Weaver (company)

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Weaver Optics

logo
legal form Inc.
founding 1930
Seat Anoka , USA
Website http://www.weaveroptics.com/

Weaver is a US American manufacturers as well as a brand for rifle scopes and mounts . In addition to various innovations in the field of riflescopes, the company is known for the so-called " Weaver rail " - a rail accessory assembly. It formed the basis for the Picatinny rail (STANAG 2324) and later the NATO rail (STANAG 4694).

William Ralph Weaver (1905–1975) founded the company in 1930 in a small workshop in Newport . Before that, he produced license plates on self-made machines. The riflescopes available at the time, usually imported from Germany, were relatively expensive; Weaver was able to significantly undercut the price with its riflescopes. In 1933 the small company moved to larger premises in El Paso .

Weaver 330C or M73B1 on Springfield M1903A4

The company grew steadily and by the 1940s, Weaver was the world's largest manufacturer of riflescopes , spurred on by orders for the US armed forces during World War II . During the war, Weaver produced 36,000 rifle scopes of the 330C type, under the military designation M73B1, for the Springfield M1903A4 sniper rifle . In contrast to other companies, Weaver managed to return to the civilian market relatively well after the end of the war. In 1964 the company moved again to newly built, enlarged premises; with 600 employees, Weaver reached its peak in the late 1960s. WR Weaver, however, overtook itself with its course of innovation and growth and had to sell its company to the Olin Corporation . Increasing competition from home and abroad made Weaver to create and in 1984 the production was finally stopped. Omark Industries took over the production of the assemblies in Onalaska and sold imported rifle scopes under the Weaver brand from 1988. Weaver was bought and split up by Alliant Techsystems in 2001 ; Alliant Techsystems sold the optical division to Meade Instruments Corporation in 2002 but kept the mounts. In 2008 Alliant Techsystems bought back Weaver Optics and reunited them with the mount company. Weaver Optics is now part of Vista Outdoor .

Web links

  • Bryce Towsley: 80 Years of Weaver Scopes in American Rifleman, June 28, 2010 [5]
  • David Fortier: An American Tradition In Optics in Shooting Times, September 23, 2010 [6]
  • Howard E. French: Weaver Scope Mounts division purchased by Omark in Guns & Ammo, July 1, 1984 [7]
  • Weaver's new era riflescopes in Sporting Shooter, January 1, 2009, [8]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Bryce Towsley: 80 Years of Weaver Scopes in American Rifleman, June 28, 2010 [1]
  2. ^ J. Guthrie: Rail Crazy: Picatinny Rail Basics , in Shooting Times, September 23, 2010 [2]
  3. ↑ a b David Fortier: An American Tradition In Optics in Shooting Times, September 23, 2010 [3]
  4. ↑ Howard E. French: Weaver Scope Mounts division purchased by Omark in Guns & Ammo, July 1, 1984 [4]