Author Archives: gwebs

NRA

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National Rifle Association

1871 

 

Col. William C. Church

1871 co-founder of the National Rifle Association
– 1872 Second president of the National Rifle Association
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Conant_Church

Gen. George Wingate

 1871 co-founder of the National Rifle Association
– 1886 to 1900 president of the National Rifle Association

Gen. Ambrose Burnside

1871 NRA’s first President

Harlon Carter

1951 joined the National Board of the NRA
– 1965-1967 served as NRA president from
– 1975-1976 served as director of the NRA’s lobbying arm
– 1977-1985 served as NRA Executive Vice President
Carter replaced Maxwell Rich as Executive Vice President
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlon_Carter

Neal Knox

– 1977 The NRA Cincinnati Revolt
– 1978-1982 Executive Director of NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA)
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Knox

Marion P. Hammer

  • 1970s – Present – NRA lobbyist from Florida
  • 1988 – creator of the NRA Eddie Eagle Program
  • 1995 to 1998 – 1st female president of the National Rifle Association NRA

Wayne LaPierre

– joined the NRA in 1977
– Since 1991, he has served as executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association (NRA)
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_LaPierre

Chris W. Cox

 April 2002 – 2019  executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA)
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_W._Cox

Iver Johnson

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from 1871 to 1993
Massachusetts

  • U.S. firearms, bicycle, and motorcycle manufacturer
  • Iver Johnson (1841–1895)
  • 1857  educated as a gunsmith in Bergen, Norway
  • Had a gun store in Oslo, Norway
  • 1863 immigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts
  • he made “pepperbox” pistols for Allen & Wheelock
  • 1871 with Martin Bye created the Johnson Bye & Company
  • 1883 Johnson bought Bye out
    – name changed to Iver Johnson & Company
  • 1891 name changed Iver Johnson’s Arms & Cycle Works
    – relocated to Fitchburg, Massachusetts
  • O.F. Mossberg worked for Iver Johnson durring this time
  • 1895 Iver Johnson died of tuberculosis, his sons took over
  • 1971 Louis Imperato purchased the name and moved IJ to New Jersey
  • 1983 Investors bought Iver Johnson name and moved to Jacksonville, Arkansas
  • 1993 ceased trading under its own name
    – owned by American Military Arms Corporation (AMAC)
  • 2006 Iver Johnson Arms opened (relation in name only)
    – in Rockledge, Florida
    – manufacturer and firearms importer
    – Iver Johnson Arms is making 1911s

 

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H&R Firearms

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Harrington & Richardson

founded in 1871 – 2015
Massachusetts

  • 1875 Harrington & Richardson = Nathan Harrington and William Richardson (former S&W employee)
    – Harrington was president
    – Richardson was treasurer
  • 1871 – 1877 at 18 Manchester Street, Worcester, MA
  • 1877 – 1894 at  31 Hermon Street, Worcester, MA
  • 1897 Harrington and Richardson both passed away
    – held by  Harrington’s son and Richardson’s wife
  • 1894 new facility in Worcester, Massachusetts
  • 1950 new facility in Drummondville, Québec, Canada
  • 1960s was acquired by the Kidde corporation
  • 1986 original H&R company went out of business, and building was demolished
  • Was in business for over a century from 1871 to 1986
  • 1991 – H&R 1871, Inc., was formed
    – using original H&R designs
  • November 2000 bought by Marlin Firearms
  • December, 2007 acquired by Remington Arms Company
  • 2008 production was moved to Ilion, N.Y.
  • February 27, 2015 – “H&R 1871” ceased production

 

Marlin Firearms

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1870
Connecticut, New York, Kentucky

  • 1870 founded by John Marlin in North Haven, Connecticut
  •  side ejection lever action rifles
    – good for shooters who need to use optics
  • World War I one of the largest machine gun producers
    –  M1895 Colt–Browning
  • 1917 bought Hopkins & Allen Arms Company
  • 1953 patented MicroGroove Rifling
  • Nov 2000 purchased  H&R 1871, Inc
  • Dec 2007 bought by Remington Arms
  • 2010 moved to Remington plants
    – Ilion, New York
    – Mayfield, Kentucky

https://marlin-collectors.com/forum/

1-800-544-8892

marlinfirearms.com

U.S. Cartridge Company

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Established in 1869
Lowell,

 

  • 1869 Established in
  • patented a metal cartridge
    – Joe  Meigs
  • primarily cartridges, paper-shot-shells, and primers
  • 1875
  • July 1903  explosion killed 22 employees and nearby residents
    – injuring more than 70
  • 1910s constructed  brick factory buildings
    – along Lawrence Street and the Wamesit Canal
  • 1911 National Lead Company purchased an interest
  • 1915 a number of work stoppages because of the American Federation of Labor
  • Sept 1915 largest strike in the firm’s history
  • 1917, U.S. Cartridge, inundated with orders for munitions from the United States
    military and its allies in World War I
  •  His Majesty’s government pay in advance to guaranteed the British ammo supply
  • 1918 National Lead Company bought half the shares
  • 1922 family sold its remaining interest in the company to National Lead
  • 1926 National Lead Company also owned Winchester Repeating Arms Company
  • 1926 cartridge manufacturing machinery was moved to New Haven, CT
  • January 1, 1927 – U.S. Cartridge closed 

U.S. Cartridge Company

Barnaul

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1869
Barnaul, Russia

  • manufactured by Barnaul Cartridge Plant in Russia
  • One of the first cartridge plants founded in St. Petersburg
  • originally known as “Arsenal P”
  • 1920 renamed “Factory P”
  • 1928 renamed “Factory 17”
  • World War I  provided Russians with ammo
  • 1941 factory was evacuated
  • 2009 began steel-cased with a lubricious polymer coating
    – Centaur brand
  • 2018 MKS Supply began importing Barnaul-branded ammunition
  • Barnaul Machine Tool Building Plant
    – Academy Sports Monarch name
    – Centaur brand
    – lacquer-coated Brown Bear
    – zinc-coated Silver Bear
    – brass-coated Golden Bear steel-cased

Hopkins & Allen

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founded in 1868 – 1916

  • 1868 founded by 5 people
    based in Norwich, Connecticut
  • 1898 Hopkins & Allen went bankrupt
  • 1900 lost factory and machinery in a fire
  • 1901 factory was rebuilt
  • 1902 acquired Forehand Arms Company
  • 1905 warehouse robbed of all its inventory
  • 1916 went bankrupt
  • 1917 Marlin purchased the machinery, inventory and designs

Hopkins & Allen

Parker Bros

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1867 – 1942
Meriden, Connecticut

  • 1867 launched by Charles Parker in Meriden, Connecticut
    – Parker Snow Co
    – produced rifles for the US Army during Civil War
  • produced mostly break-open shotguns
    – 242,000 produced
  • gun of choice for:
    – Annie Oakley
    – Frank Butler (her husband)
    – Clark Gable
  • 1934 acquired by Remington Arms 
  • 1942 phased out of business

Parker Bros

Winchester Repeating Arms Company

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founded in 1866
New Haven, Connecticut

  •  1855 the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company
    – Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnership
    – Norwich, Connecticut
    – largest stockholder was Oliver Winchester
  • 1856 moved to New Haven
  • 1856 Volcanic Repeating Arms Company went bankrupt
  • 1857 Winchester and partner John M. Davies purchased the assets
    – New Haven Arms Company
  • 1860 Benjamin Henry perfected the .44 Henry cartridge
  • 1860 Henry rifle based loosely on the Volcanic to use the new ammunition
    – manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company
  • 1866 reorganized as Winchester Repeating Arms Company
  • Model 1866
  • Model 1873 the first Winchester center fire cartridge, the .44-40 WCF
    “Gun That Won the West”
  • December 1880 Oliver Winchester died
  • 1881 his son William Wirt Winchester died
    – his widow , Sarah Winchester, built the Winchester Mystery House.
  • 1883-1898 John Browning worked with Winchester Repeating Arms Company
  • Winchester had borrowed heavily to finance its massive expansion
  • 1931 went into receivership
  • December 22, 1931 bought at bankruptcy auction by the Olin family’s Western Cartridge Company
  • 1944 reorganized as the Winchester-Western Division of Olin Industries
  • World War II produced the M1 Garand rifle
  • post-war  first civilian manufacturer of the M14 rifle

Winchester Repeating Arms Company

Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1865

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prohibited the possession of firearms by anyone who had supported the Confederacy.

it interfered with states’ rights, gave preference to one group of citizens over another and would impose a huge financial burden on the federal government, among other issues.