Tour Palmetto State Armory (PSA)

I had the awesome opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes look at Palmetto State Armory, better known as PSA.

They are one of the industry’s largest firearms retailers and manufacturers, so it was very interesting to see the operation’s size and scale.

Engineering

While we didn’t get to peak inside engineering at PSA the building housed some of the non-serialized manufacturing processes like the Jakl Uppers and Jakl sleds.

Also some machining was done for AR-15 uppers and AK Parts including some work on the AK-V, GF3, and GF4 AK-47 bolts.

DC1

DC 1 housed PSA’s barrel-making operation as well as some other miscellaneous parts, such as the barrel chambers and bolt catches.

The Jakl bolts were also made in this facility, which was a really cool thing to watch.

The QC on the barrels was one of the most notable things at DC1, as there were some pretty interesting machines testing the barrels to ensure they were in spec.

DC2

DC2 is where most of the PSA lowers are machined and engraved. This operation was fairly large as PSA has to produce not only its lowers but also the lowers of Harrington & Richardson and its other companies.

It is also where the Dagger is assembled and test-fired before being sent over to the metro to be shipped out.

One of the experiences we got was to test fire the Micro Dagger C1 pistol which was extremely fun.

The PSA Rock is also made on the same assembly line as the PSA Dagger in this facility.

Dunbar

This is where the guns are assembled from the PSA SABRE line to the Jakl to the AK’s.

In this building, separate lines were building the different guns that PSA offers, including Lead Star Arms and H&R was also in this building, making the classics.

The anodizing of the lowers and other anodized parts happens in this building in big tanks that have a conveyor system that feeds the parts through the system.

Cerakote is also done in this building and was rocking and rolling while we were there. Some handguards and matching lowers were being cerakoted tan.

PSA test fires every upper even the ones that come stripped. Needless to say there was a lot going on in this facility.

Completed guns are then packaged here and sent to metro for fulfillment.