non-lead hunting cartridges are loaded with steel or bismuth shot. Combined production of factories in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and Turkey is estimated at 500,000,000 shotgun shells annually.[6]
Sources
- ↑ "Member Companies". SAAMI. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ↑ "About RIO". RIO Ammunition. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ↑ "McEwen, TN ammunition plant explosion ruled accidental". Times Free Press. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ↑ Taylor, John. "How It's Made: Exploring Rio Ammunition's New Texas Facility". Wildfowl Magazine. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ↑ Wagoner, Ryan. "Rio Ammunition manufacturing facility opens in Marshall". Longview News-Journal. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ↑ "Rio Ammunition Announces New Cartridge Manufacturing Facility in Marshall, Texas". Ammoland. Retrieved 18 November 2017.