Fiocchi Munizioni (Fiocchi Ammunition) is one of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
's largest and oldest
manufacturers
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range ...
of ammunition.
The company's
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
and main production plant are in Via Santa Barbara in
Lecco
Lecco (, , ; lmo, label=Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...
, Italy.
History
Fiocchi Munizioni was founded on 3 July 1876 in Lecco, Italy, by accountant Giulio Fiocchi.
In 1876, Giulio Fiocchi took over the
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 ...
production part of a
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
and ammunition company already based in Lecco, which produced small-
caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
ammunition.
At that time a radical change was introduced in
firearms
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 newly developed
breech
Breech may refer to:
* Breech (firearms), the opening at the rear of a gun barrel where the cartridge is inserted in a breech-loading weapon
* breech, the lower part of a pulley block
* breech, the penetration of a boiler where exhaust gases leav ...
-loader replaced the traditional
muzzle loader.
Fiocchi started manufacturing cases with primers suitable for reloading; in the early 1890s production was extended to complete
cartridges loaded with bullets or shot. At the same time, Fiocchi gave up the production of black powder, as it was no longer profitable.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Fiocchi diversified and began making
snap fastener
A snap fastener, also called snap button, press stud, press fastener, dome fastener, popper, snap and tich (or tich button), is a pair of interlocking discs, made out of a metal or plastic, commonly used in place of traditional buttons to fasten ...
s using scraps from cartridge production.
Fiocchi Snaps
Fiocchi Munizioni (Fiocchi Ammunition) is one of Italy's largest and oldest manufacturers of ammunition.
The company's headquarters and main production plant are in Via Santa Barbara in Lecco, Italy.
History
Fiocchi Munizioni was founded on 3 ...
was formed in 1903. It assumed an important role to counterbalance the trend of the ammunition market, but at the end of the 1980s Fiocchi made a decision to focus on ammunition as its core business, and the snaps factory was sold.
During its long life, Fiocchi has manufactured all kinds of ammunition from
pinfire
A pinfire cartridge is an obsolete type of metallic firearm cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge. Invented by Frenchman Casimir Lefaucheux in ...
, shotshells, and cartridges to all kinds of cartridges and cases, both
rimfire and
centerfire
Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center
A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rim ...
. They are known for manufacturing rarer cartridges for collectors and enthusiasts, for example the
.455 Webley
.455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI. It is also known as ".455 Eley" and ".455 Colt".
The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed car ...
.
Crucial dates in the history of the Fiocchi Group
*1876 Year of foundation
*1877 Start of ammunition production
*1903 Product diversification: snaps
*1930 Beginning of export
*1940 Development of social policy in the territory of Lecco
*1945 Bombing of the plant in Lecco
*1946 Re-building of the plant
*1970 Attack on the European markets
*1980 Start of .22 Super Match production
*1985 New quality inspection unit
*1985 Start of "leadless" primers production
*1989
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
qualification of the cartridge 9 mm
Parabellum
*1990 Impulse to world-market expansion
*1990 Quality System Certificate in accordance with the standards NATO AQAP-1
*1991 Start of production of ammunition with frangible bullets
*1993 New loading department for .22 cartridges
*1994 New flexible manufacturing line for centerfire ammunition
*1994 Automatization line for cases production
*1995 New line of products: "Official" clay shooting cartridges
*1996 New line of Spas Mil and Law Enforcement ammunition
*1999 New line of hunting cartridges
*1999 NATO qualification of the cartridges 5,56 mm Ball
*2003 Environment Management System Certificate in accordance with the standards UNI EN ISO 14001: 1996
*2003 Quality Management System Certificate in accordance with the standards UNI EN ISO 9001: 2000
Recent history
Fiocchi Munizioni makes small-bore ammunition and offers a wide range of products. Its presence and production sites are also in the United States and in Hungary. In 2008 Fiocchi UK was opened in Great Britain.
According to a recent interview with Carlo Fiocchi, the head of Fiocchi America, more than 75% of the ammunition sold by Fiocchi in the United States is also manufactured in the United States at Fiocchi America's production facility in
Ozark, Missouri
Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Missouri. Its population was 21,284 as of the 2020 census. The 2019 population estimate was 20,482. Ozark is also the third largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area, a ...
.
[Carlo Fiocchi Interview](_blank)
/ref> Specifically, Fiocchi America's composition of U.S. ammo manufacturing and sales according to the interview is as follows:
*95% of the centre-fire rifle ammunition, which accounts for ~15% of Fiocchi’s U.S. sales
*75% of centre-fire pistol ammunition, which accounts for ~35% of Fiocchi’s U.S. sales
*100% of shotshells, which accounts for ~35% of Fiocchi’s U.S. sales
*0% of rimfire ammunition, which account for ~15% of Fiocchi’s U.S. sales (along with components)
Qualifications and Certifications of prestige attest the level of quality achieved by the company:
*NATO AQAP-110 Certification
*ISO 14001: 1996 Certification of the Environment Management System
*UNI EN ISO 9001: 2000 Certification of the Quality Management System.
Furthermore, Fiocchi shooting cartridges have contributed to several World Cups and Olympic triumphs, as the Games in Athens in 2004 as well as in those in Beijing in 2008.
In 2011 newly developed 12GA shotshells filled with chemical tracer Cyalume
Diphenyl oxalate (trademark name Cyalume) is a solid whose oxidation products are responsible for the chemiluminescence in a glowstick. This chemical is the double ester of phenol with oxalic acid. Upon reaction with hydrogen peroxide, 1,2-dioxet ...
in which allows the shooter to see where the shots are going and will greatly help in the training of sporting clays
Sporting clays is a form of clay pigeon shooting, often described as "golf with a shotgun" because a typical course includes from 10 to 15 different shooting stations laid out over natural terrain. For safety, the course size is often no smaller ...
. The tracer shots are non-toxic
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...
and biodegradable
Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...
and packaged in a sealed metal can in Fiocchi's line of Canned Heat ammunition. The Canned Heat line of ammunition allows a greater shelf life and maintains the quality of the ammo throughout shipping, retail shelf, and consumer handling.
Fiocchi Munizioni is still entirely owned by private capital heading to the Fiocchi Family.
Fiocchi of America
In partnership with Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States.
Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...
, the Fiocchi family had a factory in Alton, Illinois, in the 1950s. Diverging company interests caused Fiocchi to sell its share to Smith & Wesson and withdraw from the American market. Great-grandson Carlo Fiocchi joined the family business in 1980 at the age of 24 and worked as a product manager in charge of the English-speaking market, his assignment was no doubt influenced by the fact that his grandmother was British. His responsibilities included overseeing its meagre exports to the United States. Carlo travelled to the United States on his honeymoon, with instructions to bring back marketing research for a US facility.
Carlo concluded that opportunities could not be exploited unless Fiocchi had a physical presence. In 1983, an FOA facility was built in Springfield, Missouri, to import 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 ...
, the location selected because of his father’s existing contacts there and that it offered the most favourable rail and trucking costs. After a year and a half, they realized that importing loaded ammunition was not an effective business model. The company couldn’t react fast enough to the needs of the US shooters. Carlo returned to Italy and convinced the president, Paolo, to build a manufacturing plant on a farm he identified in the Ozarks near Springfield. Fiocchi negotiated a purchase with the farmer and loans with the bank. Providing a platform for quality manufacturing jobs, the Fiocchi enterprise was enthusiastically welcomed by the local government.
Nevertheless, in 2005, Pietro, Carlo and Donna Swafford, chief operations manager, boldly attempted to revitalize the company in April 2005. Due in large measure to their acumen, since then FOA sales have increased 500%. The US subsidiary imports empty primed hulls from Fiocchi Munizioni and wads from Italy, produced mainly by Baschieri & Pellagri and Gualandi in Bologna, world capital of machine shop engineering, home to Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi.
Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...
and Ducati
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...
- and the ancestral home of the Fiocchi family.
Products
Fiocchi's product range includes:
*Clay Target
*Hunting
*Centrefire
*.22
*Blank and Flobert
*Special Law Enforcement
*Ammunition for vintage or antique firearms
*Canned Heat ammunition packaged in sealed metal cans.
See also
* List of Italian companies
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe with the third largest nominal GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth largest in the world. As an advanced economy the country also has the sixth worldwide national wealth and it is ranked third fo ...
References
* http://www.fiocchiusa.com/about-us-menu/fiocchi-history-menu
External links
Fiocchi Munizioni S.p.A. website
Fiocchi of America Inc. website
*{{YouTube, id=VwEgAkI6sEA, title=A Tour of Fiocchi's Italian Ammunition Plant
Ammunition manufacturers
Defence companies of Italy
Italian companies established in 1876
Italian brands
Firearm manufacturers of Italy