Firearms & Ammunition Manufacturing
Precision manufacturing next door to a built-in military customer.
Firearms, ammunition, and components manufacturing. Onslow County puts your operation minutes from Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River — the largest Marine Corps installation on the East Coast — with a right-to-work cost structure, a metalworking region ranked #1 in the nation, and a cleared workforce trained on weapons and ordnance.
Why this cluster works here
Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River host 40,000+ military and civilian personnel — a concentrated domestic market for training ammunition, parts, and accessories, plus DoD contracting pathways.
North Carolina exempts manufacturing machinery and equipment from sales tax, lowering the capital outlay to stand up a firearms or ammunition production line.
A right-to-work state with low unionization, competitive wages, and lower overall operating costs than traditional firearms-manufacturing hubs in the Northeast and Midwest.
Talent and training
- Transitioning service members with armorers, munitions, and small-arms maintenance MOSs entering the civilian workforce each year
- Precision machining and metalworking graduates from the region ranked #1 in the U.S. for metalworking skills credentials
- Customized training through Coastal Carolina Community College at no cost to the employer
Sites that fit this cluster
- Camp Davis III
- Lots 14 & 17 at Camp Davis II
Onslow County sits inside one of the strongest firearms & ammunition manufacturing regions in the Southeast.
- #1 in the U.S. for metalworking skills credentials
- 14,600+ people employed in metalworking across the region
- 3,500+ structural and metal fabricators
- 500+ welding and machining graduates each year
Source: North Carolina's Southeast (20-county region including Onslow County).
Considering Onslow County for a firearms & ammunition manufacturing project?
We will pull the site, utility, wage, and incentive detail your team needs — confidentially, and at no cost.
Let's talk