Ammunition assembler

Ammunition assemblers put together explosives and other ammunition components. They perform this work in mass production in ammunition factories. The production itself focuses on the manufacturing of cartridges or projectiles.

The following job titles also refer to ammunition assembler:

munitions assembly worker
munitions plant worker
munitions production worker
ammunition factory worker
munitions factory worker
munitions assembler
ammunition worker
shell maker
ammunition factory operative
ammunition plant operative
ammunition components assembler
ammunition plant worker
explosives assembler
ammunition assembly worker
pyrotechnics assembler
munitions factory operative
munitions plant operative
munitions worker
ammunition production worker

A high school diploma is generally required to work as an ammunition assembler.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Ammunition assembler is a Skill level 2 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to ammunition assembler.

optical disc moulding machine operator
dry house attendant
hot foil operator
nitroglycerin separator operator
hand brick moulder

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of ammunition assembler. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of ammunition assembler with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

ammunition shop manager
paper mill supervisor
automated assembly line operator
container equipment assembly supervisor
wood assembly supervisor

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of ammunition assembler.

• Types of propellants: Field of information which distinguishes different types of propellants such as black gunpowder to forms of smokeless powder derived from nitrocellulose. These create an expanding gas which makes the bullet accelerate from the barrel. Other differences emerge from the expansion rate, size and shape of the powder.
• Explosives: Behaviour of explosives, pyrotechnics and blasting techniques. Associated risks and legal requirements.
• Types of cartridges: Field of information which distinguishes different types of cartridges based on size, shape, ignition type and the propellant. An example is the change in the diameter of the bullet, or caliber.
• Types of ammunition: Types of small weapons, such as pistols and machine guns, their functionality, various types of ammunition and position on the market.
• Quality standards: The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.
• Materials of die: This includes metal materials most often used for die such as magnesium, copper, and brass.
• Manufacturing of weapons and ammunition: The manufacture of heavy weapons (artillery, mobile guns, rocket launchers, torpedo tubes, heavy machine guns), small arms (revolvers, shotguns, light machine guns), air or gas guns and pistols, and war ammunition. Also the manufacture of hunting, sporting or protective firearms and ammunition and of explosive devices such as bombs, mines and torpedoes.

These skills are necessary for the role of ammunition assembler.

• Perform product testing: Test processed workpieces or products for basic faults.
• Assemble ammunition: Fabricate cartridges by greasing threads on fuses and inserting them in sockets. Place primers in cartridge cases and fill these with gunpowder propellants. Seal the cartridges by the use of adhesives.
• Assemble bombs: Tighten pierced and threaded plugs into the base of aerial bombs. Slip metal sleeves around the projectile, and pack the product in metal containers together with additional identification data.
• Extract products from moulds: Remove finished products from moulds and examine them in detail for anomalies.
• Check quality of raw materials: Check the quality of basic materials used for the production of semi-finished and finished goods by assessing some of its characteristics and, if needed, select samples to be analysed.
• Finish shells: Gauge finished shells by using acceptance jigs. Use a stamping press to record the shell data on the cartridge as well as on the projectile. Finalize the tubes by dipping them in molted parrafin and packing the tubes in crates.
• Operate bullet press: Handle the machinery which presses bullets through a lead core according to a uniform size and weight. Manually check the bullets for visual and dimensional characteristics.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of ammunition assembler. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Quality assurance procedures: The procedures to inspect a product or system to ensure that it is according to specifications and requirements.
• Electroplating metal materials: The various processes various materials used for electroplating may produce, such as copper plating, silver plating, nickle plating, gold plating, embossed gold plating, degreasing, and others.
• Alloys of precious metals: Types of material that consist of two or more metals or non-metals.
• Legal requirements related to ammunition: Legal regulations and requirements in the field of selling, buying, handling and storing ammunition.
• Maintenance of ammunition: Types of maintenance techniques and the impact of various types of firearms and other weapons.
• Cold forging: The metalworking process of forging whilst hot metal is right below its recrystallisation temperature, being cooled and solidified after casting.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of ammunition assembler. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Tend stamping press: Tend an automated or semi-automated stamping press, monitor and operate it, according to regulations.
• Record production data for quality control: Keep records of the machine’s faults, interventions and irregularities for quality control.
• Store produced pyrotechnics: Store the produced trays of pyrotechnics sorting them according to the processing date.
• Tend punch press: Tend a punch press, monitor and operate it, according to regulations.
• Recognise signs of corrosion: Recognise the symptoms of metal showing oxidation reactions with the environment resulting in rusting, copper pitting, stress cracking, and others, and estimate the rate of corrosion.
• Heat metals: Heat steel and metals in fire; adjust and regulate heat controls to reach appropriate pouring temperature.
• Operate explosives production equipment: Operate equipment used for mixing of chemical ingredients having as their end product explosives such as TNT, tetryl or nitroglycerin.
• Send faulty equipment back to assembly line: Send equipment that didn’t pass inspection back to the assembly line for re-assembly.
• Tend metal polishing machine: Tend a metalworking machine designed to buff and polish metal surfaces, monitor and operate it according to regulations.
• Replace die: Evaluate if a replacement of the die of a machine is deemed beneficial and take the necessary actions for replacing it either manually (depending on its size, by the use of a manual lifting tackle) or mechanically.

8219 – Assemblers not elsewhere classified

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References

1. Ammunition assembler – ESCO
2. Featured image: By PEO ACWA – Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Enhanced Reconfiguration Building, CC BY 2.0