Founded in 1951 in order to provide a steady source of component primers to reloaders. Although Speer’s case-making process was sound, the quality of the raw material was not. In the years after WWII, most stocks of cartridge brass had been depleted for the war effort. Faced with an untenable situation, Speer turned to a different path. Component primers for reloaders were in short supply. Some war surplus primers were showing up, but the supply and choice was limited. Speer decided to get into the component primer business. Speer intended to build primers for hobby reloaders, however, CCI’s first shipment was to fulfill a military contract using the chlorate FA-70 formula. He then turned to non-corrosive, non-mercuric formulas for sporting cartridges. Reloaders now had a steady supply of rifle and pistol primers that was unheard of previously. To handle the new business, Speer bought a 17-acre chicken ranch next to the Lewiston Gun Club, just a mile south of brother Vernon’s bullet works. The farmhouse doubled as an office and warehouse, and production began in a renovated chicken coop. He quickly erected modern labs and manufacturing buildings, gaining him room to expand the product line. When the gun club moved, Speer bought the adjoining property for future expansion. The CCI plant still occupies that property today.