 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | ammunition |
| Founded | 1862, Witton in Birmingham, United Kingdom |
| Founder | George Kynoch |
| Fate | Incorporated |
| Successor | ICI |
| Headquarters | Mildenhall, Suffolk , United Kingdom |
| Website | www |
Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition, later incorporated into ICI but remaining as a brand name for sporting cartridges.
The firm of Pursall and Phillips operated a 'percussion cap manufactory' at Whittall Street, in Birmingham, in the mid 19th century. [1] [2] In 1856, Scottish entrepreneur George Kynoch joined the company. [1] An explosion in 1859 destroyed the works, killing 19 of the 70 employees. [1] [2] As a result, the firm moved to Witton in 1862, [3] on a site adjacent to the London and North Western Railway's Grand Junction line. [2] In 1863, Kynoch took over the business, which was subsequently renamed G. Kynoch and Co. [1] [2] A further series of explosions in the 1860s and in 1870 led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.
In 1895 Kynoch built an explosives factory east of Shell Haven Creek, Essex (now known as Coryton). This opened in 1897, with an estate for employees called Kynochtown. Products included cordite, guncotton, gunpowder, and cartridges. [4] After World War I many of the UK ammunition and explosives manufacturers were brought together under Nobel Explosives to become Nobel Industries, which was a founding element of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI) in 1926. Once Nobel Industries, including Kynoch Ltd, had merged to form ICI, [5] the original Kynoch factory in Witton became the head office and principal manufacturing base of the "ICI Metals Division". Kynoch, along with names such as Eley, became brands of subsidiaries.
Kynoch, established a munitions factory on the north side of Arklow, Ireland. This factory employed several thousand workers during World War I, but closed shortly after it, all production being moved to South Africa. Seventeen workers were killed in an explosion there on 21 September 1917. It was believed that the plant was shelled by a German U-boat [6]
During the 1950s, the sound of test firing of munitions still occasionally shattered the peace over Witton, but with the standardization of cartridges across the Western powers and a general downturn in ammunition requirements, the sidelines in sporting cartridges were discontinued by Imperial Metal Industries (IMI) in 1970. IMI became independent of ICI in 1977, still producing rimfire and shotgun cartridges for the sporting markets. The more economically viable production of shotgun and rimfire ammunition continued. The Ammunition Division was incorporated separately as Eley Limited in 1983.
In 1996, David Little working under the company name Kynamco Ltd (Kynoch Ammunition Company) took over the Kynoch brand. Initially production commenced in Royston, Hertfordshire and in 2000, moved to a purpose built facility in Mildenhall, Suffolk.
Kynamco, using the Kynoch trademark manufacture 51 of the more popular Kynoch calibres from 6.5x54 ms up to the .700 Nitro Express. They also produce various other types of ammunition for industrial, film and re-enactment use.
To date, Kynoch continues to manufacture in a smaller capacity.
The Kynoch Press was founded as a company press in 1876 to print packaging. To manage publicity, the company set it up as a fine press, which, when Kynoch became part of ICI in 1926, continued as a division and kept its name, The Kynoch Press. The Kynoch Press not only handled the firm's printing, but performed independent work, operating at times like a small press, and at other times like a fine press, and yet at other times like a private press.
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 indices.
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. These produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not so quickly as to routinely destroy the barrel of the gun.
A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the centerfire primer is typically a separate component seated into a recessed cavity in the case head and is replaceable by reloading.
A pinfire cartridge is an obsolete type of metallic firearm cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge. Invented by Frenchman Casimir Lefaucheux in 1832, but not patented until 1835, it was one of the earliest practical designs of a metallic cartridge. Its history is closely associated with the development of the breechloader, which replaced muzzle-loading weapons.
A headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber: if it is military, the year of manufacture is often added.
Canadian Industries Limited, also known as C-I-L, is a Canadian chemicals manufacturer. Products include paints, fertilizers and pesticides, and explosives. It was formed in 1910 by the merger of five Canadian explosives companies. It was until recently a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries until ICI was purchased by AkzoNobel.
IMI plc, formerly Imperial Metal Industries, is a British-based engineering company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
WOLF Performance Ammunition is a trademark associated with Sporting Supplies International (SSI), a corporation in the United States. It was founded in 2005. The ammunition was primarily manufactured by the Tula Cartridge Plant in Tula, Tula District, Russia, from 2005 to 2009. Some 22-caliber rimfire ammunition is made by Eley Limited in England.
Eley Limited is a British manufacturer of firearms cartridges. Historically the company has produced a broad variety of ammunition, but today specialises in .22 Long Rifle cartridges for competitive target shooting. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, six of the twelve medals for cartridge rifle and pistol were won using Eley ammunition.
Fiocchi Munizioni is one of Italy's largest and oldest manufacturers of ammunition. The company's headquarters and main production plant are in Via Santa Barbara in Lecco, Italy.
Barwick, Great Barwick, and Little Barwick are hamlets in the civil parish of Standon in Hertfordshire, England. They are near the A10 road and the village of Much Hadham and the hamlet of Latchford. The River Rib flows behind Barwick and through Great Barwick. There is a ford crossing at Great Barwick.
The Tranter revolver was a double-action cap & ball revolver invented around 1856 by English firearms designer William Tranter (1816–1890). Originally operated with a special dual-trigger mechanism later models employed a single-trigger mechanism much the same as that found in the contemporary Beaumont–Adams revolver.
George Kynoch was the founder of IMI plc, one of the United Kingdom's largest engineering businesses.
The Small Arms Ammunition Factories (SAAF) were ammunition manufacturing plants run by the Australian government. Nearly all of their production was for domestic use by their military, the police forces, and government-appointed agents.
Austin Cartridge Company was an Austin Powder Company subsidiary manufacturing cartridge ammunition for small arms. The company made shotgun shells and rimfire cartridges from 1895 until purchased by Western Cartridge Company in 1907.
Rio Ammunition manufactures shotgun shells at a factory in Marshall, Texas. This subsidiary of the Spanish explosives firm MAXAM is a member of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI). MAXAM originated as Unión Española de Explosivos (UEE) in 1896, and began marketing shotgun ammunition in the United States in 2002. The Rio Ammunition plant in McEwen, Tennessee, was damaged by an explosion in 2014. The Texas factory began operations in 2015 loading locally manufactured shotgun shells with smokeless powder, wads, primers, and shot manufactured in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The labor pool for the Texas manufacturing site includes skilled personnel formerly employed at the nearby Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant closed in 1997. Rio Ammunition produces conventional target and hunting ammunition plus specialized cartridges for law enforcement use. Non-lead hunting cartridges are loaded with steel or bismuth shot. Combined production of factories in Spain, Texas, the United Kingdom and Turkey is estimated at 500,000,000 shotgun shells annually.
The .297/230 Morris Short and .297/230 Morris Long are two obsolete centerfire firearm cartridges developed as sub-caliber training rounds for the British Martini–Henry rifle.
Sir Arthur Smout was first Director-General of Small Arms Production for the British Armed Forces during World War II and later became Director-General of Ammunition Production at the Ministry of Supply. Before the war Smout was managing director of Imperial Chemical Industries metals group and later served on the company's board of directors until 1953.
The Stowmarket Guncotton Company was an explosives company established in the 19th century by Messrs Prentice that operated a gun-cotton factory in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England. The factory was the scene of an explosion in 1871 that claimed the lives of 28 people.
