ATK is buying Savage for 315 million

[Oldtrader3]

The best thing that ATK can do for Savage, is not much! Savage has salvaged the brand pretty well for the last several years. Just keep doing what has worked for Savage.

 

[Polaris]

I still think their hot-cores are the best cup and core bullet out there in terms of accuracy. The BCs are pretty darn good for flat bases. Wish they hadn't dropped the "mag tip.", that was my favorite woods bullet in the .280 and .308.

I agree, the Hot Cors are tougher than they should be, great bullets when used correctly. I was fond of the Mag Tips too they were kind of an intermediate bullet, almost as good as the Grand Slam but 60% of the cost. They were my go to bullet in the 308 Norma Mag I used to have, a couple of moose at least didn't like them. Interestingly they still make the 150 gr 308 plus a 416 and 458 I think.

Not sure if they still make the mag tip in .308 150 gr of if they're just packaging and selling old bulk stock. I suspect this bullet is the same as the old Federal "Hi-shock". I think the deep curl is the same as Federal Fusion. No special fancy tips or high BC, but they really hold together well at higher velocities on heavy northwoods deer and they shoot tiny little groups through my rifles. I'd like to try the deep curls now that they're finally keeping them on the shelves. Had good luck with the 145 GS in my .280 last year though. I also shoot the 145 Hot Cor. Both zero the same for practical purposes to 200 yards with the 145 HC flattening out to 300 and beyond for longer range uses. Both group really well.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Hopefully, they will have sense enough to bring back the Savage 99 or at least offer gunsmithing services for such a fine rifle. Lots of them have been retired due to having such limited facilities available for repair.

 

[longrangehunter]

ATK announced today it's buying Bushnell for 985 Million. They've been on a real buying spree as of late!

 

[DrMike]

They've been negotiating for some time (http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2013/08/05/report-atk-close-to-1b-deal-for-bushnell/), but they closed the deal today (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-atk-bushnell-idUSBRE9740WZ20130805). ATK has to park their moneys somewhere. They should be earning good return on military sales as well as civilian sales.

 

[Wincheringen]

6 months ago, ATK stock was under $70 a share, now it is nearly $100 a share. They gotta do something with all that money. I see more purchases in the near future. I picked up ATK at $51.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Wow, you have doubled your money, good going.

 

[Wincheringen]

I picked up Ruger at $5.65, SWC at $2.05, Ford at $3.71, & BRKB at $66. Big market downturns are a really good way to buy companies at a huge discount.

 

[Oldtrader3]

ATK is a conglomerate that is interested mostly in their government contracts. I would not expect them to market focus on shooters and reloaders when most of their revenues come from the government. I expect them to act more like Colt than like say, Nosler.

 

[Wincheringen]

Yes they have a lot of gov't contracts and that is a good source of revenue, but that doesn't mean profit. Most Gov't contracts don't leave much for profit and that is why today most of the big defense contractors are under a few roofs. The ones that survived did so because they reached out in the civilian market, and they aren't necessarily that healthy. ATK profits are mainly from the civilian products side of the business. That tends to be more volatile and they are using the current situation to garner the profit and using that profit to buy more segments of the industry.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I worked for Norton Industries and a few other small divisions of defense conglomerates. What I remember is the giant sucking sound of the cashflow hose every month from Corporate. We were cash cow divisions for their military business.