News from Nosler

[snevel]

I've been seeing a number of threads in various fora about the explosion at the Nosler plant.

Tom Gresham interviewed Zach Waterman (Nosler's public relations director) about what's going on. You can hear the interview at:

http://guntalk.libsyn.com/guntalk_2010_06_06_part_c (the first 15 minutes or so).

Here's a summary:

No one was hurt

There's plenty of finished goods in inventory to satisfy orders for awhile (they're stored in a separate building)

The fire started in the 50 yard test tunnel in the ballistics lab but they're still not entirely sure what happened.

Most of the production equipment appears to be in good shape but they're dealing w/ water damage from the sprinkler system.

They hope to be back to full production in a couple of months.

Simeon

[flyguy958]

Thanks for the update.

[SL1]

The only things that I can think of that should be flammable in the tunnel of an indoor range are wiring insullation and powder residue from under-pressure charges. I hope the were cleaning-up the second possibility on a regular basis.

SL1

[Unclenick]

I read the tunnel was receiving maintenance at the time. It made me wonder if they had paint stripper or other solvent fumes build up in it?

[SL1]

Well, there's an issue. If they were using a product with flammable solvents in the tunnel and decided to "ventilate" with the usual fans, they well might have started a fire or even an explosion if the fans were not ignition-protected. Really glad that nobody was hurt.

SL1

[baltz526]

Nosler is shipping product, Cause of explosion is still unknown. We get real fresh info here.

[baltz526]

Nosler is back in limited production. Electricians are at work reworking power. Nosler will be testing at range east of town, until underground range is rebuilt. 100 employees at work friday.