RWS ammunition
The origins of RWS date back to 1855 when Heinrich Utendoerffer asked for and obtained a license to set up a laboratory for the production of primer compositions in Nuremberg, Germany. In 1889 the laboratory was acquired by the "Rheinisch Westfälische Sprengstoff-Actien-Gesellschaft" (RWS) which had been founded in 1886 in Troisdorf. The company name translates as "Explosives Society of North Rhine-Westphalia". In 1894 the company moved to Stadeln, a district in nearby Fürth, where it is still located. In 1931 RWS was taken over by Dynamit Nobel. In 2002 it became part of the Swiss technology group RUAG and became RUAG Ammotec GmbH. Today, RWS is one of the historic European brands in the field of ammunition for civilian and military use, thanks to more than a century of experience in the development and production of cartridges for medium and high-end use in sports and hunting.
RWS is the only German manufacturer that produces all components of ball cartridges, such as bullets, cartridges and primers in-house. It also carries out a very strict daily quality control using 35 specialized employees who perform 11 checks on the bullets and 8 on the cases. This guarantees a very high standard of ammunition quality, even for the most economical product lines.
RWS catalog includes centerfire ammunition for hunting and shooting guns, rimfire ammo for pistols and rifles and a very wide choice of pellets for air guns.
One of the winning features of the RWS production is versatility and continuous research of innovative products, as well as the subsequent, constant product updating. A good example are RWS Short Rifle cartridges, which have been developed to guarantee the best performance in terms of accuracy and energy in short barreled hunting rifles (from 16.5” / 42 cm to 21.6” / 55 cm ). Initially available only in .308 Winchester, RWS Short Rifle cartridges were very well received throughout Europe, being perfect for hunting wild boar with semi-automatic rifles. The German company immediately set up loads in other calibers such as the .30-06 and .300 Winchester Magnum.
RWS is also at the forefront in lead-free ammunition, where it offers two types of tin-based bullets: the Evolution Green is a part-fragmentation bullet, while for those who prefer full-jacketed bullets with a more stable mass, the RWS HIT has been designed to retain more weight on impact, by mushrooming rather than fragmenting.
Back to high-performance hunting loads, it is worth mentioning the ever-increasing number of cartridges fitted with the RWS Speed Tip Professional bullet, a fragmentation bullet with a dual-core construction, based on the H-jacket principle.
As far as sport shooting ammunition is concerned, we would just like to point out that for 10 years the RWS Target Elite Plus line has been synonymous with match quality cartridges, comparable to hand-reloaded ammo. The high quality standards of these cartridges translates into consistent accuracy up to a range of 1200 meters. The cases for this line are specially produced and the HPBT Match bullets are carefully selected. In 2019 the line was expanded with two new calibers and two new loads in .308 Winchester caliber.
To learn more about RWS ammunition please visit the RWS ammunition website, which is packed with information, special content, videos, apps and much more...!
