A Custom Fit

The ammunition world forever changed with the launch of Federal Custom Shop. Through the online service, customers can order direct from dozens of different shotshell and centerfire rifle offerings, with a wide selection of the best bullets from Federal, Speer, Nosler, Sierra, Berger and more. In addition, Custom TSS shotshells for turkey, waterfowl and upland game are available.

“The Federal Custom Shop delivers your preference of the perfect centerfire rifle or shotgun load built by our ammunition experts,” says Federal Ammunition President Jason Vanderbrink, adding that Custom Shop products are for hunters and shooters who demand ammunition tailored for their individual needs at the highest level of quality, or who can’t find the right ammunition on the retail shelf.

“If it’s not in Federal’s vast catalog as factory-loaded ammo, we may have it listed on our website as a load we will handload for you. We have a selection of rifle and TSS shotshell loads that we will build on-demand, per order.” Vanderbrink says. “For example, Nosler AccuBond Long Range 6.5-284 Norma and 28-gauge TSS turkey loads aren’t products we list in our catalog, but you can certainly order them through our Custom Shop.”

Hand-Loaded Ammunition

Custom Shop, as its name implies, is not simply an extension of Federal’s factory ammunition offerings. The loads are truly built to order, handloaded by an elite group of Federal’s most experienced employees selected to work in the Custom Shop.

They are true experts, because every round of Federal’s industry-leading ammunition starts at the reloading bench. Using the best components available, these engineers handcraft ammunition to order. In fact, each box of Custom Shop ammunition is signed by the Federal employee who handloaded it.

The physical Custom Shop is a separate, secured room inside the huge Federal Ammunition factory, a 700,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Anoka, Minnesota, where 1,400 employees work in three shifts, 24/7, to produce millions of rounds of centerfire, rimfire and shotshell ammo per day. The Custom Shop is a dedicated, state-of-the-art reloading workshop focused on the utmost attention to detail, quality and care for each handloaded round produced.

Expert loading technicians check multiple accuracy-enhancing specifications to maximize the potential of Custom Shop ammo. Technicians start with case/hull inspection, culling any potential defects, and execute a series of inspections including, bullet-to-case concentricity, overall length, and base-to-bore dimensions. These checks coupled with extremely tight powder drop tolerance ensure the best accuracy.

The Order Process

Federal’s online shopping site for the Custom Shop offers visitors choices they have never had. For centerfire rifle, shooters can choose from a variety of cartridges and then select a specific bullet type and weight. For shotshell, shooters can select gauge, hull size, shot size and other options. Loading aspects such as cartridge length and bullet seating depth, as well as performance criteria such as velocity, are not currently available.

A dedicated page takes Custom Shop users to an order form, where they select their ammunition options and then purchase via credit card. A comment section allows customers to add notes for Federal’s handloading technician to consider when building the loads. The order is then meticulously handloaded in the Custom Shop. Each round is hand-checked with a final cleaning and inspection before being packed and shipped out. Since ammunition is made-to-order, typical lead time is three to four weeks to produce. Buyers receive their order after a few days of shipping time.