INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: Remington
SOTECH 2009 Volume: 7 Issue: 7 (September)
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Q: Can you briefly describe Remington’s history and capabilities?
A: Remington was founded in 1816, and is the oldest American manufacturer still making its original product—firearms. Remington has supported the U.S. vwarfighter in every conflict since then, including full dedicated military mass production during both world wars.
Remington is best known for its primary product lines—bolt-action sniper rifles, pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns, and wide range of ammunition products—that have stood up to decades of service in the military, government and law enforcement communities. In the last two decades, Remington has produced M24 sniper weapon systems for the U.S. Army and Foreign Military Sales, 870 series pump actions shotguns for all services, and millions of rounds of ammunition for all services.
Q: And Remington is part of the Freedom Group?
A: That’s right. As part of the Freedom Group family of companies, Remington forms the core of a portfolio of firearms and ammunition companies that produces approximately 1 million firearms a year and in excess of 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition a year. Freedom Group has over 2,500 employees with facilities in 14 U.S. states, and a supplier network that spans 48 states. In addition to its manufacturing competencies, over 193 years of research and development have culminated in the fielding or adoption of more Remington cartridges than any other firearm or ammunition manufacturer in the world, and led to the establishment of the small arms industry’s only freestanding U.S. R&D facility in Elizabethtown, Ky., which develops a variety of new products.
Q: What is Remington’s connection with the defense community?
A: Remington has made it a strategic priority to invest in providing a full range of adaptable small arms solutions for the U.S. warfighter charged with engaging the enemy on the modern battlefield, and we have created a dedicated military products division to focus on the customer’s needs. Whether there is a requirement to engage with one minute of angle precision up to a mile away or a requirement to have a carbine capable of changing calibers, barrel lengths, hand-guards, and even stocks at the operator level within minutes, Remington has developed a solution. Remington has specifically emphasized creating tailored solutions to satisfy the special operations customer and has focused for the last two years on the emerging requirements for long range precision fires and has worked with other key vendors as a systems integrator of firearms, optics, sound suppressors, and other accessories.
Q: What’s new about Remington’s military products?
A: Remington’s two most recent product offerings—the modular sniper rifle [MSR] and the adaptive combat rifle [ACR]— were directly influenced by end-user input throughout the design and development phases. Both systems are capable of being individualized to the user—examples being an adjustable stock length of pull, adjustable height of cheek piece, removable rail pieces on octagonal hand-guards—and configurable to the mission with multiple caliber and barrel length options [from 7.62 mm NATO to .338 Lapua Magnum in 20-inch to 27-inch barrels on the MSR and 5.56 mm to 6.8 mm in 10.5-inch to 16.5-inch barrels on the ACR] changeable in minutes by just changing the bolt face, barrel and magazine at the operator level. The user can choose the system he needs for the mission from the suite of options available.
Q: How does the customer benefit from this new focus?
A: Our philosophy is to make the most reliable, precise, and durable firearms that we possibly can for servicemembers. When it comes to testing, Remington can replicate nearly every military endurance and environmental testing regimen that will be applied to a small arms system and therefore can be fully confident that our systems will meet specifications from a technical standpoint.
There have been amazing advances in material technology, coatings, ammunition and electro-optics that have enabled shooters to push the capability envelope in the last few years, and we harness the new concepts and the technologies to meet the specifications of our customers in both the special operations and conventional forces. Remington and its partner companies have past performance with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and remain engaged with them on small arms projects for increased warfighter capabilities.
For the customer in the small arms space, more serious, focused American competitors in the military small arms space means a greater chance that cutting edge technologies and best in class capabilities will find their way into the hands of end-users. ♦