When Cerberus Capital Group started assembling The Freedom Group of firearms-related companies TTAG pointed out the conglomerate’s core strength: schmoozing politicians. Lest we forget, Cerberus bought Chrysler, drove it into bankruptcy and then convinced politicians to fork over $12.5b in bailout bucks, racking-up a $1.3b loss for U.S. taxpayers—all while leaving Cerberus relatively unscathed. We reckoned The Freedom Group would leverage its political juice to win military contracts, while “rationalizing” consumer products. And so they have. Remington today announced that it’s scored a $79.7m contract to supply United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) with 5,150 Precision Sniper Rifles (“PSR”) equipped with Advanced Armament Corporation muzzle breaks and suppressors and 4.6 million rounds of Barnes Bullets precision ammunition. [Press release after the jump.] As Montell Jordan might say, this how they do it. So . . . Marlin?
Madison, N.C. –The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has awarded the Remington Defense Division of Remington Arms Company, LLC (“Remington”) – a subsidiary of Freedom Group Inc. (“FGI”) – a $79.7 million dollar Firm Fixed-Priced (FFP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide up to 5,150 Precision Sniper Rifles (“PSR”) and 4.6 million rounds of precision ammunition. This award is the result of full and open competition conducted by USSOCOM.
Remington Defense will serve as the system integrator for the PSR, which is a durable sniper system capable of providing accurate target engagement and modular capabilities in barrel length and caliber conversion. Remington Defense will utilize two other FGI companies in the production process; Barnes Bullets will produce ammunition and Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) will manufacture muzzle breaks and suppressors.
Remington Defense already holds the U.S. Army’s $28M contract for 3,600 XM2010 enhanced sniper rifle systems. Remington Defense will be able to leverage its sniper management, workforce, and supply base to ensure the delivery of quality and highly-effective PSR systems.
The PSR award further establishes FGI’s dominance in sniper system expertise, technology, and manufacturing capability for the U.S. Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. FGI has the ability to produce a fully integrated sniper system consisting of firearm, suppressor, and ammunition products. FGI’s capabilities provide customers with unparalleled product affordability, quality, and technology.
“We are proud to provide our military Special Operations Forces with top-of-the-line technology,” said George Kollitides II, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Group and Remington Arms. “The expertise, quality and centuries of experience at Remington are clearly recognized. This award not only represents a new era in precision sniper systems, but also proves that an American manufacturing company can still expand its product offerings and compete in this modern age to provide best in class weapons, ammunition, and suppressors to our troops defending freedom around the globe.”
“Members of our armed forces, and especially those on Special Operations teams, are our Country’s first line of defense,” said John Day, Vice President and General Manager of Military and Law Enforcement. “They deserve the highest quality and newest technology available. Every aspect of the PSR was designed with this in mind.”
Over the past four years, Remington Defense invested in its ability to compete in the government small arms space by modernizing production facilities, focusing research and development on end-user requirements, and ensuring consistent and repeatable quality in a high-volume, high-mix manufacturing environment.
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About Remington Arms Company, LLC
Remington Arms Company, LLC, (“Remington”) headquartered in Madison, N.C., designs, produces and sells sporting goods products for the hunting and shooting sports markets, as well as solutions to the military, government and law enforcement markets. Founded in 1816 in upstate New York, the Company is one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating manufacturers. Remington is the only U.S. manufacturer of both firearms and ammunition products and one of the largest domestic producers of shotguns and rifles. The Company distributes its products throughout the U.S. and in over 55 foreign countries. More information about the Company can be found at www.remington.com.
Rumor has it that Marlin just won two large federal contracts. The first will supply the US Coast Guard with 23,000 improvised small-boat anchors. The second will provision material to construct an artificial reef off Key West with “steel, plastic, and wood scrap sourced from whatever unsold recent-production guns were not specifically allocated to anchor production,”
Ouch, man. I own a pre-Freedom group Marlin. Awesome rifle. I hate what they’ve done to the brand.
We are in sad times when my $450 Rossi lever has better fit and finish than a $600+ Marlin.
how do all those muzzles keep “breaking”?
Thank you! In my list of nettles that disrupt my cushy first-world life, that ranks in the top 10. I can’t believe it made the press release. I gotta call my guys down there and fuss at ’em.
TTAG said it also. Which is funny, considering RF was previously doing the whole car thing and cars, btw, also have “brakes” and not “breaks.” It’s a pretty popular “typo” though!
how do all those muzzles keep “breaking”?
Because they’re made by Remington, that’s how.
I have no issue with these guys winning that type of contract, on the caveat it helps our boys downrange, and provides them the tools needed to get the job done.
~$15K per rifle? Really? The DOD can get a better deal going retail.
I hear this every time weapons are procured. It’s not as simple as dividing the total contract price by the number of rifles. The price includes all accoutrements, usually including optics though I’m not positive in this case, repair and maintenance costs, and the biggy here is that this contract includes 4.6 MILLION ROUNDS OF PRECISION AMMO. So no, the cost does not come out to 15k per rifle.
Nowdays, this may also include not just the scope, but possibly things like a laser range finder, wind meter, who knows, maybe even a night vision optic or thermal. The last two are less likely, especially with the price.
I once had nearly $500k worth of thermal sights in my trunk when they needed to go to the shop for servicing. At the time, they listed for about $10k each.
Even it it accounts for $5K per rifle (that’s a lot of ammo an optics) it’s still too much. 5 million rounds of precision ammo might cost 20 million bucks. That’s still less than 1/4 the contract. What did that Accuracy International monster that TTAG reviewed a few months back retail at $7K? Is the DOD getting an extra $8K of improvements and accessories per rifle? I think not.
But they must be getting a lot of spare barrels to deal with all the muzzle breaks.
That is not how this contract works anyway. It is indefinite delivery of an indefinite quantity. Those values are just the ceilings.
There’s 4.6 million rounds of match grade ammo there too.
If we assume the rounds cost $5 a piece (I consider that a high estimate) it works out to approximately 900 rounds per gun, which is $4500 in ammo per gun, or 23 million total. That leaves 57 million for the guns, which works out to around 11 grand per rifle. Not a terrible price but certainly not an amazing deal for Uncle Sam.
If only it was a simple as dividing the number of rilfes/rounds into the award to determine cost per rifle..it isn’t. There is a metric ton of compliance documentation that has to be produced to meet federal procurement requirements. That stuff doesn’t come for free, and in fact offering to deliver it for no cost is illegal. The federal contracting system is rife with overburden making everything more expensive to us, the taxpayer.
So true. Get a nice 200pc Craftsman set at Sears for $200. Rename it a Number 1 Common Mechanics tool set Sell to the Army $1500.
The Indefinite Delivery / Quantity part is important. For non-contract geeks, that means the $79M is the contract ceiling or the maximum dollar amount that can be ordered. As others have pointed out, there is likely a price list with several different options where the government can pick and choose. The government is not on the hook for $79M, just the items they order (above the minimum order quantity). So it is very difficult to determine a per item cost unless someone wants to send in a FOIA request. From the contractors perspective, your profit can be higher than other contract types, but you assume all the risk of cost overruns because you cannot go back to the government if your costs increase or your product fails acceptance testing. (Geek out over).
This is good for American business. The PSR is a multi caliber XM-210 which can go from 7.62 NATO to .300 Win mag. Glad to see American companies doing good.
I would enjoy shooting one of those….
One sexy rifle to boot.
These rifles will be turned against American Citizens
Will I have to move to syria to get one of those guns??
Hey, wait a minute. I thought that The Freedom Group said that it was getting out of the firearms business. Maybe they’ll get around to it about the same time that Magpul leaves Colorado.
IT IS GOOD TO SEE THAT AMERICAN GI’S STILL GET THE VERY BEST AMERICA CAN BUILD
FOR THE MISSION IT ASKS HIM(NOT HER) TO DO
WE WERE LUCKY TO GET REMINGTON BDA’S IN COUNTRY
IN 71 WHEN THEY GOT THE AMMO DUMPS IN CAM RAHN WE WERE COUNTING ROUNDS
YOU GUYS SOUND LIKE FXXXXXX DEMOCRATS WHO MISSED OUT ON THE “NAM”
FU
Keep swiping that unlimited credit line Visa card that China gave us….its cool.
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