Category — Rapid Product Development

Ashbury was pleased to host a visit Thursday from Congressman Robert Hurt of Virginia’s 5th District. Congressman Hurt and his professional staff were briefed by Ashbury’s management team and employee’s on a variety of company programs ranging from emergency preparedness and disaster response, to current deliveries of combat equipment to the US Army and our expanding engineering Rapid Product Development Center.

The Congressman showed sincere interest and concern about the critical role that small business plays in providing quality jobs and healthcare in today’s challenging economy. Further, we were able to highlight our company’s contributions to our nations defense and on-going support of America’s Warfighters. Our sincerest appreciation is extended to Congressman Hurt for his visit. May God Bless Our Great Nation!

Information being presented to Congressman Hurt on emergency preparedness and disaster response water purification.

Congressman Hurt in Ashbury's Engineering Services Group Rapid Product Development Center with a poly carbonate 3D model of a human femur bone.

Gary Vance Manager of Engineering Services demonstrating Ashbury Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) capabilities.

Gary Vance showing the Congressman examples of the rapid product development process going from plastic 3D models to finished aerospace alloy parts.

Gary Vance showing the Congressman examples of the rapid product development process going from plastic 3D models to finished aerospace alloy parts.

Ashbury CEO Morris Peterson briefing Congressman Hurt on TACT3 Tactical Tripod Kit deliveries to the US Army.

Manufacturing Technician and CNC Machinist David Breeden showing parts production using Ashbury's Haas CNC Lathe and Vertical Mill.

James Slaughter Ordnance Assembly Technician showing Congressman Hurt the SABER®-FORSST® modular rifle chassis manufactured by Ashbury.

Gary Gregory Ashbury's Firearms Production Manager and Morris Peterson showing Congressman Hurt ordnance products built our Ruckersville, VA. facility.

Matthew Peterson, Product Development Coordinator and Pamela Bergeret Ashbury's Executive Vice President briefs Congressman Hurt on the APO ASW50 Precision Tactical Rifle.

We’ve just got our heads above water from attending our most successful SHOT Show ever! We had the opportunity to see many old friends, and make a few new ones! We would like to especially thank members of the media and press that visited our shooting point at Media Day at the Range and our booth. We really appreciate your interest in our products! We appreciated all the nice folks who took the time to visit with us at the Show.

For those of you that did not get the opportunity to attend the SHOT Show, or might like to check out some of the APO media coverage here’s a consolidated media list. Pictures and individual video’s from the 2012 SHOT Show can be found on our homepage in the image and video galleries. Please enjoy the 2012 SHOT Show Wrap-Up Video!

Every year we meet some great new people at the SHOT Show, this year one of the standouts was Barbara Eldredge. Barbara attended Media Day at the Range as a member of the Press and struck up a conversation with us about product engineering and design. We discovered during our conversation and interview that she had no experience shooting a rifle, so we remedied that most quick by getting her up to the shooting bench on the firing line. The lady has some skills, and we hope she’s able to get out to the shooting range more in the future.

We’ve re-printed her blog post from Core77.com with permission. Copyright 2012 Core77.com – Barbra Eldredge. Keep an eye out for our APO SHOT Show Wrap-Up next week. NSSF did a great job on this years exhibition.

SHOT Show 2012: APO’s Custom Firearms

Gear heads love to mod their cars and shooting sports aficionados love to mod their guns. It makes sense then that Ashbury Precision Ordnance (APO) developed a unique modular firearm that enables user customization and changeability. Their SABER-FORSST Modular Rifle Chassis System lets one choose between interchangeable options for the gun’s shoulder stock, center, and barrel/forend while sporting rails that accommodate non-proprietary accessories like sights.

I had the opportunity to fire one of the newest incarnations of the system, the ASW50. “ASW” stands for Asymmetric Warrior—asymmetric war is the kind of conflict where the combatants are not equal in resources and military power. Think guerrilla warfare. Think insurgency. The ASW50 is a long-range “precision tactical rifle” with manageable recoil and an easy trigger. It may look a little imposing, but with this rifle I was able to hit a spade-shaped target 300 yards away (and I’m no crack shot).

More interestingly, APO’s parent company Ashbury International runs a Rapid Product Development Center that helps users bring customization to a whole new level. Firearm components, just like many other industrial products, are CAD drawn and CNC produced. If I had a brilliant idea for a new trigger mechanism or a maybe bump-firing butt-stock, I can send my sketch and concept to Ashbury’s RPDC and have it made into a reality. I spotted several companies at SHOT that performed CNC machining or metal injection molding but Ashbury’s was the only one that offered to manufacture products without pre-made CAD renderings.

We’ve been pretty busy around the shop since last month’s SHOT Show and thought we would show you what we’ve been up to!

Rube, one of our technicians, is laser engraving APO M107 Barrett 50BMG Electro-Optic mounts.

He then inspects, packages and ships several hundred to customers.

Here's Todd, one of our Engineering Technicians, work on a new product development initiative on the Haas TL-1 CNC.

The 2011 SHOT Show opens today! We are looking forward to seeing many old friends and meeting new ones. Please stop by booth #26407 and be sure to say hello!

Ashbury International Group SHOT Show booth #26407