#FAMAE

For today’s Photo Of The Day, we have pictures of the Chilean FAMAE SG 543-1M rifle. The pictures are from  Tactical Imports Corporation‘s website which has just started importing these rifles to Canada. Designed by SIG Sauer AG (formerly SIG Arms AG and SAN Swiss Arms AG) and produced by FAMAE (Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército de Chile), the SG 543-1M is chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO and is gas operated with a long-stroke piston, rotating bolt lockup and adjustable gas block.  The price of the FAMAE SG 543-1M rifle in Canada starts at 3,599 CAD.

FAMAE, Chile’s state-owned firearms manufacturer, currently offers a range of 9x19mm SAF submachine guns, an updated clone of the SIG SG 540 and a Galil ACE clone – which is set to become Chile’s service rifle. For a number of years, their portfolio has been lacking a pistol. The company has identified a military and law enforcement need for new 9x19mm pistols and feel the new Vulcano will fill this gap.

Having manufactured its MT-12, MT-12A and MT-12AD 9x19mm submachine guns for several years, Forjas Taurus started looking at new designs to replace those weapons generally based on the Italian Beretta M12 that had been created by Domenico Salza and entered production in the early 1960s. Once again, the Brazilian company’s eyes turned to an out-of-the-country source, this time, Chile’s FAMAE – Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército.  That State-owned company signed an agreement with Switzerland’s  SIG – Schweizenche Industrie Gesellschaft  concern in the 1980s covering the license manufacture of the 5.56x45mm SG 540-1 and SG 543-1 rifles as well as of the 7.62x51mm SG 542-1 model, the whole set of engineering drawings and production machinery being  provided.

Among the few South American countries that make firearms, Chile is generally well known for its SIG-based 7.62x51mm (SG 542-1) and 5.56x45mm (SG 540-1) rifles, plus  9x19mm and .40S&W submachine guns (SAF, Mini SAF, and SAF 200). The whole operation is in the hands of State-owned FAMAE – Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército (Army Factories and Workshops), which was originally born within the military structure. Friar – and, later, also Army Lieutenant Colonel! — Luis Beltran y Bustos founded it in the capital city of Santiago back in 1811, and over the years it has contributed to the country’s industrialization process. In the 1920s and 1930s, for example, production and commercialization included agricultural and railroad machinery, while in the WWII period home appliance items were included in the list.

In this episode of TFBTV we introduce Edward, our Canadian Contingent. For his first video we take a look at an SG540 from Chilean state arms manufacturer FAMAE, and its natural evolution: the SG550 from Swiss Arms.

FAMAE, Chilean maker of SIG 540 derivatives, has announced their intention to import their products to the USA, through importer AD&R Imports. Many of the products will have to be imported as pistols, but FAMAE has also offered to import the shorter weapons with stocks for buyers with completed Form 1 paperwork. Aftermath Gun Club has covered some of the guns likely to be imported:

Earlier this year we reported that  Chile had officially announced the adoption of the IWI GALIL ACE, the 5.56×45 mm version, as the standard service rifle of the Chilean Army. Local defense manufacturer FAMAE will be manufacturing the ACE under license from IWI. Infodefensa.com reports that last week the first FAMAE produced GALIL’s were presented to General Humberto Oviedo, Chief of the Chilean Army.

The Chilean manufacturer FAMAE now has a US importer, AD&R Imports is currently bringing in Law Enforcement and dealer samples of the FAMAE product line.

The FAMAE Firearms Family is a product of the Chilean state-owned manufacturing company Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército and the Swiss Arms company, formerly Sig Sauer. The Chileans have licensed the original Sig540 design to outfit their armed forces.

Canadians can now purchase the SIG SG540 series manufactured by FAMAE of Chile. Tactical Imports announced the SG540, SG542, and SG543 [image above] have finally been classified for importation approval. The former two are assigned a non-restrictive classification while the SG543 is considered restricted, due to the barrel length being shorter than the required 470mm (18.5 in).

Those lucky Canadians get all sorts of nifty guns (for a price). The FAMAE SAF I blogged about earlier this week will soon go on sale in Canada later this month. Canadian firm Tactical Imports are bringing in civilian-legal semi-automatic models.

Chilean company FAMAE manufactures SIG firearms under license. One of their more interesting guns is the FAMAE SAF , a SIG SG540 rifle scaled down to a 9mm submachine gun. The latest model features a full length picatinny rail and a nifty angled foregrip build into the handguard.