Medef cases and bullets: the cartridge component lines

Quick answer: The two items in Medef Defence’s component group other than the primer are the brass case and the bullet. According to the 2026 catalogue of Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), the country’s defense procurement authority, the company produces unprimed and primed brass cases in 9x19mm and 5.56x45mm/.223, and bullets in 9x19mm, 9mm Makarov and 5.56. The company says it makes every component used in its finished cartridges at its own factory, and it also sells those parts as separate products to original equipment manufacturer customers.

The case: body of the cartridge

The case is the metal body that holds the primer, the propellant and the bullet together; in centerfire cartridges the primer seats in the pocket at its base. The industry-standard material is brass, and production is a precision metal forming process that advances through multi-stage deep drawing and annealing of strip metal. Because dimensional tolerances determine how safely the cartridge seats in a weapon’s chamber, case manufacturing is a measurement-intensive field; producers check dimensions, wall thickness and hardness in every batch and remove out-of-specification parts from the line. Medef’s quality laboratory and test firing procedures are cited in this context in its corporate texts.

The “unprimed and primed” distinction in the SSB catalogue shows two delivery levels offered to customers: the case alone, or the case with the primer already fitted. This is a common form of supply for institutional customers that do not make finished cartridges but run their own loading lines.

The choice of case material is standard as well: the copper-zinc alloy known as cartridge brass is the sector’s main material because of its formability and its safe extraction from the chamber after firing. Plants producing steel and aluminium cases exist, but institutional purchases in NATO calibres are weighted toward brass. Medef’s catalogue records list brass cases only; any different material option is not officially disclosed.

The bullet: FMJ construction

In the Turkish context, component production is also part of the localisation agenda: MKE, the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, lists cartridge localisation work among the tasks of its Gazi Cartridge Factory. In the private sector, Medef, which makes cases and bullets in-house, is among the producers reducing dependence on imported components; whether any supply relationship exists between the two producers is not officially disclosed.

The bullet is the part that leaves the barrel. The predominant type in Medef’s finished cartridges is FMJ, or full metal jacket, in which a lead core is enclosed in a copper alloy jacket; the SSB catalogue carries 9x19mm, 9mm Makarov and 5.56 bullets as separate component items. Types such as the hollow point in the company’s product range require bullet variety; which bullet types are sold as components is not officially disclosed. Copper and tombac (copper-zinc) alloys are common jacket materials in the sector; the alloy used in Medef’s bullets is not stated in public sources.

The component range in a table

The economics of the component business

Component sales carry a lower unit price than finished cartridges but reach a wider customer base. Finished cartridge exports proceed through end-user certificates and permit procedures, and component trade is subject to controls as well; the buyer profile, however, runs from cartridge brands to loading plants. For the producer, a component line is a balancing factor that keeps capacity filled through demand swings: when finished cartridge orders fall, the same lines can work for component customers. The share of component sales in Medef’s total revenue is not officially disclosed.

Why it matters: the OEM supply chain

In the global cartridge market many brands buy cases and bullets externally and only carry out loading. That structure opens an original equipment manufacturer market to component producers in which brands are not visible. The statement in Medef’s MEDEF Europe announcement that primers are sold to manufacturers in Turkey and worldwide indicates that the company works in this intermediate market as well; on the case and bullet side, customer information has not been disclosed. The lines on which the component trio turns into finished products are described in the 9x19mm family and Dectus and Vipera files.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and verification note

• https://www.medefence.net/components/ — component group page (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
• https://www.medefence.net/about-us/ — statement that components are made inside the factory (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerfire_ammunition — definition of the case and primer relationship (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
• https://defensehere.com/tr/medef-europe-ile-avrupaya-daha-hizli-sevkiyat-gerceklestirilecek/ — statement on component exports (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
• SSB 2026 catalogue — case and bullet items

The component list rests on the catalogue and the company website; capacity, customer and technical specification data were not written because they have not been disclosed. The file is at the level of industry information; no loading or assembly practice is described.