Austin Cartridge Company was an Austin Powder Company subsidiary manufacturing cartridge

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 ...

for

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

. The company made

shotgun shell A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub- projectiles called shot, fired thro ...

s and rimfire cartridges from 1895 until purchased by Western Cartridge Company in 1907.

History

Austin Powder Company was founded in 1833 by brothers Daniel, Alvin, Lorenzo, Henry, and Linus Austin of

Wilmington, Vermont Wilmington is a town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,255 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The town was chartered in 1751 by Benning Wentworth, colonial governor of New ...

. After exploring the market for

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

on the

western frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, they built and operated a gun powder mill at Old Forge on the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

near

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

. Early production was largely used as blasting powder for

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

but some was sold as sporting rifle powder. In 1884 the company became the exclusive supplier of gunpowder for shotgun shells manufactured by Chamberlain Cartridge Company. Austin Powder Company built the

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

Glenwillow, Ohio Glenwillow is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 923 at the 2010 census. History The Village of Glenwillow was carved out of Solon Township and established in 1893 as a company town by Austin Powder Company. ...

in 1892, and established the Austin Cartridge Company there in 1895 manufacturing ''Crack Shot'', ''Club Sporting'', and ''Champion Ducking'' shotgun shells. The Union Cap and Chemical Company was formed in 1900 as a joint venture of Austin Cartridge Company and Western Cartridge Company to manufacture blasting caps, primers, and .22 and .32 caliber rimfire cartridges. The Union Cap and Chemical Company trademark was a

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

and a UCC

headstamp A headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber: if it is military, the year of manufacture is often added. ...

appeared on the rimfire cartridges. These were the first .22 rimfire cartridges manufactured by Western Cartridge Company. Austin Cartridge Company was sold to Western Cartridge Company in 1907 as Austin Powder Company reorganized to focus on production of blasting

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

s. Western Cartridge Company used the Maltese cross trade mark until replacing it with a diamond trade mark during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

{{Reflist Ammunition manufacturers Explosives manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1895 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1907 1895 establishments in Ohio 1907 disestablishments in Ohio Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio 1907 mergers and acquisitions