Posted on 01/06/2014 10:12:52 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Horry County's newest manufacturer is open for business. PTR Industries began its first day in South Carolina by welcoming its new local employees.
The rifle manufacturer decided last year to move from its home base in Connecticut, after that state's legislature passed restrictive gun laws in the wake of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown.
PTR's new building in the Cool Springs Business Park near Aynor is still mostly empty and a few weeks away from being at full production, so the first day on the job for the eleven local workers the company has brought on board so far consisted mostly of having them sort and inventory boxes of gun parts.
But the company plans to have rifle assembly operations up and running by January 20, after a massive move-in and set-up operation.
"We've got our entire crew up in Connecticut, plus a crew of about 40 movers, 32 trucks and everybody's going to be working basically from now until the 20th to get all that done, so it's a project, it's a challenge," said PTR CEO Josh Fiorini.
Fiorini says a second wave of local employees will come on board in February, joining the 21 employees moving here from PTR's current base in Connecticut, to make a total contingent of nearly 50 workers.
He says the company plans to quickly add many more.
"The eventual goal is 120 (employees), short term within the next 3 years."
Stan Parker is among those Horry County residents starting a career with PTR.
Parker says he's long been a gun enthusiast, so being able to make rifles for a living is a dream come true.
He expects the company to have a big impact on the county.
"There's the trickle down effect of the incomes we make, we spend in local businesses," Parker said. "The company's growing, or going to grow. They have projected plans for that. I think it will effect the community as a whole in a positive way."
PTR now has much more room to grow that it did before. The plant is 58,000 square feet under one roof, which means the company can add two new gun models to its product line.
"We've really been kind of sitting on our projects, waiting until we could run with them and now we can," Fiorini said.
Fiorini says he's happy with the local people he's hired so far and with the initial training they've been able to get through the SC Works program and Horry Georgetown Technical College.
About 2,000 people applied for the 30 job openings posted by PTR in November.
The US is going to have to go to
Apartheid, soon.
I’m wanting a PTR91 and will probably get one eventually I think but I have my eye on soemthing else right now. still, $1,200 for an HK91 seems pretty tempting if indeed it actually rates comparably to an HK91. Anybody have any first hand good/bad experience with the PTRs?
bolt gap
Century uses the same HK parts that PTR does and they do it for what it would cost you to buy the HK parts.
It’s made by Century out of used parts. Century is a bunch of drunken monkeys and their used parts can be suspicious.
I haven’t ever touched a C93. I have fondled a PTR91 a few times at cabelas and it felt pretty darned solid. I have a line of a DSA FN-FAL that is solid as an anvil too though and, I’m quite sure, far superior to the PTR91. I’m working towards a particular bolt action rifle right now though.
Not so. PTR got ahold of the tooling and machinery from Portugal. They are making their own parts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTR_91F
Bump
I paid $399 with two 40 rd mags and bayonet
The Century builds were original HK parts kits.
That alone is like $400
Holy culture shock, Conn to Horry County.
If they offer tours of the facility one day, not too far away in Longs is The Most Awesome RV Park on the Entire Planet- Willow Tree.
I have heard bad things about the century guns. I have no personal experience with them though. I have heard good and bad things about the PTR91s. No personal experience with them either. I have never really heard anything negative about the HK91 however and I have no experience with them either. I have never heard anything bad about the DS arms FN-FAL and I have plenty of experience with one of those. It lives up to its reputation. That being said, the PTR91 looks pretty cool and feels really good but the DSA FN-FAL seems like the better gun for the money IMO.
I have handled C93s. Quality varies wildly and sometimes Century forgets to refinish their used parts. I saw a NIB one that had a nicely rusted charging handle.
The PTRs, on the other hand, are made in the US (no import compliance law BS to worry about) out of all new parts.
Disclaimer: I don’t own a PTR or any G3/36 type rifle. I’m no fan of the roller system and my FAL outshoots them anyway.
Century uses gun monkey gunsmiths but the parts are solid if you have a talent to tweak that stuff.
That would describe me
Love the FAL
Love the CETMES
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