Ammunition production is achieved with a wide range of equipment that includes cup presses, transfer presses for cartridge cases and bullets, annealing furnaces, lead core extruders, washing and drying equipment, assembly machines (primer insertion machine, ammo loading machine, ammo sealing machine), inspection machines, etc. High-capacity ammunition production from scratch is fairly a large investment and requires a variety of equipment at every stage of the production. A complete ammunition production facility also requires a chemical plant to produce primers. A NATO caliber has ammunition components such as primer, primer anvil, cartridge case, and a bullet. Each component is produced on a different press and each press has different die sets for different calibers. High-capacity presses would be needed for primer cup and primer anvil production if primer production is included in the investment. Cup presses produce brass cups for both cartridge cases and bullets. To produce cartridge cases, brass cups are first drawn on a dedicated press and the drawn cups are given their shape (necking and stamping) on a different press. The next step in the cartridge case production is the extractor grooving. The final touch on a cartridge case is the annealing. For an FMJ bullet, the bullet transfer press is fed with a brass cup and lead core, and the press will draw the cup into the bullet shape, fill it with lead core, and crimp it. Washing and drying equipment are used in between transfer presses and especially before annealing. Finally, a vision inspection must be performed on the ammunition components to eliminate the ones that are not good for assembly.
All these components are fed to the ammo assembly lines to complete the ammunition production. The ammunition assembly processes are primer inserting, loading, and sealing. Eventually, all finished cartridges must go through a vision inspection to ensure accuracy. A high-capacity ammunition assembly line would culminate with an automated packaging machine.
Yeter Machine, as a special-purpose machine manufacturer, uses decades of experience in several industries to support ammunition production. Development and manufacturing of ammunition production machines have become Yeter Machines main focus after gaining significant know-how on ex-proof munitions systems. Established in 1990, Yeter Machine has developed many automation systems. The ex-proof munitions automation systems have been working in the Turkish munitions manufacturer for over a decade. Yeter Machine is a solution partner to this munitions manufacturer and now provides small arms ammunition production machines as well.
Yeter Machine produced its first small-arms ammunition production machine for the Turkish munitions manufacturer in 2019. After developing ex-proof munitions systems such as rocket propellant mills, warhead soldering lines, etc. the very first small-arms ammunition equipment that Yeter Machine produced was an extractor grooving machine that is also known as the head-turning machine. This extractor grooving machine is built on a camshaft mechanism, has twin stations, and has a capacity of 120 parts per minute with pistol calibers. It has convertible properties and rifle calibers also can be turned on this machine. The extractor groove and the chamfering are performed at the same time and the cartridge case is rotated for length cutting and mouth cleaning.
At Yeter Machine our camshaft equipment for ammunition assembly has reached state-of-the-art production over the years and we continue our research and development to enrich our offerings with transfer presses in the future in order to continue supporting ammunition production.
