1. Rio'sNewVenture
A top-flight facility has the European
ammomaker on the move. By John M. Taylor
IT WAS A bitter minus 22-degree
day on the Missouri River; so cold
we about had to use dynamite to
launch the boat through the eight-
inch-thick ice. Once set up on some
of the fast-freezing water, a highball
from Barney Calif’s call brought
passing mallards dropping down like
green-headed bowling pins. We all
did our part, and so did the ammo.
Shotshell selection is important, and
newcomer to the market, Rio, may
be part of your next day afield—that
is, if you enjoy affordable non-toxics
that whallop waterfowl.
The familiar clikckety-clack of loaders
turning out boxes of shotgun shells
in mere seconds is a familiar sound
at an ammo plant. But they sounded
distant in Rio’s huge new facility in
Marshall, Texas.
The $19 million plant was inaugurat-
ed June 25, 2015, by representatives of
the state of Texas and Spain’s Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and President and
CEO of the parent company Maxum,
José Fernando Sánchez-Junco.
RioAmmunitionbeganmakingitself
known to shooters with clay-target
shells some years ago. Budget-priced,
they give good performance for the
shooter’s dollar. However, their roots
are in Spain with the parent company
Maxum. Begun in 1896 as a manu-
facturer of explosives and detonators,
they soon saw value in producing
shotshells. Like all European countries,
hunting is big, although not on the
scale seen here in the U.S.
Often equated exclusively with the
wealthy, many ordinary citizens of
Spain, Italy, France, Germany, etc.
shoot and hunt. Hence the ready
market for shotgun ammo. Like the
U.S., European hunters and shooters
are bound with non-toxic shot regula-
tions, and Rio is no stranger to steel
and bismuth.
When Rio first appeared in 2001, and
up to a couple of years ago, all of their
shotshells were imported from Spain.
That thread will continue, according
to Inigo Rodriguez, Rio’s Managing
Director of the U.S. operation. Rio
will still import their propellants,
wads, primers and shot from parent
company Maxum in Spain. However,
Rodriguez said, “We are having some
wads injection-molded by a nearby
company, and plan to begin molding
them in the plant, as well as making
our primers in the future.”
ROOM TO GROW
Rio has built its new facility with plenty
of room to expand as sales and supply
needs increase. For example, there
are places yet unoccupied for loading
machines and extensive warehouse
space for stocked hulls, wads, etc., and
for loaded shells awaiting shipment.
Take their shotshell case-making
lines:twoareinoperationwithplanned
installation of three more in the future;
the plumbing and electrical work was
done at the outset of construction, with
the nub-end of pipes visible.
Case-forming is done completely
from scratch. High-density/strength
polyethylene pellets are fed from a
hopper into a heating chamber where
dye—blue in the case of Rio 12-gauge
and yellow for 20—is uniformly mixed
as the pellets melt.
Then the cases begin their 100-plus
foot journey being alternately heated
to pliability, stretched and thinned then
cooled in a water bath until the next
draw. In all, it’s the world’s longest
shotshell case until they are rapidly
Ballistics
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2. snipped off at the end.
Periodically, samples are taken to
ensure case uniformity in both length
and wall thickness. One of the vexing
things about shotshell hulls, like rifle
and pistol ammo, if it’s a shade too
long, you've got problems.
Sometimes cases that are cut too
long do not cycle smoothly through a
repeater. Then there’s safety. A too-long
hull will intrude into the chamber’s
forcing cone, raising the pressure.
With today’s all-plastic hulls, pressures
generated from extra-long hulls do
not often reach dangerous levels, but
it’s possible, so tight control over the
drawn cases is the key to building a
fine shotshell.
From there, over a planned (yet to be
installed) conveyor system, the cases
will be delivered to the heading and
priming station. At each stage shells are
inspected for defects by employees or
machines. At the heading and priming
station, shells with an irregular primer,
case or other problem are shunted off
to be destroyed.
BURN RATES
To ensure safety, propellants, i.e. pow-
der, are kept in specially constructed
magazines a good distance from the
loading and warehouse building.
Powder, as needed, is brought in
small batches to an area above the
Italian-made loaders.
The powder-holding areas are
individual to each loader and con-
tain only the propellant germane
to the shells being loaded. Each has
a specially-shaped blast-proof door,
and the chambers are very high. If
you’ve ever burned a bit of smokeless
powder, you’ll vividly recall that it
does not explode but burns with the
flames going straight up.
Rio’s powder-holding chambers are
built with this in mind, so that they
will contain any fire without collateral
damage to the plant or workers. Here,
even smaller quantities are placed in
hoppers that then dispense one-pound
38 WILDFOWL Magazine | October 2015 wildfowlmag.com
Ballistics

3. or less quantities on demand from the
loading machines that chug along
from empty hull to loaded 25-round
box with amazing speed.
European shotshell manufacturers
universally use single-base powders
(made exclusively of nitro cellulose)
that’s made by soaking cotton in nitric
acid. American shotshell makers use
double-base powders, a combination
of nitro cellulose and nitro glycerin.
Single-base powders work well in
target loads, although as the tem-
perature drops, they tend to burn
slower, hence chamber flash with
semi-autos in cold weather. Perfectly
safe, it’s just the nature of the beast.
Rodriguez emphasized that hunting
loads, especially those with steel shot,
will be loaded with a specially-coated
propellant whose burning character-
istics closely resemble double-base
powder.
To further ensure uniformity and
safety at each change of shift—Rio
currently runs two 12-hour shifts
each day five days a week—samples
are taken from the line and checked
in the adjacent lab for uniformity of
pressure and velocity using a piezo-
electric pressure gun and a disjuncture-
style chronograph that measures the
velocity of the nose-end of the shot
string as it flies into the bullet trap.
In addition, samples are dissected by
technicians and the contents weighed
to check uniformity of the powder and
shot drops. This combined with the
pressure and velocity checks ensures
uniformity and safety.
Rodriguez said, “We will import
our steel-shot hunting loads from
Spain for now, but will probably
produce them soon here once ev-
erything is in place.” Maxum also
owns Eley Ammunition in Great
Britain—at present the world’s only
manufacturer of bismuth shot—and
Rio will import it in its loaded form
for shotgunners who love shooting
their older shotguns.
Rio’s new 105,000-square-foot Texas
facility is up and running smooth as
your Benelli on opening day. And
with its planned expansion, expect
them to challenge the industry for
shotshell supremacy.
Rio may be part of your
next day afield
if you enjoy affordable non-toxics
that wallop waterfowl.
40 WILDFOWL Magazine | October 2015 wildfowlmag.com
Ballistics