1990 – 1993
Northridge, California
- 1990 Joe and Gail Claridge bought 50% of Goncz Armament, Inc
– Gail Claridge an interior decorator
– Joe an ex policeman - They rebramnded the guns
- incorporated Claridge Hi-Tec, Inc. in Northridge, California
- Changes to the Goncz design include:
– adding the bolt hold back
– included after market cheep magazines
– pipe receiver with silver soldered plug to hold the barrel
– - five models of the Hi-Tec pistols and three models of the Hi-Tec rifles
- put out business by Lajos John Goncz
About Claridge Hi-Tec
Claridge Hi-Tec, Inc. was a short-lived California firearms maker that produced semi-automatic pistols and carbines from 1990 to 1993. The guns were based on the Goncz High-Tech Long Pistol, designed by Hungarian inventor Lajos John Goncz, whose company, Goncz Armament, Inc. of North Hollywood, built a few hundred GA and GS models between 1984 and 1990. In 1990 Joe and Gail Claridge incorporated Claridge Hi-Tec in Northridge, California, and used the design to build pistol models S, L, T, ZL-9 and ZT-9 and carbine models C, LEC-9 and ZLEC-9, offered in chamberings including 9mm and .45 ACP.
The design is a blowback-operated pistol with a telescopic bolt inside a tubular upper receiver, a one-piece machined lower with the magazine fed through the grip, and button-rifled match barrels made in-house. Claridge added a bolt hold-open, a feature no Goncz Armament model had. Ownership of the design and the right to produce it came under dispute, and Claridge Hi-Tec ceased operations in 1993 after California outlawed the guns. Factory magazines have not been made since 1993, and many found today are modified Beretta or SIG magazines, which makes these pistols a niche item for collectors of late-20th-century American designs.
Key Facts
- 1984: Goncz Armament introduces the Goncz High-Tech Long Pistol models.
- 1990: Joe and Gail Claridge incorporate Claridge Hi-Tec, Inc. in Northridge, California.
- 1990 to 1993: Claridge produces five Hi-Tec pistol models and three carbine models.
- 1993: Claridge Hi-Tec ceases operations after California outlaws the guns.
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Sources
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