Weapons manufacturer

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Arms manufacturers are people and companies that manufacture arms on a commercial basis .

Nowadays, the manufacturers of firearms and armaments such as tanks , bombs , NBC weapons , warships and fighter aircraft are referred to as weapons manufacturers. This article covers arms and armaments manufacturers up to the point of industrialization in the mid-19th century. After that, this article will focus on gun manufacturers.

history

Weapons were already technically specialized goods and commodities in the past. Even today, arms manufacture in various regions reflects tradition, the raw materials available, skilled workers, craftsmanship, production capacity and innovative strength of the regions. This can already be seen in the Stone Age and continues to this day in regional concentrations of weapons manufacturers.

The most famous European armory center was Nuremberg , which was called the Ruhr area of ​​the Middle Ages. The iron ore deposits in the nearby Upper Palatinate served as a source of raw materials. The Nuremberg craft specialized in the manufacture of iron goods of all kinds. The trades of the 13th century ranged from shearers to scythesmiths, from armor makers to mail shirt makers, bonnets, bladesmiths and swordsmen. Weapons were an important product of the Nuremberg trade. Great attention was paid to good quality. The craftsmen produced large numbers. Already at the end of the 16th century there were two arsenals, six arsenals and numerous other stores.

There were also ideal conditions in the Thuringian Forest. Wolfgang Piersig writes about the arms trade in the Thuringian Forest : “This included mines from which the ore was extracted; Wood, charcoal or hard coal or lignite for the smelting furnaces, with the help of which the metal could be melted from the ore; Hydropower, which powered the forges and machines that shaped the steel into the desired shape; Masters as well as skilled workers who had to have enough experience to guarantee the production in sufficient quality as well as a developed infrastructure, such as waterways or well-paved country roads, on which the products could be safely transported to the recipient ”. There is evidence that armor, armor and swords have been manufactured in Suhl since 1499 . From 1535 onwards, gunsmiths from Nuremberg settled in Suhl. Raw materials from the surrounding area, mining, the possibilities of using water power and the craftsmanship of Suhl made arms manufacture ever larger until the Thirty Years' War. In the meantime, Suhl was given the name “German Damascus” with a view to what was then the weapons center in the Orient. Other armories in the Thuringian Forest were Schmalkalden , Zella-Mehlis , Schleusingen and Ilmenau (current seat of the State Office for Metrology and Calibration of Thuringia)

There were similar conditions in Japan . Swords, lances and other Japanese weapons, mostly from Kyoto, have been in high demand in China since the 15th century . “ From the perspective of the Chinese, swords - and other Japanese weapons - were not only considered perfect because they cut so sharply thanks to their craftsmanship, but they also considered them to be perfect works of art in that they - beautiful to look at - met the highest aesthetic standards were enough . "

The concentration of the forging centers with their high productivity, which far exceeded the demand of local customers, inevitably led to arms exports.

From around 1850, more and more machines were included in production and automated. This industrialization in arms manufacturing resulted in some villages becoming towns (for example Enfield ). With the invention of the percussion weapon a rapid development began. In less than 100 years, multi-shot revolvers , breech- loading weapons , repeating weapons and the machine gun were created . Due to technical progress and the resulting increasing specialization, the armaments industry split off from arms manufacturers.

International reputation enjoy today before the Second World War in the Waffen city Suhl based weapons manufacturer JP Sauer & Sohn (founded in 1751, now in Eckernförde and Isny) that Samson (founded in 1856) -Werke, CG Haenel (established in 1840, currently in Suhl) , Heinrich Krieghoff (founded 1886, now in Ulm), Merkel (founded 1898, currently in Suhl), as well as companies from the neighboring town of Zella-Mehlis such as Carl Walther GmbH (founded 1886, now in Ulm and Arnsberg), Anschütz (now in Ulm), Reitz & Recknagel (founded in 1867, now in Schweinfurt), Lothar Walther (now in Königsbronn), EM-GE (now in Gerstetten), Röhm GmbH (now in Sontheim), Hans Schmeisser (now in Krefeld) and Weihrauch ( now in Mellrichstadt).

The companies FN Herstal (Liège), Browning , Winchester , Smith & Wesson , Colt , Remington , Springfield and Marlin (USA), Steyr Mannlicher (Austria), SIG (Switzerland), IMI (Israel) and SAKO, also founded before the Second World War (Finland) are still active in the arms market today - either themselves or as a subsidiary via a holding company.

The increased demand for hunting and sporting weapons among the bourgeoisie in the middle of the 19th century led some weapon manufacturers such as Sauer and Merkel to concentrate on civilian weapons at an early stage.

As early as the 19th century, the first civilian arms dealers established their houses or expanded their arms production through trading houses.

As part of the German war economy, numerous civilian arms manufacturers were recruited to manufacture armaments - also with the help of slave labor - until 1945. These companies included Sauer, who concentrated on the civilian market again between the two world wars and after the end of the war, and Mauser, who only split firearms ( Mauser ) and armaments ( Rheinmetall Defense ) in 2004 .

Current

In the age of industrialization, most arms manufacturers have specialized either in the manufacture of civilian firearms (including a small proportion of precision rifles and handguns for official use) or in military weapons and weapon systems. The companies Heckler & Koch , Steyr Mannlicher , Beretta , FN Herstal and IMI / IWI are among the larger mixed companies that serve both product lines.

The gun manufacturer Colt , which also operated both rails until the 1980s, losing large market shares and almost going bankrupt, has been concentrating on the military industry since the 1990s, while the former Smith & Wesson holding company became American Outdoor in early 2017 Brands Corporation continues to supply the civilian arms business (police, private market, hunting). The Walther company took the other path, dispensed with military weapons and has only been producing for the sport shooting sector and for the government market since the 1990s.

It can currently be observed that gun manufacturers are joining together to form large corporate groups, such as the Herstal Group ( Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre , Browning International), Winchester (Olin), the Lüke and Ortmeier Association ( Blaser , Mauser , SIG Sauer , Sauer ), the Beretta Group ( Sako , Tikka, Benelli ), the Umarex Group ( Walther , Hämmerli , Röhm ) or unprofitable companies shut down and reduce capacities ( Royal Small Arms Factory ).

In addition, there are individual, highly specialized weapon manufacturers such as Perazzi , Sabatti or Korth who, as gunsmiths , have dedicated themselves to the production of individual items and to tuning - i.e. improving and adapting them to the individual user. The modifications of the S&W Club 30, the exclusive models from Waimex (formerly Wischo) and the German modifications of the Taurus models by Helmut Hofmann (Mellrichstadt) serve as examples of German tuning models. The various modifications of the Mauser 98 system to safari rifles by the various gunsmiths, e.g. B. Johannsen (Neumünster).

Legal distinction

The Small Arms Survey differentiates arms manufacturers in its 2001 report as follows:

Legal production

Manufactured or assembled from legally sourced components and parts with the permission of the relevant government agency.

License construction

Reproduction of a product with the permission of the manufacturer, usually against financial compensation. As a rule, copies of the construction plans are given to the licensee . The licensor often helps the licensee to start production.

Illegal manufacture

Manufactured and assembled from illegally acquired components or parts without the permission of the relevant government agency. This also includes craft and home work. In some cases, the state itself is involved in unauthorized manufacture under international law if it allows products from another country or company to be copied without their consent.

Illegal craft / home work

This type of production takes place in small private workshops or at home without any legal (state and / or licensing) approval. This type of manufacturing is typically simple, small-scale, and is typically done manually rather than using complex manufacturing processes. Most artisanal products consist of simple single loaded weapons and / or illegal copies of branded products.

Firearms situation broken down by country

In international sources, war firearms and hunting / sporting weapons are summarized as small arms . According to the 2001 Small Arms Survey, the number of small arms manufacturers rose from 200 companies in 1980 to over 600 companies in 2000. Despite the increased number of manufacturers, production has decreased. While 6.3 million small arms were produced worldwide between 1980 and 1998, production fell to 4.3 million in 2000 with a market value of 1.4 billion US dollars. FN Herstal (Belgium) and Heckler & Koch (Germany) are among the largest licensors.

According to the Small Arms Survey, at least 25 countries illegally manufactured small arms in 2000. 3% to 16% of these were sold in their own country. The rest went into illegal arms exports.

The largest three countries

United States

75% of all small arms were manufactured in the United States in 1998. Most of the sales took place in their own country. In 1997 there were 191 private arms manufacturers in the United States, of which only 55 had more than 20 employees. Firearms were manufactured for $ 1.2 billion with 9,907 jobs. In 1998 US production was 3.7 million firearms, 6% of which (215,096) were exported.

In the US, the largest gun manufacturers are Sturm, Ruger & Co. (pistols and rifles), Smith & Wesson (revolvers and pistols) and Remington Arms (shotguns).

China

There is no exact data on Chinese firearms production, only data from importing countries. Between 1987 and 1994, China was the main exporter to the USA. 15% of the imports came from China. The largest manufacturers are the state-owned companies Norinco and PolyTechnologies. Norinco exported firearms worth around $ 2 billion annually in the 1990s, 70% of which were for civilian use.

Russian Federation

The Russian arms industry is largely state-owned. The two most important production centers are located in Tula ( Tulski Oruscheiny Sawod ) and Izhevsk ( Ischmasch ). Both cities have many factories that manufacture firearms, including the 9mm Makarov pistol and derivatives of the AK-47 assault rifle . In the early 1990s, arms exports made up 70 to 80% of Ischmasch's income. That proportion had reduced to about 39 million US dollars by 2000. Exact data on Russian production are not known.

The middle 23 countries

In Europe : More than 200 companies, that is a third of all firearms manufacturers, are located in Europe. The most important manufacturers are Glock (Austria), Steyr (beginnings in the Steyr works ) (Austria), FN Herstal (Belgium), Nexter (ex GIAT) (France), Beretta (Italy), Rheinmetall (Germany), Santa Bárbara Sistemas (Spain), Celsius (ex Svenska Varv ) (Sweden), SIG (Germany), Heckler & Koch (Germany), Walther (Germany) and Royal Ordnance (UK). The middle arms manufacturing countries include in alphabetical order Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Firearms are produced in a total of 39 countries in Europe and the CIS countries.

Germany : According to the Association of German Gunsmiths and Gun Dealers (VDB) and the Association of Manufacturers of Hunting, Sporting Weapons and Ammunition (JSM), almost 5000 people are employed in industrial sporting weapons production in Germany. In 2009, hunting and sporting weapons worth over 275 million euros were manufactured. Data on military production are not available. However, the 2007 armaments report states that civilian firearms exports accounted for 72% of all firearms exports.

Outside Europe : At least 19 countries including China produce firearms in the Pacific region. The middle manufacturing countries include India, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Brazil and South Africa are the most important medium-sized arms manufacturers outside Europe and Asia, followed by the Middle Eastern countries Egypt, Israel, Pakistan and Turkey.

The small 29 countries

They include, in alphabetical order, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Yugoslavia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine and Venezuela.

Production within the EU

The annual report of the European Association of Arms Dealers AECAC in 2010 listed the production values ​​for the years 2004 to 2008. The report distinguishes between firearms ( categories A to D ) and other firearms . The latter include signal weapons , air weapons , airsoft weapons, antique weapons and reproductions.

On average, the countries of the EU produced firearms and non-firearms worth 700 million euros per year. Almost 200 million went to non-firearms. While the sales figures rose steadily, the number of firearms decreased from 2.2 to 1.9 million. The non-firearms increased from 800,000 to 1.2 million and decreased to a million.

  • Production of the EU in euros

  • Production of the EU in quantities

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arno Schütze: Weapons for friends and foes. The armaments trade in Nuremberg during the Thirty Years War in the yearbook for economic history edition 2004/2: Markets in pre-industrial Europe . Akademie-Verlag, 2004, ISBN 978-3-05-004036-3 .
  2. ↑ a b Arms trade in the Thirty Years' War ( memento from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) private website of Klaus Koniarek - viewed on January 3, 2011
  3. ^ [1] Wolfgang Piersig: Overview of the development of the arms trade in the Thuringian Forest . GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2009, ISBN 978-3-640-52233-0 .
  4. ^ Art engravings - viewed on January 1, 2011
  5. ^ Weapons Museum Suhl viewed on January 1, 2011
  6. ↑ State Office for Metrology and Calibration Thuringia official website - accessed on January 3, 2011
  7. ^ [2] Csaba Oláh: Predatory Chinese and treacherous Japanese: The diplomatic relations between China and Japan in the 15th and 16th centuries . Harrassowitz, 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-06071-4 .
  8. ^ Weapons city of Suhl viewed on January 1, 2011
  9. ↑ Directory of North German armaments factories with forced labor camps, overview with sources at Gegenwind.info (accessed on October 27, 2009)
  10. ↑ S&W Club 30 - official homepage - viewed on January 14, 2011
  11. ↑ Waimex ( Memento of November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) S&W exclusive models - viewed on January 14, 2011
  12. ^ Taurus Europe models ( Memento from October 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) at the IWA
  13. ↑ Johannsen Magnum Systems - accessed on January 15, 2011
  14. ↑ Small Arms Survey 2001 (PDF; 1.2 MB) Chapter 1, Box 1.2, p. 4
  15. ↑ Small Arms: Products and Manufacturers (PDF; 158 kB) Summary of the 2001 yearbook of the Small Arms Survey - accessed on February 2, 2011
  16. ↑ Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2001 Chapter 1, p. 25, PDF file (1.1 MB) - accessed February 2, 2011
  17. ↑ Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2001 Chapter 1, p. 45, PDF file (1.1 MB) - accessed February 2, 2011
  18. ↑ Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2001 Chapter 1, p. 33, PDF file (1.1 MB) - accessed February 2, 2011
  19. ↑ Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2001 Chapter 1, p. 30, PDF file (1.1 MB) - accessed February 2, 2011
  20. ↑ The economic factor of the hunting and sporting arms industry, press release of IWA & OutdoorClassics 2011 - viewed on March 18, 2011
  21. ↑ Arms Export Report 2007 ( Memento from December 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.4 MB) BMI - accessed on February 3, 2011
  22. ↑ Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2001 Chapter 1, p. 15, PDF file (1.1 MB) - accessed February 2, 2011
  23. ↑ Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2001 Chapter 1, p. 16, PDF file (1.1 MB) - accessed February 2, 2011
  24. ↑ a b Report of AECAC 2010 on AECAC.eu, PDF file (763 KB) - accessed on May 1, 2013