We make the projectiles, we make the cases; but sadly the UK no longer makes the primers or propellant. Not a sound decision, but as usual, it saved money. As long as our allies are with us we are ok and propellant comes from Belgium, Israel and the USA to name a few.

The Swedish Armed Forced did something even worse about 15 years ago, they built a single warehouse site for ALL equipment except vehicles and ammunition. Everything was supposed to be ordered and delivered out to the regiments by the lowest bidder. That system is now reverted back to a decentralized system but that someone even got the initial idea is mind boggling

One factory supplying the UK Armed forces? Well, that sounds like a sensible idea.

Half a kilo less is insane. Imagine if similar savings can be found in uniform, ballistic protection and such. That's what the infantryman needs on the ground: less weight and more ammo. There's only so far smart tech, drones and such can get you before you need to get dirty and put rounds down range.

The precision of the moving line, placing the brass cup exactly under each stage of the forming press, is amazing. For me, it's not about the product in the video, it's the machines.

This was a great video I served 14 years and had no idea how all the rounds I fired where made. Every solider, airman, sailor should be shown this video. 👍🇬🇧

This needs to be a one-hour documentary, with lots of slow-motion footage of the machines producing the rounds!

I was lucky enough to win a factory tour with a group of people to go to the Norma factory in Sweden earlier this year and if you have the interest for shooting or hunting it is such an awesome experience. I loved every second and would love to go back someday

Imagine the fun you could have at the local shooting range, if you had a day's output of that factory as a gift.

Ah, that explains why I can't get a cheap ammo box to store my seeds.

My mother was inspector number 9 at the salt lake ordinance Depot in Utah during world war II she told me many stories about things that happened during that time she also had seven brothers overseas during world war II she never let a bad bullet get by her ever

Thank you BAE and everyone that works for them.. You're greatly appreciated.

I watched this wondering what my grandfather would have made of it if he was still with us. He was chief inspector of armaments for Royal Ordnance at the end of WW2, first at Woolwich then Enfield, before he retired in the sixties. My Dad once told me that he came home from work having overseen dumping thousands of tonnes of non-conforming rounds in the Irish Sea. What he would have given for the failure rates they can achieve today. Interestingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, after retirement he couldn't stand the sight of anything to do with guns or armaments. That's probably why I went into healthcare engineering.

Ive been to the Norma factory twice, the process is basically the same. What surprised me the most is the machine that takes pictures and measures the casings and rejects bad ones. The speed it happens at, it is absolutely astonishing.

What could go wrong with having all your ammunition being produced in one building. It’s not like it’s a likely target for any potential enemy.

This is such a brilliant channel, understanding how our defensive industry and systems work is something everyone should know. Great job 👍

I think you might want to split up production to different sites - having all production on one site makes it vulnerable

Right lads brass picking.

We need more of this. A lot more.

Interesting. Way back in the mid '60's I worked for Imperial Metal Industries (IMI) in Witton, Birmingham. They made all the Army's rounds back then. The Witton site is long gone and for all I know so is IMI. I wonder how many rounds I fired during my service were made there. They even had a range where blokes would come and test fire some from batches for QC.

10000 extra round per pellet load is massive the edge it will give for every supply run would add up over time intems of firepower downnrage.

The machinery in that new building had to be tested. That means that they needed inert material with EXACTLY the same physical properties as the various propellants. Yes, there are multiple options on propellants, as some shapes of granule burn faster than others.

Now do one about the factory where the make the ammo boxes!

Very well vetted spokesperson there. I'm impressed.

Have shot a lot of RG 7.62mm in my time! Excellent rounds. Great factory tour.

It's not just the product but the deal the offer that gives benefits to clients and secures a purpose for peoples skills creating and delivering the product to the customer. That is business 101...

Need to be self sufficient buying in from third parties is dodgy. I was in BAOR in late 60’s and on annual classification we found problems with 7.62 ammo, it either did not fire or in the case of belted L7 belts we had multiple stoppages, turned out the MoD had purchased a mega batch from Pakistan at a low price. If used in real combat it would have been a real problem. Low price equaled low quality.🤦‍♂️

Serious ASMR hearing bullet casing hitting metal 😍

Great film. We should make every piece of military equipment we can in the UK.

The narrator and one of the guides were wearing their earplugs wrong. Those 3M plugs should be rolled up as tight as possible, and inserted deep into the ear canal, not left hanging mostly outside the ear.

This factory hold so many people's lives

The factory must grow

Let's not forget this amazing technology and the professional people who are proud of there product. Let's hope you are never the target down range.

If you look at 5:52 you'll see that the case requires a berdan primer (two non centered flashholes) and not the US standard boxer primer (single centered flash hole.) Typically the boxer primed spent cases are easier to recycle, but the UK is probably not worried about re using military brass since there is probably little commercial demand for it.

For context a Gimpy could (theoretically) chew through a million rounds quicker than they are produced at that rate.

Its.... beautiful. It's almost enough to get a DS to cry

End user here. They work.

I love the way they're making stuff that kills people but they've got a keen eye on doing it in an environmentally friendly way. That's to be commended.

Great video and really interesting.

The real takeaway here is that the calibers its produces are also produced elsewhere. So while a million rounds a day sounds like a lot = it really isn't. During the WOT the US military at one point was expending over a billion rounds a year - so much so that it was forced to purchase additional ammo from other nations as it expanded its own production capacity at Lake City. Now the US is moving towards a "unique" caliber which requires it to literally build a new production facility to manufacture it - while the rifle that fires it will similarly lack commonality of critical parts. So they also will be faced with a single source supply paradigm which may work in peacetime = but which can prove itself problematic in the event of war. Modern warfare sees massive expenditures of ammunition. The more places you can source what you use - the better.

Wow, I live down the road from that factory, I knew it was a munition's factory but nothing more :O

Impressive technology!

you better keep up the good job, guys! best from Greenland!

[08/31/22] There will always be a need for instruments of war so long as there are people that just cannot be reasoned with.

I have no live rounds or empty cases on my person sir

Looks pretty much the same as when I went for an interview there around 2000

I have thousands of 5.56mm rounds from RG from the early 2000s when It was available as surplus. all in those nice brown cans.

What a job. Amazing.

Freedom, one round at a time.

Very odd coming from a country where just about all fire arms and ammo has been banned, and the penalty for having any is severe.

5:52 I love the irony of the MOD using Berdan (US designed) primers for British made rounds and the US using Boxer (British designed) primers for US made rounds.

“You don’t make cans of coke” Yet the manufacturing process shares a lot with manufacturing coke cans.

"loadsa money!!!! 💸"

very cool piece!

Amazing engineers .

I would love to have just a few M80 spec Ball with appropriate head stamp for my ammo collection. Yes its a thing.

As an Air gunner...i think BAE systems should put their engineering expertise into making airgun slugs...(this is a growing industry & one BAE COULD PROFIT FROM)

I have reloaded all my amunicion for years and they are tuned to each rifle. Far more accurate and a bit of extra oomph behind them.Mass produced amunicion just can't get that. 3 rounds in a 3 inch pattern at 400 + yards. I love my 338 lapua.

what a great Video, something you don't get to see how the Uks ammunition is made and all the work that goes into it.

Hopefully we have other off site production areas that are just as capable. One ship blocks a canal and the world stops, one fire stops bullet production, what happens to the conflict ?

So what happens to all the brass picked up by soldiers at the end of exercise or ranges. Melted down and re-used?

they're probabally looking at the new creedmore rounds from the US aren't they so they have a managed to make hybrid cases and people are looking at plastic but prob still have the hear dissipation issues like shown with the HK research on that caseless weapon

Thanks for the video, Enjoyed. later from The Republic of Texas, usa.

Fun Fact : That Bar Code is really a QR code.

As a professional brass-chicken myself what I want to know is what they do with all the discharged casings we've gathered over the years.

A guy who used to work there told me they don't make primers anymore because an explosion happened years ago and a worker lost his legs. So it was a safety based decision.

I want to know how they pack the rounds in those boxes.

I call BS on the "weight" savings intent. It's not about saving the soldier or transport, it's about MONEY, the cost of brass, improving the bottom line.

The U.S army is " moving up " to the newer 6.8 x 51mm cartridge , does the British army intend to follow suit ?

Very interesting, thank you.

I expect the Russians don't have this type of Quality Control!!! 😁

A 'smart' factory creating ammunition? Welcome to Skynet 😅😖

A 7 minute video that showed absolutely nothing about how the rounds were produced except machines going click click click.

In USA we used Tobe able to follow channels that explained ammo manufacture and reloading techniques.

If anything has been proven by the war in Ukraine, it’s that you can never have too much ammo. Everyone should be stockpiling more ammo, running at half capacity is foolish

its sad how far the british arms industry has fallen ! we need investment upgrading and overhauling to meet a peer adversary.

You got to pump it up, don't you know pump it up.

The .308 Winchester is a very viable and efficient chambering. Able to rival the 30/06 Springfield with 150 grain projectiles. In a short action platform.

Just one factory? My god we're done.

Cool. Every UK citizen should be allowed to carry to deter terrorists.

Funny this video comes up when I literally had BAE systems guys in my town working with the army at a base nearby. They were grabbing some beer for their weekend off

You get a discount on ammo if you work there is my only question lol

All that ammo in one factory, prime target for the enemy. Britain out of straight away, outrageous forethought

So the lesson I'm taking is one well aimed cruise missile and 365 million rounds of ammo a year go dark?

Where do they get those cups from? And the propellant?

Fantastic, a single point of failure is all that stands between national defense capabilities, and throwing stones at the enemy. Which genius came up with that one? Some things are more important than economies of scale.

And not a single round made for British civilians. Your government doesn't consider you Brits competent enough to handle "dangerous weapons". On a different note, I wonder if the UK is going to consider switching to the US's new 6.8x51 rounds for their service rifles? It will be really interesting to see what becomes of 6.8 among other NATO countries over the next few years.

Amazing

Had ROF Bishopton Stayed open the result is that the UK-made 5.56x45 would have a Cordite propellant like the Indian 5.56x45 ammo due to India still having the Cordite Factory in the Chennai Region

General Dynamics Ordnance's Plant Quebec Canada basically makes all of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP & other federal government departments that have needs for guns, ammunition.

Well I ope it consistently performs better than some of the 9mm stuff we had in the 80's. I believe it was bought from India or Pakistan. Rounds that lacked enough the power to lock the bolt of the Sterling open were common

might wanna start upping production....

Thank you Sirs, really wish I worked in a place like that

Tracing cartridges... big brother at it again.

How are the ballistic characteristics affected by lightened round?

Cool to see how that stuff is made. It's surprising to see him walk around that place without safety glasses.

I bought a bunch of British Radway Green M855 5.56 and that was good ammo. 5 inch group.

Amazing guut 👍🙏❤❤❤❤❤

Is these a reason to use the Berdan PRIMER?