Grendel Inc

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founded in 1987
Rockledge, Florida

  • founded by George Kellgren after he left Interdynamic (Intratec)
  • reinforced Zytel designs
  • 1987 to 1994
  • 1988 the P10
    – no detachable magazine
  • 1990 the P30
  • 1991 the P12
  • 1991 formed Kel-Tec (first firearm in 1995)

 

About Grendel Inc

Grendel Inc. was a Rockledge, Florida firearms maker founded in 1987 by Swedish-born designer George Kellgren, who had earlier designed firearms for Interdynamics AB in Sweden and for Intratec after moving to the United States in 1979. Grendel produced compact, polymer-framed semi-automatic pistols from 1987 to 1994, a period when lightweight plastic frames were still new to the American market. Its first pistol, the P10 of 1988, was a small .380 ACP double-action-only design with no manual safety and a fixed internal magazine loaded from above with a stripper clip, an approach aimed squarely at affordable concealed carry.

Later models refined the concept. The P12, built from 1991 to 1994, added an 11-round detachable magazine, and the P30 line used .22 WMR with a 30-round magazine, including the P30M with an integral muzzle brake introduced in 1990. Grendel went out of business in 1994, a casualty of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and Kellgren’s Kel-Tec, founded in 1991, carried many Grendel ideas forward: the P-11 and P-32 descend from the same lightweight carry philosophy, and the Kel-Tec PMR-30 is widely viewed as a modern successor to the P30. Grendel pistols are now collector pieces that document the early history of the polymer pocket pistol.

Key Facts

  • 1987: Grendel Inc. founded in Florida by George Kellgren
  • 1988: P10 .380 ACP double-action-only pistol introduced
  • 1990: P30M .22 WMR model with integral muzzle brake introduced
  • 1991-1994: P12 produced with an 11-round detachable magazine
  • 1994: Grendel pistol production ends

Timeline of key dates for Grendel Inc

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Sources

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