Vista Outdoor extends deal to keep Federal Premium at Lake City Army ammo plant

By Christen Smith

Vista Outdoor said Orbital ATK will continue manufacturing Federal Premium ammo at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, pictured here. (Photo: John Sleezer/Kansas City Star)
Vista Outdoor announced this week Orbital ATK will continue manufacturing ammo for its Federal Premium line — just days before a decade-long exclusive agreement between the two companies was set to expire.
The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant — managed by Orbital ATK — in Independence, Missouri sustains its operations by prioritizing commercial customers when military demand is low, said Whitney Watson, the plant’s communications manager, during an interview with Shephard Media.
“If we didn’t manufacture ammunition for companies like Hornady and Vista and Fiocchi, we wouldn’t need half of our workforce,” he said. “So rather than having 1700 people we would have 800 people with a bunch of idle buildings with idle machinery. But machinery likes to run; it doesn’t like to sit idle.”
In July, the company announced several long-term agreements with unidentified commercial ammo suppliers worth in excess of $400 million through 2020. The plant hired an additional 200 workers last year to help fulfill the new contracts, according to a report from The Examiner.
“Our primary mission is, and always has been, to manufacture and provide

Source: Guns.com