Remington Moving Model 700 Production Line Out of Ilion

A person close to Remington Arms worldwide headquarters in Georgia says that an internal memo released inside the company on Wednesday states that the Model 700 Production line will be exiting Ilion and moving to Georgia.

"RemArms would like to announce the transition of the Centerfire Model 700 Product Line from Ilion, NY to LaGrange, Georgia manufacturing facility," according to the memo from CEO Ken D'Arcy.

Initially, the news might not be bad for Ilion.

The memo also stated that the Ilion plant has positions for all of the employees working on the Centerfire Value stream group at the Ilion facility. According to D'Arcy's memo, those workers would be transitioned into roles on the Shotgun Line in a "timely and efficient" manner.

The memo leaked to WIBX was addressed to All Business Partners and was stamped Confidential for Internal Distribution only.

The Ilion plant currently manufactures the Model 700 rifle, and the Model 870 shotgun. D'Arcy's memo says the move will maximize their "production opportunities by having all Centerfire Rifle Product lines in one location (Georgia) and all Shotgun Product Lines in one location (New York).

D'Arcy said he expects the transition to take place over the next several months.

WIBX reached out to Remington with questions about the transition, and we're awaiting a response. We also reached out to Ilion Mayor John Stevens, who said he's been reaching out to the new owners of Remington since he was elected, and he's not been able to have a conversation with them. Stevens said the news of the 700 line moving to Georgia came as a surprise to him.

In 2021, the newly acquired Remington firearms company announced that it was moving its worldwide headquarters to LaGrange, Georgia in a $100 million, 850-plus job deal brokered by Governor Brian Kemp.

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It's not clear how many workers are currently employed at the Ilion plant, which has been in the village since its inception in 1816.