Category Archives: Firearm Manufacturer

Stevens Arms

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1864
Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts

  •  founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864 in Chicopee, Massachusetts
    – J. Stevens & Co.
  •  tip-up single shot pistol
  • 1883 they purchased the Massachusetts Arms Company
  • 1886  incorporated as J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co
  • 1887, Stevens developed the .22 LR cartridge
  • 1896 bought by I.H. Page
  • 1898 .25 Stevens  rimfire rifle cartridge
  • 1901 manufactured Stevens-Duryea automobile
  • 1902 .25 Stevens Short  rimfire rifle cartridge
  • May 28, 1915 a division of Westinghouse Electric purchased Stevens
    – created specifically for a contract to produce 1.8 million Mosin-Nagant rifles for Russia in World War I
    – 1916-1917 produced over 770,000 rifles
    – 225,260 were delivered, rest were sold to the USA
  • July 1, 1916, renamed the firearms division the J. Stevens Arms Company
  • 1917 commies never paid, company & fell into financial distress
  • April 1, 1920 purchased by the Savage Arms Company
    – until 1942 its own brand
  • During World War II produced:
    – Savage Lee–Enfield No. 4 rifle
    – Thompson submachine gun
    – Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
    – Browning M1919
    – M2 machinegun
  • July 9, 2019 sold with Savge to Investors

Smith & Wesson

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founded in 1856
Connecticut, Massachusetts

  • Smith and Wesson both worked at the National Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts
  • 1852 Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson founded
    – the (1st) Smith & Wesson Company in Norwich, Connecticut
    – 1855 renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms
    – purchased by Oliver Winchester
    – Wesson stayed as plant manager with Volcanic Repeating Arms for 8 months
    – April 1857 renamed New Haven Arms Company
    – 1866 renamed Winchester Repeating Arms Company

 

  • 1856  Samuel Colt’s patent on the revolver expired
  • 1856 Smith & Wesson Revolver Company
    – founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson
    – in Springfield, Massachusetts
  • 1899 Model 10
  • January 4, 2007, Thompson/Center was purchased by Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson
2100 Roosevelt Avenue
Springfield, MA 01104

1-800-331-0852

smith-wesson.com

 

Colt’s Manufacturing

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founded in 1855

  • 1836
  • founded by Samuel Colt
  • 1847 Colt Walker
  • Single Action Army
  • Peacemaker
  • Colt Python
  • Colt M1911
  • 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colt’s Manufacturing Company
    – Colt’s Manufacturing Company served the civilian market
    – Colt Defense served the law enforcement
  • 2013 two companies reunited
  • lost the US Army M4 contract
  • 2015-2016 Chapter 11 bankruptcy
  • owned by Cannae Holdings Inc

West Hartford, Connecticut

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing

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created on October 9, 1851
Hartford, Connecticut

  • 1848 – Christian Sharps (1810–1874), patented his rifle
    – used paper cartridges
  • 1850 first contract for 5,000 rifles
  • 1851  manufacturing started
  • second contract for 15,000 rifles
    – purchased 25 acres in Hartford, Connecticut for a factory building
  • 1853 Christian Sharps left the Company
  • 1855-1876 manufacturing was moved to Hartford
  • 1872 Sharps introduced the .50-90 Sharps cartridge
  • 1876 moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut
  • 1878 the last rifle made y Sharps
    – Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878

 

Remington Arms

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founded in 1816
Ilion, New York

Remington is the oldest gun maker in the US

 

  • largest US producer of shotguns and rifles
  • developed or adopted more cartridges than any other gun maker or ammunition manufacturer in the world
  • 1816 Remington built his own gun at age 23
    – he entered a shooting match & finished second
    – his  gun impressed other & he received orders
    – he had officially entered the gunsmithing business
  • 1816 founded by Eliphalet Remington
  • 1828, he moved to Ilion
  • March 7, 1888 Remington family sold to owners the
    Union Metallic Cartridge Company
    and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company
  • 1888 renamed Remington Arms Company
    the Union Metallic Cartridge Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut became the Remington ammunition plant
  • 1912 Remington and Union Metallic Cartridge Company combined into  Remington UMC
  • 1915 Ilion factory was expanded
  • Remington was purchased by DuPont
  • 1934  purchased the Peters Cartridge Company
    – headstamps  “R-P”  for Remington-Peters
  • World War II built the M1903A3 Springfield bolt-action rifle
  • 1962 Remington introduced the Model 700 bolt-action rifle
  • 1986 closed Bridgeport, Connecticut ammo factory
    – moved to Lonoke, Arkansas
  • 1987 built clay target factory in Athens, Georgia
  • 1993 DuPont sold Remington
  • June 2007 Cerberus Capital Management bought Remington Arms
    – Renamed to Freedom Group
  • December 2007, Remington Arms bought Marlin Firearms
  • October 2009 bought Advanced Armament Corporation
  • 2015, the Freedom Group was renamed as Remington Outdoor Company
  • March 2018 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
  • July 28, 2020 filed again for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Remington Arms