CCI (ammunition)

Cascade Cartridge Inc. (CCI)

Headquarters	Lewiston, Idaho, United States
Products	Ammunition

CCI (Cascade Cartridge Inc.), based in Lewiston, Idaho, manufactures rimfire ammunition, centerfire handgun ammunition, and primers for reloaders and industrial power loads. CCI produced the first Mini-Mag rimfire ammunition in 1963, and in 1975 developed the Stinger, a hypervelocity .22 Long Rifle product.

History

Founded by Dick Speer (brother of Vernon Speer, who founded Speer Bullets) in the early 1950s, CCI is as of Feb. 2015, a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor, a spinoff of Alliant Techsystems,^[1] and currently employs approximately 1100 people.^[2] CCI was once known as the Speer Ammunition Company - the Speer name was associated with bullet manufacturing.

It was once a subsidiary of Omark Industries with Speer Bullets, RCBS (formerly the Rock Chuck Bullet Swage company), and Outers.

While originally sold only for handloading as an inexpensive substitute for jacketed bullets, this plated bullet has come far. CCI/Speer offers the Gold Dot line, component bullets and commercially loaded premium handgun ammunition using a bonded copper plated hollow point bullet.^[3][4] The Gold Dot line is now in use by many police departments.^[5]

On June 14, 2009 the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune reported that Alliant Techsystems, Edina, and Humbert CTTS SAS were awarded an approximately US$14-million contract to provide Speer GoldDot 9mm ammunition to the French Gendarmerie, French Customs, French Corrections and all 250,000 police officers in France.^[6]

Notable 22 long rifle cartidges

Mini-Mag

CCI Mini-Mag high-velocity .22 LR rounds

The standard Mini-Mag load is a 40-grain (2.6 g) copper-plated round nose bullet (Or a 36-grain (2.3 g) copper-plated hollow point) with a muzzle velocity of 1,235 ft/s (376 m/s). The copper-plating reduces lead fouling, which makes plinking with this load favorable over conventional lead bullets, which can present cycling and jamming problems, especially in semi-automatics.^[7]

Velocitor

CCI's Velocitor is claimed by CCI to be "the fastest 40 grain hollow point on the market". This is a 40-grain (2.6 g) copper-plated hollow point, derived from Speer Gold Dot technology with a muzzle velocity of 1,435 ft/s (437 m/s). It is designed for use on varmints including up to large varmints like coyotes.^[7]

Stinger

Another highly popular varmint load is the Stinger; introduced in 1976. This is a 32-grain (2.1 g) copper-plated hollow-point bullet with tear-drop cavity for complete disruption, with a muzzle velocity of 1,640 ft/s (500 m/s) - the fastest 22 LR with varmint-class accuracy. This hypervelocity is achieved by increasing the cartridge length to allow more powder, yet it still remains within SAAMI 22 Long Rifle pressure standards and is loaded with a lighter 32-grain (2.1 g) bullet. The Stinger can be easily identified by its longer nickel-plated casing.^[7]

Quik-Shok

Quik-Shok, now known as Segmented hollow point, loads are copper-plated segmented hollow-points that fragment into 3 sections on impact. These are intended to cause quick disruption on varmint type game. CCI offers Quik-Shok in a 32-grain (2.1 g) load at 1,640 ft/s (500 m/s) (same velocity as Stinger), or a 40-grain (2.6 g) subsonic load at 1,050 ft/s (320 m/s). The subsonic load is intended for hunting around a populated area when a quiet, effective round is needed.^[7]

Quiet-22

CCI Quiet-22 ammunition produces 75 percent less perceived noise than standard velocity .22 caliber long rifle loads. Quiet-22 uses a standard .22 long rifle case and achieves muzzle velocity of 710 feet per second. As Quiet-22 produces only 68 decibels of noise at the shooter's ear, hearing protection is suggested but not required. The National Rifle Association's American Hunter magazine honored CCI for producing Quiet-22 with its Golden Bullseye Award in 2014.^[8]

A17 rimfire

A17 HMR ammunition was developed in cooperation with Savage Arms for the A17 rifle. This is .17 caliber rimfire round was designed for semi-automatic weapons and produces muzzle velocities 100 feet per second faster than competing ammunition with the same weight. Its Varmint Tip is designed to expand quickly upon on impact.^[9]

References