Winchester Bags $788 Million Army Ammo Contract

Oxford, Mississippi-based Olin-Winchester pulled down a nearly billion-dollar contract from the Pentagon last week to supply the Army with small arms ammunition.

The $788,361,894 “firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-with-economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity” contract is for unspecified quantities of 5.56mm NATO, 7.62mm NATO, and .50 caliber BMG ammunition.

While Winchester currently holds the contract to manage the Army’s Lake City Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, the latest award allows work locations to be determined with each order, meaning the company could potentially fill orders from its Oxford or East Alton, Illinois plants. Oxford-made “WMA” headstamp M855 NATO Green Tip ammo is popular on the consumer and surplus market, while historic East Alton cases carried a “WCC” headstamp.

Winchester also recently purchased the new 185,000 sq. ft. Ammo, Inc., production facility in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The company also makes M1152 Ball, M1153 Special Purpose, and M1156 Drilled Dummy Inert 9mm ammo for the military’s Modular Handgun System (M17/M18) program.

The contracting agency was the Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, and it has an estimated completion date of Sept. 10, 2031.