A-Square Company, LLC was a manufacturer of

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

and

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

s based in

Chamberlain, South Dakota Chamberlain is a city in Brule County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Missouri River, at the dammed section of the Lake Francis Case, close to where it is crossed by Interstate 90. The population of Chambe ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The company was one of 19 that are members of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institution (SAAMI). The company's focus was on its firearms for hunting large dangerous game. This was reflected in the selection of larger caliber chamberings in the company's rifles.

History

The company was established 1979. Lieutenant Colonel Arthur B. Alphin was the founder and chief designer for the A-Square Company. Besides the company location in

, the company had a location in

Bedford, Kentucky Bedford is a home rule-class city in Trimble County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 574 at the 2020 Census. It is the second largest city and county seat of Trimble County. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 42 and 421. ...

. By August 2008 Alphin planned to move his ammunition factory to

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

. A-Square manufactured rifles usually came with stainless steel barrels as a standard feature. The barrels on the rifles use epoxy resin to bed the barrel to the stocks. Magazine boxes were manufactured from plate steel for rigidity and were also welded to the receiver. A-Square rifles were engineered to allow the firing pin to retract further into the bolt body than other firearms (). This increases the force of the firing pin on the cartridge within the chamber. Available calibres for A-Square firearms range from those designed for large, dangerous game including the

.577 T-Rex The .577 Tyrannosaur or .577 T-Rex (14.9×76mm) is a very large and powerful rifle cartridge developed by A-Square in 1993 on request for professional guides in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked ...

and

.416 Taylor The .416 Taylor is a rifle cartridge. According to Ken Waters in ''Pet Loads'', it was created by Robert Chatfield-Taylor in the early 1970s, with the first rifle in this caliber being a factory barreled Winchester Model 70. The case is based on ...

, through smaller calibre

.243 Win The .243 Winchester (6×52mm) is a popular sporting rifle cartridge. Developed as a versatile short action cartridge to hunt both medium game and small game alike, it "took whitetail hunting by storm"Ron Spomer.Whitetail Deer Cartridge Shoot-Out ...

rifles. A-Square held the patent 4811666 for the monolithic solid bullet.

Change in controlling interest

From 2010 to February 2012 Sharps Rifle Company LLC owned an 80% controlling interest in A-Square of South Dakota LLC and 67% controlling interest in A-Square of Wyoming.

Closure

In October 2011, all A-Square employees were dismissed from both the Chamberlain, South Dakota ammunition plant and the Glenrock, Wyoming rifle plant. On February 15, 2012, the A-Square Company ceased to exist. Owner and founder Art Alphin led Sharps Rifle Company LLC, CEO Michael Blank to shut down both A-Square of South Dakota and Wyoming along with Sharps’ main operations in St. Louis. M. Blank conveyed ownership, all of the equipment and intangible assets belonging to A-Square of South Dakota LLC and A-Square of Wyoming LLC to the new Sharps Rifle Company Inc., CEO Kevin Tierney and his partner William Martin. Due to fiscal insolvency and a new company vision neither the ammunition plant in South Dakota nor the rifle plant in Wyoming will be reopened.

New ownership

In February 2013, Broadsword Group, LLC acquired the Sharps Rifle Co., which included the sister companies of A-Square rifles and ammunition. New ownership and a new management team is steering a different course for these companies through their headquarters in Glenrock, WY. Sharps has abandoned manufacturing A-Square bolt-action rifles, instead focusing on the AR market. The company produces the patented Relia-bolt, the Balanced Bolt Carrier, barrels, complete uppers and rifles, all dedicated to the .25-45 Sharps cartridge, which the company offers factory loadings in 87 grain soft point and 70 grain hollow point ammunition. This cartridge, based on the parent .223 in/5.56 mm case necked up for .257 bullets, is SAAMI standardized. The company offers properly headstamped virgin brass, as well as remanufactured ammunition from once-fired military 5.56 brass.

References

SAAMI Member Companies Website, accessed 28th April 2009
Holly Michels, The Montana Standard, August 29, 200

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External links

Sharps Rifle Company Homepage
Firearm manufacturers of the United States Companies based in South Dakota Privately held companies based in South Dakota