Ohio Ordnance Works: My 1st Full-Auto Experience
Megan Plete Postol 07.23.21
Power. Freedom. Adrenaline.
My first time shooting a fully-automatic firearm conjured up all of these, and more. I was lucky enough to connect with Jerry Hurd, Vice President of International Sales at Ohio Ordnance Works, to shoot a couple of the Ohio Ordnance Works firearms. (A big thank you goes out to the folks at Otis Technology for this!) Also, shooting that day was Instagram influencer Nikki Boxler who is known for her Boxler Maple operation and for being a passionate advocate for the agricultural industry.
Ohio Ordnance Works
Ohio Ordnance Works is a fully licensed firearm manufacturer and distributor based in Chardon, Ohio with sales agents all over the nation. Founded in 1981 by Robert I. Landies, the company started out by first buying and selling military firearms, firearm parts, and accessories in the commercial market. A repair department was established in that same decade. The capabilities of the business grew as qualified employees and manufacturing machinery were added. By the late 1980’s, Ohio Ordnance Works had ability to build small orders of firearms from scratch for the commercial market. In 1990, Ohio Ordnance Works began manufacturing firearms and ordnance for supply to different foreign and domestic government agencies. The businesses’ capacity has expanded steadily over the years. They credit this continued growth to a wide base of weapon system knowledge, qualified personnel, state of the art machinery, new technology, and a commitment to excellence in both products and services.
Now, Ohio Ordnance Works, Inc. has a workforce of more than 80 employees who work within the company’s 30,000 square foot facility which is located in an industrial park outside of Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to the on-site employees, they have sales representatives stationed across the country. The company has customers across the globe to which it currently supplies substantial amounts of light, medium, and heavy machine guns, gun mounts, and cradles. The two Ohio Ordnance Works selections I was able to try out were the OOW240B with Select Fire Trigger in 7.62mm and OOW249 Para in 5.56mm.
OOW240B & OOW249 Para
The OOW240B is a military grade firearm; one of the general purpose machine guns in Ohio Ordnance Works lineup. The United States Armed Forces have been using variants of the 240 since the mid-1980s. The Select Fire Trigger Pack allows the shooter more select fire control. The pack has an easy-to-operate thumb switch which rapidly changes the firearm from semi to fully-automatic firing. This is designed to provide a unique battlefield advantage that allows the user to have single shot accuracy and conserve ammunition while also maintaining the ability to switch back and forth between semi and fully-automatic. The OOW249 is a belt-fed, air-cooled, fully-automatic light machine gun currently used in the United States Armed Forces.
Jerry gave us a full safety briefing. He taught us about the proper grip and support, which was all new to me. We shot sitting down at a shooting table. Your support hand (for right-handed shooters, this will be your left hand) should grip the gun and pull it back into your body, I learned. This allows the gun to sit firmly just inside your shoulder, and acts as a way to both steer the gun and control it. After our safety briefing it was time to shoot!
The first time I pulled the trigger, I was surprised by the weight of the recoil. Jerry did tell me to expect it, so that’s all on me. Once I adjusted to that, I found that shooting full-auto was a super exciting, adrenaline rush. It’s hard to put into words what the experience is like. The best way I can describe it is exhilarating. Holding the trigger finger down and letting the bullets fly is a feeling that can’t be compared to anything else. It’s definitely one of those bucket-list type moments. For more information about Ohio Ordnance Works or their line of firearms, visit the website or contact a representative.
