#Manufacturers

In yet another sign of changing times within the firearms industry, an anonymous source contacted TFB with the news that Howell Munitions & Technology laid off an unknown number of employees for a temporary two-week period. Apparently employees were also given the “option” to find employment elsewhere.

FNH USA – Fabrique Nationale d’Herstal, which is French for National Factory of Herstal – was founded in 1889. The company was founded for the purpose of producing 150,000 Mauser Model 89 rifles that were requested by the Belgian Government. It didn’t take long for the company to stand on its own, however, and today they are well-known and respected for designing and manufacturing quality, reliable firearms.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives keeps data on all firearms manufacturers and how much they produce each year. We at TFB thought it would interest our readers to take a look at this data and see which ten manufacturers produced the most. The BATFE has so far only published data for the year 2012, so that’s what we’ll be looking at.