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Show Rated Capacity Excels At Ordnance Plant Women Doing More Than Half Of The Job At Plant Constructed By Government; Six Types Of Ammunition Manufactured -By-0. N. Malmquist The Utah ordnance plant in Salt City is "passing the ammunition" to the troops on fighting fronts and in training camps at a rate well in excess of the plant's rated capacity when it began be-gan operations. This fact was disclosed to Utah newspapermen during a recent inspection tour of the installation under the sponsorship sponsor-ship of the Ninth Service Command. Com-mand. Exact production figures are restricted information but executives execu-tives of the plant proudly announced an-nounced that output is exceeding exceed-ing expectations; that acceptance of ammunition suitable for aircraft air-craft use has greatly exceeded contract requirements since the beginning of production; that costs have been reduced during nine months by 75 per cent for .30 caliber and 50 per cent for .50 caliber cali-ber ammunition. And women are doing more than half the job. They constitute about 50 per cent of the plant's personnel and more than 60 per cent of the production line employes. em-ployes. The plant, constructed by the government and operated by Remington Rem-ington Arms Company, Inc., under a cos t-plus-f ixed-f ee contract, manufactures six types of ammunition ammu-nition in two sizes .50 caliber armor ar-mor piercing, tracer and incendiary incendi-ary and .30 caliber ball, armor piercing and tracer. The manufacturing process, based primarily on the "stretching" "stretch-ing" of metals, involves thirty-odd steps in four separate operations. The cartridge case, which starts out as a small brass cup, is stretched into the proper shape by punching machines, each operation opera-tion elongating the cuplike piece of metal a little more. The bullet likewise proceeds through a series of operation from jacket, steel core or slug to the finished bullet. The primer or "cap" is produced in another series of operations. The three components are then brought together, the primer in-( in-( Continued on page eight) ORDNANCE... ' (Continued from page one) serted in the case, the case loaded load-ed with powder, the bullet inserted in the case and the finished cartridge cart-ridge emerges. The entire process, except some visual inspecting and packing, is done by machine. The most dangerous operations are the manufacture of the primer prim-er and the loading of the case. The Utah plant is one of four such government plants operated by Remington Arms company. From these four plants, and the ones both owned and operated by the company, there was produced during the last seven and one-half months of 1942 more small arms ammunition than the entire country coun-try turned out during the four years of World War No. 1. Thus the small arms ammunition industry indus-try generally is passing the ammunition am-munition to the fighting men on a scale which dwarfs all previous efforts. ef-forts. Since the beginning of the Fort Douglas recepUo77T i where the future users of munition were being tnuwfe from civilians into the guidance of Colonel j ' Graves, commanding officer oft ' center the newspaper shown how the new inductees outfitted, classified for 2 aptitudes, re-examined for S ical defects, immunized certain diseases, fed and tained. A highlight of this pro was the clothing of the new u, 1 tees. They enter one end of a J room in civilian clothes 1 emerge at the other end with 7 full reception center issue of a, army uniform. The new inductees pass throw the outfitting room with produc. tion line efficiency and speed. But they are treated as individuals bv the fitters and they don't have to accpt ill-fitting items. The U s Army wants the soldiers to M well dressed, on the theory that satisfaction with the clothes pro-motes pro-motes satisfaction with Army life war Remingto n workers . have soared from 4,000 to more than 80,000. Army officers and company executives ex-ecutives in charge of the Utah plant point with special pride to a lost time accident rate far below the average of the industry generally; gen-erally; and the lowest percentage of scrap (metal trimmings) of any small arms ammunition plant in the country. They attributed the large reduction in production costs mainly to the fact that personnel is now much better trained than at the beginning of operations and the rising volume. Inspection and testing of the ammunition is an important phase and one which is carried out by the company and the army ordnance ord-nance department with painstaking painstak-ing thoroughness. After the company com-pany inspectors are satisfied that the ammunition is right, ordnance department experts take over and give it further scrutiny. It is then "spot" checked by actual firing in the testing room. A "dud" might be fatal to someone on the fighting fight-ing front and every possible precaution pre-caution is taken to , see that no faulty cartridges get out of the plant. ' As a wholly owned government 'installation, the plant has the status sta-tus of a military post and the army ar-my is charged with the responsibility responsi-bility of guarding the reservation, protecting the property, enforcing enforc-ing economy in expenditures and correcting any irregularities. The commanding officer is Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant-Colonel Seth Wiard and the manager mana-ger for Remington Arms is W. F. H. Mattlage. The tour of the ordnance plant was preceded by a visit to the |