CCI Ammunition

At ®, we understand what you want and need. When it comes to ammunition and components no one beats us at our game. They offer the best selection in all shooting sports. While other companies sat on century-old technology and performance, they revived rimfire with exciting, high-performance products.

It all started when Richard “Dick” Speer’s enterprising led him to establish CCI Ammunition in 1951. He provided a steady source of component primers to reloaders. Today they continue being the leader in rimfire ammunition thanks to our innovation, determination and resourcefulness.

Richard “Dick” Speer (1915-1994) possessed a remarkable talent for things mechanical. He was a machinist at Boeing Aircraft’s Seattle plant when he realized that his brother Vernon’s success in the component bullet business (Speer Bullets) meant there was money to be made in reloading.

There were a number of proprietary rifle cartridge designs (like the Weatherby and Newton) that were not supported by the “big” ammo companies. Dick Speer decided to make cases to service this small but active market. He left Seattle and joined Vernon in Lewiston, Idaho. In a small room at the Speer Bullets plant, he began production of these special cases using an impact extrusion process.

After two name changes, Speer and his partner Arvid Nelson settled on the name Cascade Cartridges, Inc., or CCI Ammunition.

To handle the new business, Speer bought a 17-acre chicken “ranch” next to the Lewiston Gun Club just a mile south of brother Vernon’s bullet works. The farmhouse doubled as an office and warehouse, and production began in a renovated chicken coop. He quickly erected modern labs and manufacturing buildings, gaining him room to expand the product line. When the gun club moved, Speer bought the adjoining property for future expansion. The CCI plant still occupies that property today.