1973
- 1973 originally the Gwinn Firearms Company in Madison, North Carolina
sold the Bushmaster bullpup carbine 5.56
moved to Bangor, Maine - Richard Dyke purchased for $241,000
– moved to Windham, Maine - 1992 until 2005 Bushmaster M17S bullpup rifle
- 2002 “D.C. Sniper” attacks
- 2006 sold to Cerberus Capital Management
- 2006 bought Cobb Manufacturing
- 2007 BA50 bolt action rifle 50bmg
- 2008 Magpul agreed to manufacture the Masada rifle, as the Bushmaster ACR
- 2010 ACR entered the market
- 2011 Remington’s Ilion, NY Facility
- 2012 added to Freedom Group
- 2011 Windham Weaponry was created by Richard Dyke
– in Windham, Maine - 2012 Sandy Hook in Newtown, Conn attacks
- 2014 relocated in Huntsville, Alabama
– 500,000-square-foot facility
– formerly used by Chrysler - 6,400 firearm gun library ???
Bushmaster Firearms
1816 Remington Circle SW
Huntsville, AL 35824
1-800-883-6229
About Bushmaster
Bushmaster is one of the most recognized AR-15 brands in the United States. It traces its roots to Gwinn Firearms, founded by Mack Gwinn Jr. in the early 1970s, and lists 1973 as its founding year. After the company went bankrupt, Richard Dyke bought it in 1976 and moved it from Bangor to Windham, Maine, where Bushmaster grew into a major supplier of AR-type rifles and carbines for civilians and law enforcement.
Dyke sold Bushmaster to Cerberus Capital Management in 2006 for a reported $70 million, and it became part of the Freedom Group (renamed Remington Outdoor Company in 2015). Under that ownership Bushmaster licensed Magpul’s Masada design as the Bushmaster ACR, which reached civilians in 2010. The Windham plant closed in 2011, and Dyke then founded Windham Weaponry there. After Remington’s 2020 bankruptcy, Crotalus Holdings, the parent of Franklin Armory, bought the Bushmaster trademarks, and Bushmaster Firearms Industries relaunched the brand from Minden, Nevada, in August 2021 with the XM15-E2S, ACR, BA50 and .450 Bushmaster. The brand remains in production in 2026.
Key Facts
- 1976: Richard Dyke bought the company and moved it to Windham, Maine
- 2006: Sold to Cerberus Capital Management; became part of the Freedom Group
- 2010: Bushmaster ACR offered to the civilian market
- 2011: Windham, Maine, plant closed
- September 2020: Crotalus Holdings bought the Bushmaster trademarks at the Remington bankruptcy auction
- August 2021: Brand relaunched from Minden, Nevada
Sources
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