Category Archives: Firearm Manufacturer

Rock Island Armory

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USA office opened in 1985
Nevada, Montana

Armscor history in Philippines

  • 1941 – Don Celso Tuason purchases Sportsman’s Headquarters
  • 1952 – In postwar Philippines, Don Celso Tuason obtains the first license in his country to begin firearm and ammunition manufacturing
  • 1952 – The company is renamed Squires Bingham Manufacturing Inc.
  • 1965 – Don Celso turns over control of the company to his three sons: Bolo, Butch, Concoy
  • 1980 – Squires Bingham Manufacturing Inc. is reorganized
    – becomes Arms Corporation of the Philippines (ARMSCOR)
    – Demetrio “Bolo” Tuason is named Chairman and President
  • Armscor bult 1911s for
    – Charles Daly
    – Tanfoglio
    – Rock Island Armory

  • 1985 – Armscor Precision International opens its first office in the US
  • 1985 – acquires the Rock Island Armory brand
    – partly outsourced to IMBEL (Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil)
    – distributed in the U.S. by SARCO
    – rebranded Armscor  1911s
  • 1997 – the second manufacturer awarded the ISO 9001 certification
  • 2011 – new production facilities in Stevensville, Montana
    – Armscor USA Ammo
  • 2012 – Martin Tuason becomes new president
  • 2016 – Open US Manufacturing plant in Pahrump, NV
  • 2017  M200 .38 caliber revolver

 

Armscor USA and Rock Island Armory
150 North Smart Way
Pahrump, NV 89060

(775) 537-1444

SIG Sauer

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 founded in 1985
Virginia, New Hampshire

Old World Sig

  •  founded in 1853 in
    – Friedrich Peyer im Hof (1817–1900)
    – Heinrich Moser (1805-1874)
    – Johann Conrad Neher (1818-1877)
  • 1860 awarded contract to produce 30,000 Prelaz-Burnand rifles
  • 1860 company name was changed to Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft
    (SIG, German for “Swiss Industrial Company”)
  • 1947 SIG P210 pistol was developed
    – single-action semi-automatic
  • 1949 adopted by the Swiss military as “Pistole 49”
  • 1970s SIG purchased J. P. Sauer and Sohn
    – renamed  SIG Sauer
  • 1977 – 1980 Browning BDA, amodified SIG Sauer P220 design was produced for the Browning Arms
    –  the first SIG Sauer P220 type sold in the US
  • Swiss law limits the ability of Swiss companies to export firearms
    – have to use a foreign partner

SIG in the USA

  • January 1985 established SIGARMS, in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia
    – to import the P220 and P230 models into the US
  • 1987 moved to a larger facility in Herndon, Virginia
    – P225, P226 and P228
  • 1990 moved to Exeter, New Hampshire
  • 1992 production began on the P229
  • 1996 SIG Sauer Academy in Epping, New Hampshire
  • 2000 became known as Swiss Arms
    – still using the SIG Sauer brand
  • 2007, SIGARMS changed its name to SIG Sauer Inc
  • Sig 556
  • 2014 new corporate headquarter and production facility in Newington, New Hampshire
    – 206,000-square-foot
  • 2015 expanded to include suppressors, optics, ammo and airguns
  • January 2017 awarded US Army contract for the P320
  • July 12, 2018 Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS) used the SIG SAUER P320
  • 2019 Swiss Arms was renamed SIG SAUER AG
  •  one-third of law enforcement in the United States use SIG firearms
  • June 4, 2020 closing factory Eckernförde, Germany

SIG SAUER, Inc.
72 Pease Boulevard
Newington, NH 03801

603-610-3000

sigsauer.com

DPMS Panther Arms

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founded  in 1985

Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services (DPMS)

  • 1985 founded in Osseo, Minnesota
    manufactured M203, M14 and M16 parts
    U.S. military contracts
  • 1990s moved  to Becker, Minnesota
  • 2004 moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota
  • 2004–2007 doubled its revenue & size
  • 2007 named one of The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal’s
    “50 fastest-growing privately held companies”
  • December 14, 2007 purchased by Freedom Group
  • 2014 production moved to Remington’s facility in Huntsville, Alabama

DPMS Panther Arms
Huntsville, Alabama

 

Intratec

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based in Miami, Florida
started in 1984

  • 1982 Interdynamic AB of Sweden
    – George Kelgren
    – Carlos Garcia
  • 1982 KG-9
  • 1983 KG-99
  • 1984 George Kelgren left to start Grendel
  • 1984 Intratec started
    – from the remains of Interdynamic USA
    –  Carlos Garcia remained
  • renamed the KG-99 the TEC-9
  • KG-99 Mini became the TEC-9M (“TEC-9 Mini”)
  • +P+ submachine gun ammo would crack the receivers
  • 1987 Intratec USA went bankrupt (because of lawsuit by the anti-gun side)
  • 1988 TEC-22 “Scorpion” introduced
  • 1989 CA bans both the TEC-9 and TEC-22 by name
  • TEC-DC9 “Designated California”
  • 1990 Intratec CAT-9
  • 1994 Assault Weapons Ban = banned the TEC-DC9 and TEC-22 by name
  • 1995 CAT-45
  • 1996 CAT-380
  • 1997 TEC-DC9 introduced as AB-10 (legally, without the threaded barrel)
  • 1997 TEC-22 became the Sport-22 (10-rd mag, no threaded barrel)
  • 1998  CAT-380 and CAT-45 discontinued
  • 2001 ceased manufacture

Taurus

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200,000-square-foot
founded in 1939
US plant in 1984

  • based in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • Founded as a tool and die forging plant
  • 1941 first revolver, the Model 38101SO
  • 1968 introduced to U.S. market
  • 1971, the Bangor Punta Corporation, then the owner of Smith & Wesson, purchased 54 percent of Forjas Taurus
  • 1977 purchased by current owners
  • 1980 purchased Beretta’s São Paulo manufacturing plant
    with tooling, technical drawings, and work force
  • 1984 created a subsidiary Taurus USA in Miami, Florida
  • 1997 purchased rights & equipment to manufacture Rossi revolvers
  • 1999 ISO 9001 manufacturing designation
  • 2005 Model PT 1911
  • 2006 The Judge
  • 2012 purchased Heritage Manufacturing
  • 2013 PT-111 Millennium
  • 2015 the Curve .380 ACP
  • 2017 Spectrum
  • 2018 Raging Hunter
  • 2019 relocation of its U.S. facility to Bainbridge, Georgia
    200,000-square-foot

 

Goncz Armament, Inc

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1984 – 1990
North Hollywood, CA

  •  Lajos John Goncz invented
    – Hungarian
  • Goncz Armament GS-9 (9 mm)
    – GS-4 (.45 ACP)
    – GS-3 (.30) Mauser
    – 5.5 inch threaded barrel
    – 16-round magazines
    – closed-bolt
  • Goncz Armament GA-9 (9 mm)
    – GA-4 (.45 ACP)
    – GA- 3 (.30) Mauser
    – 9.5″ shrouded button rifled match
  • Goncz Carbine GC-9 (9 mm)
    – walnut forearm
    – GCL-9 (9 mm) has integral laser
  • receiver made of 4130 alloy
    – machined out of solid piece
  •  produced a few hundred

Tippmann Arms Company

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1983
Indiana

  • 1983 Tippmann Arms Company started Dennis Tippmann and his brother Martin Tippmann
    – Tippmann Arms Company
  • Dennis Tippmann manufactured half-scale machine guns
    –  June 27, 1984  the original semiautomatic-only Tippmann was approved by BATF
    – 1919 and the 1917 models
  •  January 1985 appeared on the cover of Guns & Ammo
  • 1986 change in gun laws led to entry into the paintball market
  • June 24, 1987 Tippmann Arms Company was purchased by F.J. Vollmer and Company of Plainfield, IL
  • September 13, 2001 Eric Graetz of Lakeside Machine in Pound Wisconsin purchased Tippmann Arms from F.J. Vollmer and Company
  • 2015 started as Tippmann Armory 

https://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=164

Tippmann
2955 Adams Center Road
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46803

1-800-533-4831

Calico

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Calico Light Weapons Systems

founded October 1982
California, Nevada, Oregon

  • Oct 1982 in Bakersfield, California
    – California Instrument Company
    – totally new concept in firearms magazine technology was developed
  •  Pistols and pistol-caliber carbines
    – with 50 and 100 round magazines
  • May 1985 first working 100 round helical feed .22LR carbine prototype  successfully tested
  • 1985 first guns
  • June 1987 first 50 and 100 round 9mm “double helix” firearms were produced
  • 1998 moved to Sparks, Nevada
    – replacement parts produced
  • 2006 moved to Hillsboro, Oregon
    – full production of firearms resumed

Calico Firearms
1090 Hemlock St
Elgin, OR 97827

(541) 437-1031

calicofirearms.com

Olympic Arms

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began in 1956 – 2017

  • Robert Schuetz partnered in business with  gunsmith P.O. Ackley
  • 1956 began as Schuetzen Gun Works (SGW)
    – manufacturing rifle barrels in Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • 1975 moved to Olympia, Washington
    -rifle barrels
    – barrel blanks thrived
    – began manufacturing complete custom bolt-action rifles
  • 1982 began to manufacture as Olympic Arms, Inc
  • 1987 purchased Phoenix, Arizona based Safari Arms
  • 2002 revived the 1955 Whitney Wolverine pistol
  • February 2013 announced they would no longer sell its products to New York law enforcement officers following the state’s passage of an assault weapons ban
  • 2017 Olympic Arms, In closed

Barrett

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 founded in 1982

  • 1982 founded by Ronnie G. Barrett in Christiana, Tennessee
  • 1982 M82
  • February 26, 2016, Tennessee named the Barrett M82 the official rifle of the State of Tennessee

Barrett Headquarters
P.O. Box 1077
Murfreesboro, TN 37133

615-896-2938

barrett.net