Companies with their name on firearms that might surprise you

J

johnwilliamson062

Moderator
IBM
Rock-Ola
International Harvester
Singer
Inland/GM
Quality Hardware
Underwood
Union Switch And Signal
Abercrombie & Fitch(especially for those born in the last couple of decades)

What are some others?
 
Hydromatic Transmission Corp Division of General Motors- On the M16A2 I was issued prior to mobilizing for Iraq in '03.

Edit- Didn't Westinghouse also make some 91/30's or some variant for Imperial Russia back when they had their imperial thing going on?
 
I think General Motors made the obscure FP-42 Liberator, a crudely made "disposable" single shot .45 that was meant to be air dropped into
France by the butt loads during WW2. The thought being it would supply every civilian with a gun to kill one Nazi then take his gun to kill more Nazis (ala brad pitt in "inglorious basterds") The thought being there would be too many of these guns for the Germans to realistically confiscate them all. And also fight a mental battle, as the Germans would not know who had a gun and who might shoot them when their back was turned. An interesting approach, but the program never really caught on.
 
One of the more interesting gun factories in WWII was in Denmark. Right under the noses of the Germans !! There was a TV show about this .Sub-machine guns were made in a toy making factory .Simple to make , stamped out parts etc.Toys in those days used many stamped steel parts so the gun parts were easy to make.
 
When the M16 first went into general use in the Army, legend has it the plastic stocks were made by Matell Toy Co., and so named on the stock.
 
Singer (the sewing machine company). Singer received a contract to make M1911A1 pistols. They produced a first test run of 500 pistols, then for whatever reason they never went into full production.
 
Daewoo.
Western Auto.
Sears.
JC Penney.
KMart.
Coast to Coast.


Edit- Didn't Westinghouse also make some 91/30's or some variant for Imperial Russia back when they had their imperial thing going on?
Click to expand...
Remington made some MN 1891s for them.
Winchester made some 1895s for them.
Some never made it out of the United States, much to the dismay of the manufacturers.

Related, but not gun-related:
Around the same time, Baldwin Locomotive Works was building 2-10-0 "Decapod" steam locomotives for Imperial Russia (and their unique track gauge), and got stuck with 200 of them that Russia decided they no longer wanted. ...Aside from the loss of 250 more in the contract, and various parts that had already been manufactured.

Russia has a history of doing things like that to American firms....
 
I think IBM's first Contract was for BAR's

Always wanted one that reflected that. Don't know why, just seemed like the epitome of 'Arsenal Of Democracy' in action.
 
The General Electric minigun. I am seriously thinking of buying one. The ammo requirement is the only thing stopping me. If there was only a way to get it down to 1,000 rounds per minute, I'd be all over it.
 
Kelsey-Hayes Wheel division M2 50 cal
Royal McBee typewriters BAR
Standard Products Company M1 Carbine
High Standard M1919 .30 cal
 
I think General Motors made the obscure FP-42 Liberator... The thought being it would supply every civilian with a gun to kill one Nazi then take his gun to kill more Nazis... And also fight a mental battle, as the Germans would not know who had a gun and who might shoot them when their back was turned. An interesting approach, but the program never really caught on.
Click to expand...
The division of GM that made the Liberator pistol was the Guide Lamp Division, which originally made oil and gas lamps, but later evolved into a headlight and electrical parts supplier and was renamed the Guide Division to reflect this (no pun intended).

Although I don't remember the source offhand, IIRC the planned deployment of the Liberator was actually quashed by senior U.S. Army leadership—reportedly including Dwight Eisenhower himself—due to concerns that distributing large numbers of borderline unsafe pistols would be tactically ineffective, would recklessly endanger well-meaning but untrained French citizens who didn't know how to use them safely, and would play into the hands of the Nazi propaganda machine. The program was ditched in favor of a program to deliver "real" guns and ammo directly to hand-picked groups of French partisans, the logic being that if the U.S. was going to provoke the Nazis by arming the Resistance, they might as well do it with guns that WORK. I can't say that I disagree. :)

FWIW if you're shocked at the apparent waste of resources, given that hundreds of thousands of Liberator pistols were produced, you likely haven't studied WWII history that thoroughly; the Allies (and Axis!) started production of dozens of useless weapons system that were ultimately a waste of time and resources, and the Liberator program wasn't nearly as expensive as some of them (Google "Convair B-32 Dominator"). :rolleyes:

Getting back to the original question... I nominate:
  • Husqvarna. Although this company was originally founded as a weapons maker, and has made all sorts of different machinery over the years, you'd be hard pressed to find many Americans who associate the brand name with anything other than small power equipment, sewing machines, and motorcycles, likely in that order.
  • Toyo Cork Kogyo, maker of Arisaka rifles during WWII, now known as the Mazda Motor Corporation after their most successful postwar product line. Now if I could just figure out how to fit an assembled Arisaka Type 38 into the trunk of a Miata... ;)
 
Abercrombie & Fitch(especially for those born in the last couple of decades)
Click to expand...

Sorry, A&F, like Weatherby and others, never made anything. Having some company putting your name on the gun means nothing
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top