1.
Vista Outdoor
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Vista Outdoor Operations LLC is an American publicly traded designer, manufacturer, and marketer of outdoor sports and recreation products. The company operates in two segments, shooting sports and outdoor products and it is a house of brands with more than 30 labels and subsidiaries that produce ammunition, firearms, and outdoor accessories. The company trades under VSTO on the New York Stock Exchange, Alliant Techsystems, entered the ammunition and outdoor products business in 2001. ATK grew through acquisitions and a surge in demand for ammunition for police, hunting, in December 2014, regulators were informed that Vista Outdoor had signed an agreement for a $350 million secured loan with a term of five years and a $400 million revolving line of credit. Proceeds were partially used to pay down debt, ATK and Orbital filed a joint proxy statement and prospectus describing the share issuance with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 17,2014. The same month, the Department of Justice granted approval to the merger, ATK spun-off Vista Outdoor upon closing its merger with Orbital Sciences and became Orbital ATK on February 9,2015. Anyone holding ATK common stock at the end of the day on February 2,2015 received two shares of Vista Outdoor common stock. Eligible shareholders had their brokerage account credited or received a book-entry account statement reflecting their ownership, Vista Outdoor was thus initially 100% owned by ATK shareholders. Vista Outdoor stock traded on a basis from January 29,2015 to February 9,2015. It began regular way trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 10,2015 under the ticker symbol VSTO, no payment or action of any kind was required of shareholders. This transaction was conducted on a tax-free basis, U. S. shareholders generally did not have to recognize a gain or loss for federal tax purposes. On February 25th,2016, BRG Sports announced its acceptance of a $400-million cash, Vista gained control of the Bell Sports, Giro, Blackburn, and C-Preme brands. For fiscal year 2015, Vista Outdoor reported earnings of $79.5 million or $1.25 per share on $2.08 billion in revenue, Vista reported that the Companys preliminary analysis indicates the impairment charge will be in the range of $400 million to $450 million. Most of Vistas brands are associated with shooting and hunting, the company also makes gear for camping, hiking, skiing, and biking such as flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, helmets, goggles, GPS locators, etc. Also knowns as Bushnell Outdoor Products, Bushnell specializes in optics and it also sells Bollé Performance Eyewear ski goggles and sunglasses and Serengeti Eyewear all-purpose sunglasses. David P. Bushnell founded Bushnell Corporation in 1948 during his service in the Allied-occupied Japan, in 1999, Bushnell was acquired by private equity firm Wind Point Partners. In 2007, Bushnell was acquired by MidOcean Partners, another private equity firm, in 2008, Bushnell acquired the assets of Simmons Outdoor Corporation from Meade Instruments. ATK announced its acquisition of Bushnell on September 5,2013 for $985 million in cash, cascade Cartridge, usually called CCI Ammunition, is based in Lewiston, Idaho
2.
Anoka, Minnesota
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Anoka is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota. The population was 17,142 at the 2010 census, Anoka calls itself the Halloween Capital of the World, because it hosted one of the first Halloween parades in 1920. It continues to celebrate the holiday each year with several parades, Anoka is a northern suburb of the Twin Cities. Highways 10 /169 and State Highway 47 are three of the routes, and a station on the Northstar Commuter Rail line to downtown Minneapolis is located in the city. The site which is now Anoka was first settled by immigrants in 1844, by the mid-1850s Anoka had grown to include a school, a store and a flour mill. In 1856, C. C. Andrews described Anoka as a large and handsome village, the city was formally incorporated in 1878. The name Anoka was derived from two Indian words, the native Dakota used A-NO-KA-TAN-HAN, meaning on both sides, or from both sides, referring to its location on the banks of the Rum River. The native Ojibwa used ON-O-KAY, meaning working waters, Anoka makes a strong claim for providing the first volunteers to the Union Army during the Civil War, noted by a small historical plaque standing at the corner of West Main Street and Park Street. Alexander Ramsey, Minnesotas governor in 1861, was in Washington and he immediately offered a regiment to the War Department, and telegraphed former governor Willis Gorman and Lieutenant Governor Ignatius L. Donnelly that same morning. Gorman, attending a court session in Anoka, received the note by messenger from St. Paul and called a court recess. Aaron Greenwald, who has a named after him on Lake George. He died July 2,1863, during the 1st Minnesota Regiments famous charge at Gettysburg, Anoka lies at the confluence of the Rum and Mississippi Rivers, about 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 7.21 square miles. Adjacent communities include Dayton, Ramsey, Andover, Coon Rapids, the USGS tracks the city by the ID639396 and the coordinates of 45°11′52″N, 093°23′14″W. As of the census of 2010, there were 17,142 people,7,060 households, the population density was 2,558.5 inhabitants per square mile. There were 7,493 housing units at a density of 1,118.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 88. 0% White,4. 7% African American,1. 0% Native American,1. 8% Asian,1. 6% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 4. 2% of the population. 32. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.95
3.
Minnesota
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Minnesota is a state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U. S. state on May 11,1858, the state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan Land of 10,000 Lakes. Its official motto is LÉtoile du Nord, Minnesota is the 12th largest in area and the 21st most populous of the U. S. Minnesota is known for its progressive political orientation and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Until European settlement, Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, in recent decades, immigration from Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Latin America has broadened its historic demographic and cultural composition. Minnesotas standard of living index is among the highest in the United States, Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many places in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls, Minneiska, Minneota, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, and Minneapolis, a combination of mni and polis, Minnesota is the second northernmost U. S. state. Its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods county is the part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U. S. region known as the Upper Midwest and it shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, with 86,943 square miles, or approximately 2.25 percent of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state. Minnesota has some of the Earths oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean, the roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of volcanism 1, in more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago and these glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift, much of the remainder of the state outside the northeast has 50 feet or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago and its bed created the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling. Minnesota is geologically quiet today, it experiences earthquakes infrequently, the states high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet, which is only 13 miles away from the low of 601 feet at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a rolling peneplain. Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesotas northeast in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed, precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Saint Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean
4.
Shotgun shell
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A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge typically loaded with multiple metallic shot, which are small, generally spherical projectiles. Traditionally lead was used, but increasingly steel, tungsten or bismuth shot has replaced lead, due to laws designed to protect the environment. An old non-lethal shotgun load consisted of a shell loaded with rock salt, which could inflict very painful, but rarely deadly, wounds. Most shotgun shells are designed to be fired from a smoothbore barrel, a rifled barrel will increase the accuracy of slugs, but makes it unsuitable for firing shot, as it imparts a spin to the shot cup, causing a centrifugal force that makes the shot cluster disperse. Specialty shotgun ammunition includes non-lethal rounds available in the form of slugs made of low-density material, early shotgun shells used brass cases, not unlike rifle and pistol cartridge cases of the same era. These brass shotgun hulls or cases closely resembled rifle cartridges, in terms of both the head and primer portions of the shell, as well as in their dimensions. Card wads, made of felt, leather, and cork, waterglass was commonly used to cement the top overshot wad into these brass shell casings. No roll crimp or fold crimp was used on these early brass cases, the primers on these early shotgun shells were identical to pistol primers of the same diameter. Starting in about 1877, paper hulls started to replace brass shotgun shells, paper hulls remained popular for nearly a century, until the late 1960s. These shotgun shells using paper hulls were nearly always roll crimped, although fold crimping also eventually became popular. Card wads, made of felt and cork, as well as paperboard, were all used at times, gradually giving way to plastic over powder wads, with card wads. Starting in the 1960s, plastic cases started to replace paper hulls for shotgun shells, by the 1980s, plastic cases had largely replaced nearly all paper hulls for shotgun shells. Today, modern shotgun shells typically consist of a plastic case, as noted previously, paper shells used to be common, and are still made, as are solid brass shells. Some companies have produced what appear to be all-plastic shells, although in these there is a metal ring cast into the rim of the shell to provide strength. Often the more powerful loads will use high brass shells, with the extended up further along the sides of the shell. The brass does not actually provide a significant amount of strength, the base of the shotshell is fairly thick to hold the large shotgun primer, which is longer than primers used for rifle and pistol ammunition. After the powder comes the wadding or wad, the primary purpose of a wad is to prevent the shot and powder from mixing, and to provide a seal that prevents gas from blowing through the shot rather than propelling it. The wad design may encompass a shock absorber and a cup that holds the shot together until it is out the barrel
5.
Centerfire ammunition
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A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge with a primer located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component, centerfire cartridges have supplanted the rimfire variety in all but the smallest cartridge sizes. The stronger base of a cartridge is able to withstand higher pressures which in turn give a bullet greater velocity. Larger caliber rimfire cartridges require greater volumes of priming explosive than centerfire cartridges, reducing the amount of priming explosive would reduce the reliability of rimfire cartridge ignition, and increase the probability of misfire or dud cartridges. Economies of scale are achieved through interchangeable primers for a variety of centerfire cartridge calibers. The expensive individual brass cases can be reused after replacing the primer, gunpowder, the forward portion of some empty cases can be reformed for use as obsolete or wildcat cartridges with similar base configuration. Modern cartridges larger than.22 caliber are mostly centerfire, actions suitable for larger caliber rimfire cartridges declined in popularity until the demand for them no longer exceeded manufacturing costs, and they became obsolete. An early form of ammunition, without a percussion cap, was invented between 1808 and 1812 by Jean Samuel Pauly. This was also the first fully integrated cartridge, true centerfire ammunition was invented by the Frenchman Clement Pottet in 1829. However, Pottet would not perfect his design until 1855, the centerfire cartridge was improved by Benjamin Houllier, Gastinne Renette, Charles Lancaster, George Morse, Francois Schneider, Hiram Berdan and Edward Mounier Boxer. The identifying feature of centerfire ammunition is the primer which is a cup containing a primary explosive inserted into a recess in the center of the base of the cartridge. The firearm firing pin crushes this explosive between the cup and an anvil to produce hot gas and a shower of incandescent particles to ignite the powder charge, Berdan priming is less expensive to manufacture and is much more common in military-surplus ammunition made outside the United States. Berdan primers are named after their American inventor, Hiram Berdan of New York who invented his first variation of the Berdan primer and patented it on March 20,1866, in U. S. A small copper cylinder formed the shell of the cartridge, and this system worked well, allowing the option of installing a cap just before use of the propellant-loaded cartridge as well as permitting reloading the cartridge for reuse. S. Berdan primers have remained essentially the same functionally to the present day, Berdan primers are similar to the caps used in the caplock system, being small metal cups with pressure-sensitive explosive in them. Modern Berdan primers are pressed into the pocket of a Berdan-type cartridge case. Inside the primer pocket is a bump, the anvil, that rests against the center of the cup. Berdan cases are reusable, although the process is rather involved, the used primer must be removed, usually by hydraulic pressure or a pincer or lever that pulls the primer out of the bottom
6.
Rimfire ammunition
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Rimfire is a method of ignition for metallic firearm cartridges as well as the cartridges themselves. It is called rimfire because the pin of a gun strikes and crushes the bases rim to ignite the primer. Once the rim of the cartridge has been struck and the bullet discharged, while many other different cartridge priming methods have been tried since the 19th century, only rimfire technology and centerfire technology survive today in significant use. Frenchman Louis-Nicolas Flobert invented the first rimfire metallic cartridge in 1845 and his cartridge consisted of a percussion cap with a bullet attached to the top and the idea was to improve the safety of indoor shooting. In English-speaking countries, the Flobert cartridge corresponds to.22 BB, Rimfire cartridges are limited to low pressures because they require a thin case so that the firing pin can crush the rim and ignite the primer. Rimfire cartridges of.44 caliber up to.56 caliber were once common when black powder was used as a propellant, however, modern rimfire cartridges use smokeless powder which generates much higher pressures and tend to be of.22 caliber or smaller. Rimfire cartridges are typically inexpensive, primarily due to the inherent cost-efficiency of the ability to manufacture the cartridges in large lots, the price of metals used in the cartridges increased in 2002, the prices of the ammunition then further increased in 2012 possibly due to hoarding. The idea of placing a priming compound in the rim of the cartridge evolved from an 1831 patent, by 1845, this had evolved into the Flobert.22 BB Cap, in which the priming compound is distributed just inside the rim. The.22 BB Cap is essentially just a percussion cap with a round ball pressed in the front, intended for use in an indoor gallery target rifle, it used no gunpowder, but relied entirely on the priming compound for propulsion. Its velocities were very low, comparable to an airgun, the next rimfire cartridge was the.22 Short, developed for Smith & Wessons first revolver, in 1857, it used a longer rimfire case and 4 grains of black powder to fire a conical bullet. This led to the.22 Long, with the bullet weight as the short. This was followed by the.22 Extra Long with a longer than the.22 Long. The.22 Long Rifle is a.22 Long case loaded with the heavier Extra Long bullet intended for performance in the long barrel of a rifle. Larger rimfire calibers were used during the American Civil War in the Henry Repeater, the Spencer Repeater, the Ballard rifle and the Frank Wesson carbine. The early 21st century has seen a revival in interest in rimfire cartridges, a new and increasingly popular rimfire, the 17 HMR is based on a.22 WMR casing with a smaller formed neck which accepts a.17 bullet. The advantages of the 17 HMR over.22 WMR and other rimfire cartridges are its much flatter trajectory, the.17 HM2 is based on the.22 Long Rifle and offers similar performance advantages over its parent cartridge, at a significantly higher cost. While.17 HM2 sells for about four times the cost of.22 Long Rifle ammunition, it is significantly cheaper than most centerfire ammunition. A notable rimfire cartridge that is still in production in Europe and this cartridge can fire a small ball, but is primarily loaded with a small amount of shot, and used in smoothbore guns as a miniature shotgun, or garden gun
7.
Ammunition
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Ammunition is the general term used for the material fired, scattered, dropped or detonated from any weapon. The term ammunition can be traced back to the mid 17th century, broadly speaking, ammunition refers to both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target. Nearly all weapons will require some form of ammunition to operate, the word comes from the French la munition, which refers to the material used for war. The terms ammunition and munitions are used interchangeably, although the term munition now usually refers to both the actual weapons system alongside the ammunition required to operate it. The purpose of ammunition is to project a force against a target to have an effect. The most iconic example of ammunition is the cartridge, which all components required to deliver the weapon effect in a single package. Ammunition comes in a range of sizes and types and is often designed to work only in specific weapons systems. However, there are internationally recognized standards for certain types that enable their use across different weapons. There are also types of ammunition that are designed to have a specialized effect on a target, such as armor-piercing shells and tracer ammunition. Ammunition is commonly colored in a manner to assist in the identification. A round is a cartridge containing a projectile, propellant, primer. A shell is a form of ammunition that is fired by a large cannon or artillery piece. Before the mid-19th century, these shells were made of solid materials. However, since that time, they are often filled with high-explosives. A shot refers to a release of a weapons system. This may involve firing just one round or piece of ammunition, a dud refers to loaded ammunition that fails to function as intended, typically failing to detonate on landing. However, it can refer to ammunition that fails to fire inside the weapon, known as a misfire, or when the ammunition only partially functions. Dud ammunition, which is classified as an ordnance, is regarded as highly dangerous
8.
Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant
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The site has 255 buildings across 2,382 acres. The site was added to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site on September 8,1983. Initially, the plant was known as the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant but it was renamed the Twin Cities Arsenal in 1946 and finally, in 1963, the TCAAP was a product of the government-owned, contractor-operated war materials production program established by the War Department during World War II. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul area emerged as a potential GOCO candidate primarily on the basis of labor supply, TCAAP was one of six GOCO plants built to produce small arms ammunition during World War II, and was operated by the Federal Cartridge Corporation under contract to the War Department. Construction of the plant began in August 1941 and was completed three main munitions facilities. Each main facility had five lines of production and the plant had a total of 35 lines. The mission of TCAAP was to produce.30.50, production of small arms ammunition began on March 9,1942, and the plant remained in production for 42 months. Between 1942 and 1945, TCAAP produced all five small arms types, ball, armor piercing, tracer, incendiary. In 1944 the plant opened an important small arms ammunition reclamation center, the design of the.30 and.50 caliber cartridge-disassembly machines by TCAAP personnel in the late 1940s represented a significant technological advance in small arms salvage technology. Development in ammunition salvage begun during World War II continued at the facility during the Cold War period, the work force reached its peak in July 1943, when employment totaled about 26,000 people, more than half of whom were women. After Victory over Japan Day, Twin Cities Ordnance Plant was placed in reserve status, the Arsenal remained in service until 1957 when it was again closed down. In 1965, during the Vietnam War, the plant was re-opened for the manufacture of new types of small arms ammunition and it was on standby status from 1976 through 2002. In 2002 over 600 acres were declared in excess by the United States Army and this 427-acre parcel will be redeveloped in conjunction with the City of Arden Hills. Under terms of the deal, the county will pay the federal government $4.9 million for the property, in April 2013, the County executed a competitively bid contract with Carl Bolander & Sons of St. The county will finance the deal with $21.4 million in bonding and these dollars will be replenished through the sale of land for redevelopment. Through a Joint Powers Agreement, the City of Arden Hills and this entity will be responsible for implementing the City and County approved Master Plan for the site, issuing Requests for Proposals, and negotiating development agreements with private developers. The JDA meets monthly, on the first Monday of the month, in 1987 the TCAAP was positively identified as the source of Volatile organic compound contamination in New Brightons water supply, first identified in July of 1981. The contamination consisted of Trichloroethylene at levels ranging from a few parts per billion to two hundred parts per billion
9.
Kelso & Company
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Kelso & Company is a private equity investment firm focusing on leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital transactions. Kelso invests in a variety of sectors, including communication, manufacturing, Kelso is based in New York City. Kelso also provides mezzanine capital through a joint venture with asset management firm BlackRock and their joint venture, BlackRock Kelso Capital Corp. is organized as a type of publicly traded private equity company known as a Business Development Company. Founded in 1971 as Kelso Bangert & Company, the firm acted as both an advisor and merchant bank, both making investments and advising in mergers and acquisitions. Kelso was founded by Louis O. Kelso, a lawyer and economist who is given credit for developing the concept for employee stock ownership plans, Kelso, alongside a sister company Louis O. Kelso Inc. focused initially on M&A activity involving Employee Stock Ownership Plans. Kelso raised its first private equity fund and has had a private equity investment platform since 1980. Louis O. Kelso who died in 1991 transitioned management of the firm to Joseph Schuchert to focus on writing and lecturing, today the firm is headed by Frank T. Nickell who joined the firm in 1977. In June of 2016, Kelso closed its latest fund at $2.6 billion, since 1980, the firm has raised approximately $10.1 billion of investor commitments to its private equity funds and was among the 50 largest private equity firms globally. Since its inception, the firm has investments in over 90 companies representing more than $31 billion of aggregate purchase price. Kelso & Company has invested in energy, materials, retailing, industrial and consumer products, telecommunication services, financial services, the company typically invests in North America with a focus on the United States. It targets investing between $50 million and $600 million in firms that have a value of between $250 million and $2.5 billion, Kelso & Company Blackrock-Kelso Capital Corp
