industry arms industry founded 1816 headquarters huntsville al lonoke ar hickory ky ilion ny madison nc 1 united states number of locations 6 area served worldwide key people jim marcotuli ceo products firearms ammunition and accessories revenue 950 million usdas of 2004 number of employees 3500 parent remington outdoor company website http www.remington.com remington arms company llc is an american manufacturer of firearms and ammunition in the united states . it was founded in 1816 by eliphalet remington in ilion new york as e. remington and sons . remington is america s oldest gun maker and it s america s oldest factory that still makes its original product guns . 2 it is the only u.s. company which produces both firearms and ammunition domestically and is the largest u.s. producer of shotguns and rifles . remington has also developed or adopted more cartridges than any other gun maker or ammunition manufacturer in the world . additionally its products are distributed in over 60 foreign countries making its distribution base and availability wider than those of its competitors . citation needed since 2007 remington arms is part of the remington outdoors group 2 which is owned by cerberus capital management . remington built a new plant in huntsville alabama which is now building modern sporting rifles msr and remington 1911 r1 pistols . 3 4 contents 1 history 1.1 19th century origin 1.2 20th century 1.3 21st century 1.3.1 relocation of production plants 2 production sites 3 in national symbolism 4 remington firearms 4.1 rifles 4.1.1 bolt action rifle 4.1.2 pump action rifle 4.1.3 semi automatic rifle 4.1.4 single shot 4.1.5 automatic 4.2 shotguns 4.2.1 pump action shotgun 4.2.2 semi automatic shotgun 4.2.3 break action shotgun 4.3 handguns 4.3.1 semi automatic handgun 4.3.2 derringer 4.3.3 revolvers 4.3.4 other 5 references 6 external links history edit 19th century origin edit the remington company was founded in 1816 . eliphalet remington ii 1793 1861 believed he could build a better gun than he could buy . farming communities in the region were famous for their diverse skills and self sufficiency and the winter seasons were used for crafts that provided goods for self use and also for sale . remington s father was a blacksmith and wanted to expand his business into rifle barrel production . local residents often built their own rifles to save on costs but purchased the barrel . remington s father sent him to a well known barrel maker in a major city to purchase a barrel with the mission of observing the barrel making technique . at the time the method was to heat and wrap long flat bars of iron around a metal rod of the caliber desired . by heating and hammering the coiled bars around the central rod the barrel metal became fused into a solid cylinder at which point the rod was pressed out . after the young man returned home his family added a successful barrel making operation to his father s forge in ilion gorge new york . remington rider single shot deringer . made c. 1860 1863 remington new model army revolver made 1863 1875 remington .46 conversion remington began designing and building a flintlock rifle for himself . at age 23 in the fall of 1816 he entered a shooting match ; though he only finished second his well made gun impressed other shooters . before remington left the field that day he had received so many orders from other competitors that he was now officially in the gunsmithing business . by 1828 the operation moved to nearby ilion new york at the same site which is used by the modern remington firearms plant . on march 7 1888 ownership of e. remington & sons left possession of the remington family and was sold to new owners marcellus hartley and partners . this consisted of hartley and graham of new york new york a major sporting goods chain who also owned the union metallic cartridge company in bridgeport connecticut and the winchester repeating arms company of new haven connecticut . at this time the name was formally changed to the remington arms company . 5 the bridgeport site became the home of remington s ammunition plant . 20th century edit in 1912 remington and union metallic cartridge company were combined into a single entity called remington umc . even today remington produces u.m.c. brand ammunition . in 1915 the plant at ilion was expanded and with this expansion became basically the same plant as today . remington pedersen 51 during world war i remington produced arms under contract for several allied powers . remington produced m1907 15 berthier rifles for france pattern 1914 enfield rifles for britain and model 1891 mosin nagant rifles for imperial russia . as the war intensified remington production grew ever greater . when the u.s. entered the war remington became deeply involved in the war effort . 6 notable contributions by remington included development and production of the u.s. m1917 enfield rifle a simplified version of the british pattern 1914 and development of the pedersen device . late in the war the collapse of the imperial russian government had a severe impact on remington finances . russia had ordered enormous quantities of arms and ammunition but ran short of money to pay for the orders . they delayed payment pointing to alleged defects in remington products . when the bolsheviks took power in the russian revolution they repudiated the contract entirely . remington was left with huge stocks of guns and ammunition and no prospects for payment . the u.s. government stepped up to purchase the firearms thereby preventing remington from absolute loss . 7 noting the explosive growth of business at the beginning of the war and the precipitous decline at the end of the war remington made the conscious decision to promote and emphasize their line of sporting products . they viewed hunting products as a more stable business which might help them to survive future ups and downs . during the great depression remington was purchased by the dupont corporation which had made its fortune with improvements to gunpowder . a year later remington purchased the peters cartridge company ; today many of the remington headstamps still have r p on them for remington peters . 8 in 1940 the u.s. army became worried about its ammunition capacity and asked remington to collaborate in a plan for national expansion . with the aid of dupont remington built the lake city arsenal and denver ordnance ammunition plants and three more plants later on including the lowell ordnance plant . though the plants belonged to the u.s. government remington was asked to oversee their operation . among the weapons remington manufactured for the government during world war ii was the famous m1903a3 springfield bolt action rifle . during the 1950s and 1960s remington branched out into other products besides guns with the purchase of mall tool company in 1956 . 9 10 one of the products was chain saws . 11 the m24 sws military sniper rifle based on the remington 700 . in 1962 remington introduced the model 700 bolt action rifle . the rifle became one of remington s most successful firearms and quickly lent itself to developments of many sub variants including the remington 700 bdl remington 700pss for police and law enforcement agencies the rifle later renamed 700p is very popular among law enforcement agencies and the military m24 sws which was the usa army standard sniper rifle between 1988 2010 and still serves among other armed forces around the world such as the idf . other firearms companies designed and manufactured sniper rifles based on the reliable and accurate remington model 700 action . in 1986 remington closed its ammunition plant in bridgeport connecticut creating a brand new facility in lonoke arkansas . this site was chosen as the geographic center of the sporting ammunition market . a year later remington built a new clay targets plant in athens georgia . in 1993 remington was sold by dupont to the investment firm clayton dubilier & rice cd & r . 21st century edit in june 2007 a private equity firm cerberus capital management acquired remington arms for 370 million including 252 million in assumed debt . this happened because remington was millions of dollars in debt and did not report a profit during the years 2003 2005 . 12 in december 2007 remington arms acquired rifle maker marlin firearms . 13 as of 2009 ammunition sales continued to remain high during the ongoing united states ammunition shortage . chief executive officer ted torbeck said that consumer concerns over future restrictions and taxes on ammunition and firearms by the obama administrations were creating a rise in demand . 14 in october 2009 remington military products acquired suppressor manufacturer advanced armament corporation . 15 in 2010 remington introduced the fastest commercially available shotgun shell hypersonic steel with a patented wad technology that allows the shot to travel at 1700 fps . after a 12 year absence in the handgun market remington announced the model 1911 r1 . the last handgun produced by remington arms the model xp 100r ceased production in 1998 . later that year remington introduced the versa max auto loading shotgun . its patented versa port system self regulates gas pressure based on the length of the cartridge used enabling the shotgun to shoot light 2 3 4 target loads 3 hunting loads and 3 1 2 magnum hunting loads . in 2012 remington won the u.s. army contract to manufacture 24 000 m4a1 carbines at 673 per unit worth 16 163 252 total . 16 in 2013 remington introduced the model 783 bolt action rifle . the engineering team started from scratch and designed advanced accuracy enhancing features to create an all new platform . in 2013 for the first time since 1928 remington began to offer an air rifle called the remington express . 17 relocation of production plants edit remington announced a plan for a new state of the art plant in huntsville alabama on 17 february 2014 . remington moved two production lines from the ilion new york as a result of the fallout from the new york safe act which restricted gun ownership . 2 4 huntsville is now building the ar platform modern sporting rifle msr from bushmaster dpms and remington remington r 15 and 1911 style r 1 pistols in the new al plant which is an 87 million boon for alabama s economy . 18 the new plant consolidates remington s production to promote efficiency and lower production costs . 3 experts in the gun industry believe that it is only a matter of time before remington completely abandons its new york roots for states that are more gun friendly and pro business . 4 production sites edit remington has several production facilities today . corporate headquarters the corporate headquarters for remington arms is located at madison north carolina . firearms plants remington owns two firearms plants . the larger plant is located in ilion new york at the historic site . this plant also is home to remington s powdered metal products division . a new state of the art firearms facility was recently built in mayfield kentucky . ammunition and components plant all of remington s ammunition is now made at the 35 year old plant in lonoke arkansas . this plant also is home to remington s industrial products division and ammunition product services . custom plant custom firearms are hand crafted by professional gunsmiths at the ilion new york facility . technical center the technical and research center for remington is located in elizabethtown kentucky . huntsville alabama facility this new facility will employ 2 000 people and has plans for future expansion . the bushmaster ar msr and 1911 pattern r 1 lines from ilion new york are now produced here . 3 4 dpms