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Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission

MAC, LLC DEVELOPS LIGHTWEIGHT AMMO

October 30, 2015


MAC, LLC has grown from a small operation doing munitions research and development for the Department of Defense into a major manufacturer of lightweight ammunition primarily for the U.S. military. 

 

“Our two prime customers are the U.S. Marines and U.S. Special Ops groups,” said Joe Gibbons, a company founder and manager of the Port Bienville Industrial Park plant. “We are working with the leading edge of tech users and we’re a leading edge tech company.”

Gibbons and Nick Maljkovic, MAC’s president, worked together at Port Bienville-based Mississippi Polymer Technologies, which was bought by Solvay S.A.. They left to open MAC in 2007. 


MAC is a small privately held organization with a board of directors. Its 16 employees are shareholders. “All our employees are local, our board members are mostly from the local Gulf Coast area,” Gibbons said. 


The company develops, tests and produces a variety of polymer cased rounds, primarily for machine guns. The ammo ranges in size from 5.56mm to .50 caliber shells, the military’s standard sized rounds. “Our flagship round is the .50 caliber,” he said.  

MAC also is developing and producing a subsonic round, the 300 AAC, for the Navy SEALS which is designed to be fired without making noise.


The plastic cases make the rounds lighter and easier to haul. A MAC MK323 .50 caliber round weighs about 3.2 ounces, about 25 percent lighter than conventional brass rounds. The weight savings allow a helicopter to carry more fuel and lighten the load carried by personnel.


MAC is capable of producing 10 million .50 caliber rounds a year. “We are capable of going round the clock if necessary,” he said. “It depends on how the orders come in.” There are no expansion plans now but Gibbons said as more of the MAC-designed and manufactured rounds are qualified by military organizations, growth will follow.


 

About Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission  


As the county economic development authority, the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission is committed to fostering business investment and job creation. Their focus lies in attracting manufacturing, defense, aviation, and aerospace-related projects to the county. The organization manages the Stennis International Airport and Port Bienville Industrial Park while also providing support to the Stennis Space Center, NASA’s leading facility for rocket engine testing.  

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