If Magpul Industries follows through on its threat to leave Colorado, it could harm more than a dozen Front Range firms specializing in plastic injection molding and reduce the region’s capacity in that manufacturing process.

The Erie company, which makes weapons components and high-capacity ammunition magazines, has threatened to leave if the state bans individuals from owning magazines with more than 15 rounds.

“It is an if/then statement at this point. We don’t have a choice,” said Duane Liptak, the company’s director of product management and marketing.

Magpul employs 200 people directly, ranging from basic assembly workers to product designers and other professionals specializing in weapons-related components, Liptak said.

As much as possible, the company tries to contract with Colorado vendors, who represent about 90 percent of its supply chain, he said. Those suppliers received about $46 million last year from Magpul, with the company projecting that number to reach $85 million for 2013, Liptak said.

A large share of those dollars goes to manufacturers that mold the company’s mostly plastic components, including the controversial cases that can hold more than 15 rounds.

North Denver’s Alfred Manufacturing Co. has grown from 40 employees in 2008 to 150 largely because of the work provided by Magpul, said the company’s third-generation chief executive, Greg Alfred.

“If House Bill 1224 passes, we will relocate part or all of our operations out of state,” Alfred warned Gov. John Hickenlooper and members of the state legislature in a letter Friday.

Alfred said plans for a $1 million expansion to add another 15,000-square-foot building to the 60,000 square feet the company has at West 44th Avenue and Elati Street are on hold.

The companies say they are actively scouting locations in other states, including Wyoming and Montana.

“We are in this together,” he said.

Neither Alfred Manufacturing nor Magpul, both privately owned, would disclose the wage range for the jobs they provide or the size of their overall payroll.

The 65-year-old Alfred Manufacturing has seen its ups and downs over the years but has survived the U.S. manufacturing exodus in part because it added plastic injection molding, which creates parts by pushing melted plastics into metal molds.

Longmont and metro Denver became a hub for that process, thanks to such companies as Case Logic and Otter Box, which make cases for computers and other technology devices.

Case makers last decade took much of their manufacturing work to cheaper overseas providers, leaving local plastics firms struggling.

Liptak said Magpul’s timing was good, in that it found spare capacity available as its products were catching on.

Blaine Dacus, molding-division manager at Alfred, said Magpul contracts support more than a dozen plastic-injection- molding firms.

“They have kept molders in business,” Dacus said.

Alfred Manufacturing’s legacy metal stamping and machining business runs on four 10-hour shifts a week, while Magpul contracts have kept the plastics side going 24/7, Alfred said.

Although House Bill 1224 has been amended to accommodate manufacturers, Liptak said the company couldn’t in principle stay in a state where a core product is illegal to purchase.

Depending on what contracts it has, 20 percent to half of its sales are to law enforcement, military and other government buyers exempt from the proposed state ban.

The company’s retail buyers are likely to reject products made in states they perceive as anti-gun, Liptak said.

“We are going to end up losing jobs in Colorado either way (if the bill passes),” Liptak said.