Brstjjy

Kynoch

Type	Private
Industry	ammunition
Fate	Incorporated
Successor	ICI
Founded	1862 (1862), Witton in Birmingham, United Kingdom
Founder	George Kynoch
Website	www.kynochammunition.co.uk/

Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition, later incorporated into ICI but remaining as a brand name for sporting cartridges.

History

Memorial card to the nineteen victims of the explosion at Messrs Pursall and Philip's works on Whittall Street, fifteen of whom were interred together at St Mary's Church, also in Whittall Street

The firm of Pursall and Phillips operated a 'percussion cap manufactory' at Whittall Street, in Birmingham, in the mid 19th century.^[1][2] In 1856, Scottish entrepreneur George Kynoch joined the company.^[1] An explosion in 1859 destroyed the works, killing 19 of the 70 employees.^[1][2] As a result the firm moved to Witton in 1862,^[3] on a site adjacent to the London and North Western Railway's Grand Junction line.^[2] In 1963, Kynoch took over the business, which was subsequently renamed G. Kynoch and Co.^[1][2]

In 1895 Kynoch built an explosives factory east of Shell Haven Creek, Essex (now known as Coryton). This opened in 1897, with an estate for employees called Kynochtown. Products included cordite, guncotton, gunpowder, and cartridges.^[4] After World War I many of the UK ammunition and explosives manufacturers were brought together under Nobel Explosives to become Nobel Industries, which was a founding element of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI) in 1926. Once Nobel Industries, including Kynoch Ltd, had merged to form ICI, the original Kynoch factory in Witton became the head office and principal manufacturing base of the "ICI Metals Division". Kynoch, along with names such as Eley, became brands of subsidiaries.

Kynoch, established a munitions factory on the north side of Arklow, Ireland. This factory employed several thousand workers during World War I, but closed shortly after it, all production being moved to South Africa. Seventeen workers were killed in an explosion there on 21 September 1917. It was believed that the plant was shelled by a German U-boat^[5]

During the 1950s, the sound of test firing of munitions still occasionally shattered the peace over Witton, but with the standardization of cartridges across the Western powers and a general downturn in ammunition requirements, the sidelines in sporting cartridges were discontinued by Imperial Metal Industries (IMI) in 1970. IMI became independent of ICI in 1977, still producing rimfire and shotgun cartridges for the sporting markets. The more economically viable production of shotgun and rimfire ammunition continued. The Ammunition Division was incorporated separately as Eley Limited in 1983.

A Kynoch-produced (centre) Webley .455 cartridge

Eley-Kynoch consumer packaging for .30/30 center fire rifle cartridges (front)

Eley-Kynoch Consumer packaging (inside of packaging) for .30/30 center fire rounds. Head stamp is "KYNOCH 30-30"

Eley-Kynoch consumer packaging for .30/30 center fire rifle cartridges (back, deteriorated)

To manage publicity the company set up a private printing press brand, known as the Kynoch Press, which became ICI's house printing company and also did outside work.^[6][7] It commissioned art from leading artists such as Eric Ravilious.^[8] It closed in 1981.

Kynoch has reopened in 2002 under the name Kynamco producing big game rifle ammunition from 6.5x54 to 700 nitro express and is situated at Mildenhall in Suffolk England

See also

• 
  John Sutton Nettlefold JP - former managing director


• Eley Brothers


• Corringham Light Railway

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kynoch.

• Kynamco


• A History of Kynoch Works


• 
  Flickr album, collected by Mikey Ashworth