CCI (Cascade Cartridge Inc.), based in

Lewiston, Idaho Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's North Central Idaho, north central region. It is the third-largest city in the Idaho Panhandle, northern Idaho region, behind Post Falls, Idaho, Pos ...

, manufactures rimfire and

centerfire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i. ...

handgun ammunition, including primers for handloaders and a industrial ammunition production line. CCI made the first .22 Long Rifle Mini-Mag rimfire ammunition in 1962 and, in 1975, they developed the .22 Stinger rimfire ammunition, a high velocity .22 Long Rifle product. Today, CCI makes a wide range of rimfire and

snake shot Snake shot, rat shot, or dust shot, more formally known as shotshell (a name shared with the shotgun shell) or canister shot, refers to handgun and rifle cartridges loaded with lead shot canisters instead of bullets, intended for pest control ...

ammunition, a high velocity .22 Long Rifle product. Today, CCI makes a wide range of rimfire and

ammunition.

History

CCI was founded by Dick Speer (brother of Vernon Speer, who founded Speer Bullets) in the early 1950s. Arvid Nelson was a partner in the business. The firm's first shipment was part of a defense contract to make primers using chlorate FA-70. CCI later moved on to much safer formulas for sporting ammunition. CCI provided the first reliable supply of primers for hobby reloaders. As of February 2015, it was a subsidiary of

Vista Outdoor Vista Outdoor Inc. was an American designer, manufacturer, and marketer that operated in two segments: shooting sports and outdoor products. It was a "house of brands" with more than 40 labels and subsidiaries. Vista Outdoor was the parent compan ...

, a spinoff of

Alliant Techsystems Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, arms manufacturer headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The company operated across 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK reven ...

. As of the same date, CCI employed about 1,100 people. The company was sold to the Czechoslovak Group in November 2024. CCI purchased 17 acres of land next to the Lewiston Gun Club. When the gun club moved, CCI purchased that land as well. As of 2020, CCI's plant was still located on this land.

Product lines

In 1975, CCI engineers completed development of the first "hyper-velocity" .22 Long Rifle ammunition. This ammunition became known as the "CCI Stinger."The CCI Stinger has a slightly longer case length of .702 in (17.8 mm), compared to the standard case length of .613 in (15.6 mm) for the .22 Long Rifle, both of these cartridges have the same overall cartridge dimensions. In early 2020, CCI introduced 14 new products. CCI/Speer sells the Gold Dot line, component bullets, and handgun ammunition using a bonded copper-plated hollow point bullet. Plated bullets were originally sold only for

handloading Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by manually assembling the individual components ( metallic/ polymer case, primer, propellant and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded com ...

as a cheap substitute for jacketed bullets.Patent 5,079,814
, for a bonded plated hollow point bullet (the Speer Gold Dot) CCI sells the MeatEater line of hunting ammunition for

small game Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, t ...

. CCI partnered with Steven Rinella of MeatEater to produce and market this product line. The MeatEater line of ammunition includes Copper-22, Mini-Mag, and Maxi-Mag variants. In 2023, CCI introduced Clean-22 Hyper Velocity ammunition; this adds to their line of polymer-coated rimfire ammunition. Polymer coatings significantly reduce lead fouling in barrels.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lewiston, Idaho Companies based in Idaho Companies established in the 1950s Ammunition manufacturers of the United States Alliant Techsystems 1950s establishments in Idaho