On a partially paved road at the end of a field in an industrial park sits what appears to be just another small Savannah manufacturing facility.
After turning onto the unmarked driveway, passing through the barbed wire gates and ringing the bell, which sounds like a security alarm, it turns out this is not just any operation.
Instead, this is office of PolyCase Ammunition.
The founder and CEO, Paul Lemke, said they want their building to go unnoticed and to be hard to find. And it is.
Lemke launched the company in November 2012 after finishing its research and development stages, only to postpone its manufacturing launch in February 2013 because his small business could no longer get the materials they needed from third-party providers. A nationwide ammunition shortage had occurred, and those materials were being sold to bigger manufacturers who had ramped up their operations to fill the void.
But Lemke also runs buygunsandammo.com, an online ammunition retailer that sells ammo and accessories and partnered with foreign manufacturers to sell ammo during the 2013 ammunition shortage.
Now, he said, PolyCase Ammunition is back to manufacturing 90,000 bullets per eight-hour shift and re-entering the market with PolyCase Inceptor ammunition, a brass-cased ammo with PolyCase copper/polymer (Cu/P™) bullets.
“What we’re doing is what nobody has seen before,” said Lemke, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who decided to make his home in Savannah.
Using the engineering of precision injected molded parts for high- performance cars, Lemke said, PolyCase has developed innovative ammunition that is lightweight and non-toxic and made with single-use or reusable cartridges.
The goal, he said, is to make ammunition that is as efficient as conventional lead-core ammunition without the harmful byproducts associated with heavy metals.
“It’s paramount that we produce ammunition without heavy-metal streams,” said Lemke, “especially with increasing regulations.”
Lemke’s vision began when he was an Army diplomat and consulted with foreign governments in regards to drug enforcement and needed single-use cartridges that couldn’t be reused by “the bad guys” after armed altercations.
“We found we could develop and manufacture ammunition that could hold up to forces in the strains of firing, yet stay intact,” said Lemke.
When he started the company, it produced bullets with copper polymer matrix and used plastic cartridge case technology in its .380-caliber auto projectiles.
These projectiles also featured — and will continue to feature when reintroduced — colored cartridges, which he said expands the consumer base.
“The majority of our customers were men,” said Lemke, “and they would buy the pink cartridges to entice their significant others to go to the range.”
He said PolyCase’s small handgun ammunition appeals mainly to the self-defense market, and with its lighter weight, PolyCase has the ability to ship more copper/polymer ammo for the same price.
But, Lemke said, not all caliber projectiles can use lightweight ammunition due to the physical constraints placed on the bullets.
For the past year, PolyCase Ammuntion has been running the site buygunsandammo.com while continuing research and development with its copper/polymer matrix ammunition.
Now, the company has engaged in an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in efforts to streamline its research and development.
The campaign has a goal of $1.5 million, which Lemke said will cover all the costs associated with research, testing and evaluation for PolyCase’s projectiles.
The company plans to release more ammunition in several cartridge sizes in the next 90 days, said Lemke, while PolyCase Inceptor ammunition is already available on buygunsandammo.com, with prices starting from $16.45 for 25 rounds, about 66 cents per round, according to the website.
PolyCase Ammunition is headquartered in Savannah, with a research and development facility in Barcelona, Spain.
“Our story is that of American small business and innovation,” said Lemke. “We’re proud to be headquartered in Savannah.”