From: Randall Parker 

Why does it take so long to scale up? What sort of capital equipment is involved? Any
one know?

Or is the bottleneck in making the powder?

In WWII the US ramped up a lot more quickly. Surely the capital equipment could be
built more quickly.

Rich Gauszka wrote:

> The sole plant making small-arms ammunition, the Lake City Army Ammunition
> Plant in Independence, Mo., is running three eight-hour shifts a day, six
> days a week. The plant provides 5.56 mm rifle, 7.62 mm and .50 caliber
> machine gun as well as 9 mm pistol cartridges for all branches of the
> military.
>
> Because of the increased demand for ammunition since the Sept. 11, 2001,
> attacks and America's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Kern said the Army in
> late December let two supplemental contracts to Olin Winchester of East
> Alton, Ill., and Israeli Military Industries for each to produce 70 million
> rifle rounds per month starting in June.
>
> The general said it would probably take until 2005 to get small-arms
> ammunition production to a level at which there will be enough to cover all
> the increased training needs and begin rebuilding the war reserves.

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