RCBS Celebrates 80 Years

Started by Fred Huntington in the back room of his father’s laundry-cleaning service in Oroville, Calif., in 1943, reloading giant RCBS is celebrating 80 years in business in 2023.

“After 80 years of operation, RCBS is still delivering top-quality reloading products backed by world-class customer service,” said Justin Smith, product line manager for RCBS. “The brand has never lost the essence that Fred championed back in 1943, and the men and women in Oroville today truly do bleed green.”

But in 1943, Huntington didn’t envision an all-encompassing reloading business. An avid varmint hunter, he merely sought to make his own .22-cal. bullets for that purpose.

In Oroville, locals called the varmints “rock chucks,” and Huntington’s first products were his Rock Chuck Bullet Swage dies, a name eventually shortened to RCBS.

By 1958, the company had its own 7,500 sq.-ft. factory, a space that eventually expanded to more than 50,000 sq.-ft.

Today, RCBS is one of more than 40 brands under the Vista Outdoor umbrella of outdoor-product companies.

To learn more about RCBS and its products, visit rcbs.com.