The Revived Remington
Big Green Is Back!
Most of the shooting world knows by now the Remington Arms Company we all were familiar with in the past is no longer with us today. During recent times, Remington Arms experienced somewhat of a tumultuous path, which finally came to an abrupt halt. For a variety of reasons, including bankruptcies and court settlements, the Mothership was broken up and divided among seven different buyers.
Vista Outdoors purchased Remington’s ammunition and accessories division and related intellectual property for $81.4 million. This acquisition included Remington’s Lonoke, Ark. manufacturing facility along with the Remington brand and trademarks. The acquisition was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Remington ammunition now joins other brands under the Vista Outdoors umbrella including CCI, Redfield, Speer, Weaver, Federal, RCBS, Bushnell, among others.
Analysis
So what does this mean to the shooting and hunting industry? Personally I feel brighter days are ahead with Vista Outdoors behind the wheel. Chris Metz, Chief Executive Officer made this comment, “The migration back to nature and into the outdoors is the future. The combination of beloved ammunition brands created by this transaction will benefit shooting sports enthusiasts, outdoor recreation retailers and Vista Outdoors for many years to come. We look forward to welcoming the people of Remington and leveraging our collective passion, scale, manufacturing infrastructure, distribution channels and Centers of Excellence to bring Remington products to more consumers.”
The contemporary Remington has already introduced new products for 2022, many of which will appeal to recreational shooters, CCW holders as well as hunters. Some of the new ammunition slated includes three new loads for .224 Valkyrie, Golden Saber Defense, Peters Paper — a competition load for 12 gauge with a paper hull — Premier Mag Turkey High Velocity 20 gauge, Premier Match ammo in 6mm, 6.5 PRC, 6.5 Creedmoor and 260 Remington. In the company’s Core-Lokt line-up, the addition of 350 Legend with a 180-grain Core-Lokt SP and 450 Bushmaster launching a 300-grain Core-Lokt PSP will be available. These are just a few of the new offerings.
Hunters
Deer hunters have long known about Remington’s Core-Lokt ammo — a staple in the ammunition world from Big Green. This was the flagship of the Remington lineup for whitetail hunters incorporating a controlled-expansion bullet. The popular ammunition line could be found in many deer camps all over whitetail hunting destinations.
Remington has just improved the bullet, launching a new line of Core-Lokt Tipped ammo consisting of 13 loads from nine chamberings in .243 to .300 Win. Mag. Polymer-tipped bullets are not earth-shattering news by any means and are common with Nosler and other bullet manufacturers. The first new product launched by the revived Remington will enhance the former Core-Lokt bullet with a green poly tip to provide higher ballistic coefficients and improved accuracy along with initiating rapid expansion.
With my interest in hunting ammo, I recently had the opportunity to hunt desert mule deer in west Texas using the new 165-grain Core-Lokt Tipped bullet in .308 Win. I was hunting with an H-S Precision handgun topped with a Burris scope. Curiosity was full-tilt as I was anxious to see how this new poly-tipped bullet would perform on a big-bodied mule deer.
Early the first morning, we spotted a dandy buck. He was following a doe from about 250 yards but the doe kept moving away from us, luring the buck out of range before we could set up for a proper shot. Eventually the pair disappeared in the gauntlet of west Texas brush so we decided to take a break for lunch and look for them later in the afternoon.
Afternoon Delight
After a short break, we begin glassing a lot of open country, hoping to find our quarry again — or one bigger. A front was moving in and the temperature dropped drastically with the wind gusting over 20 mph. It was downright cold! Right before dark we finally located our buck, working his way over a ridge top. He was all alone at this time.
By the time we made it over to the brink of the ridge, he was all the way down in the bottom of a canyon. My eyes were watering so bad I could hardly see. When the buck stopped momentarily, I rested the handgun and tried to steady the crosshairs. The gusty winds made holding the crosshairs steady a real challenge. The buck was broadside from 251 yards when I managed to wipe the tears from my watering eyes and squeeze off a shot. The deer dropped immediately! When we made our way to the buck, we found a part of his main beam had been broken and we suspect this occurred when he dropped suddenly. Unfortunately we could not find the broken piece but I was still pleased with this big mature mule deer. The first new product launched by the revived Remington ammo company, Core-Lokt Tipped, performed as expected.
During the following days, I had the pleasure of spending time with Jon Langenfeld, product engineering manager of Remington. Jon had been an engineer for many years with the company and was quite knowledgeable regarding terminal ballistics and bullet performance. He was shooting an Echols Legend rifle chambered in .270 Winchester with 130-grain Core-Lokt Tipped. Later in the hunt, Jon scored on a nice buck taken from 85 yards. The bullet did a massive amount of internal damage and we were fortunate to find the bullet. It had passed through the shoulder and mushroomed while maintaining 50% of its original weight.
Two other hunters scored on nice mulies during the west Texas hunt. One was using a .308 Winchester with the 165-grain Core-Lokt Tipped, the same bullet as I had shot. The other chap was shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 129-grain Core-Lokt Tipped. I experienced the longest shot during the hunt at 251 yards. The other three big-bodied bucks all fell under 150 yards.
The Future
I asked Jon for his honest assessment of what realistically could be expected from Remington in the days ahead. He said, “Remington is heavily focused on innovation and there will be many new ammunition items coming in the next few years.” I for one will be anxiously waiting to see what materializes. As whitetail deer season approaches, I’ll be shooting a Nosler handgun in 6.5 Creedmoor with the new 129-grain Core-Lokt Tipped. When I asked Jon what Remington was doing at the moment to get caught up with ammo demand, he said, “We are running wide open with machines running 24/7.” That’s good to know because many of us are hoping to see shelves filled with ammo again.
With the current demand for ammunition, it’s refreshing to see a rejuvenated company back in full swing. Big Green is definitely back and brighter days are forthcoming. I’d be willing to bet a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts good things are on the horizon for shooters and hunters alike.