& sons type private industry arms industry founded 1919 1 2 headquarters north haven connecticut u.s. 2 3 products firearms scopes net income us 24 600 000 2 number of employees 500 2 website www.mossberg.com o.f. mossberg & sons commonly known as mossberg is an american firearms manufacturer specializing in shotguns rifles scopes and firearm accessories . contents 1 origins 2 connecticut production 3 maverick arms 4 products 5 products 6 references 7 external links origins edit oscar frederick mossberg 1866 1937 was born on 1 september 1866 in sweden near the village of svanskog in v rmland and emigrated to the united states in 1886 . 4 a native of sweden mossberg went to work at the iver johnson arms & cycle works in fitchburg massachusetts . while at iver johnson mossberg supervised the manufacture of revolvers and shotguns while contributing some of his own patented designs including a top strap latching mechanism for the iver johnson safety revolver . 4 5 when mossberg left iver johnson he went on to manage the small factory of the c.s. shattuck arms co. in nearby hatfield massachusetts which manufactured single and double barrel breechloading shotguns . from there he went to work for j. stevens arms & tool co. where he designed a small 4 shot novelty pistol which he patented in his name . 4 working out of an old barn behind his house mossberg and his sons made about 500 of these 4 shot pistols between 1907 and 1909 . 4 in 1914 mossberg left stevens moving to new haven connecticut in order to work for marlin rockwell . 4 in 1919 when marlin rockwell went out of business they primarily made machineguns and world war i had just ended the unemployed 53 year old o.f. mossberg and his two sons iver and harold started a new firearms company of their own o.f. mossberg & sons . 4 renting a small loft on state street in new haven the mossbergs began work on a simple four shot .22 caliber pocket pistol the brownie . 4 marketed largely to hunters and trappers for the humane dispatch of wounded or trapped animals approximately 37 000 brownie pistols were produced from 1920 to 1932 . 4 connecticut production edit thanks to the brownie pistol the mossbergs firearms business grew steadily and in 1921 the company purchased a building on greene street in new haven connecticut . 4 in 1922 the company introduced the first of a new line of .22 rimfire mossberg rifles a pump action repeater designed by arthur e. savage the son of the owner of savage arms corp. 4 after building a third factory in new haven connecticut in 1937 mossberg continued to produce simple economical firearms for the civilian market . o.f. mossberg died in 1937 and the business continued under his son harold . 4 during world war ii the company made parts for browning m2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun and for the enfield no. 4 rifle under contract as well as the u.s. model 42 and model 44 .22 caliber bolt action rifle which was used for preliminary small arms training for the army and navy . 4 in 1960 the company shifted production to a new facility in north haven a few miles away . at one time the plant employed hundreds of skilled workers many of whom had previously worked at other well known firearms manufacturers such as colt s manufacturing company marlin firearms smith & wesson and winchester . o.f. mossberg & sons has remained a family owned business to this day and is the oldest family owned firearms manufacturer in america . 6 today while the corporate headquarters remains in north haven the company has moved nearly all firearms production to its eagle pass texas facility in response to new firearms legislation and has reduced its north haven workforce accordingly . 7 maverick arms edit in 1989 faced with increased foreign competition and rising labor and production costs mossberg s corporate affiliate maverick arms opened a 40 000 square foot manufacturing plant in the eagle pass industrial park in the state of texas . the eagle pass texas production facility was greatly enlarged in 2013 after new gun control legislation was signed into law in connecticut which would have banned some mossberg rifles and shotguns as illegal firearms because some models incorporated a pistol grip into the design of the stock . 8 with the addition of 116 000 square feet of factory space at the eagle pass facility mossberg also expanded its texas workforce to 450 employees . 9 today over 90 % of all o.f. mossberg & sons shotguns and rifles are produced at the eagle pass texas facility . 9 products edit following the success of the brownie .22 pistol mossberg developed a line of inexpensive .22 caliber rifles shotguns and rifle scopes . 10 from the 1940s through the 1960s mossberg produced a hi line of .22 caliber target and sporting rifles . 2 3 11 after the end of world war ii mossberg concentrated on producing sporting long guns for the entry level sportsman particularly shotguns . most of these were bolt action or pump action designs . in august 1961 mossberg introduced the 500 series pump action shotgun which eventually became one of the most produced sporting firearms in the world with over ten million shotguns sold . 12 designed by carl benson mossberg s lead design engineer the 500 was originally intended for use by the entry level hunter and sportsman but has since become popular for home defense use as well . using a forged aluminum receiver and steel bolt that locks into a steel extension of the barrel to save weight the gun was designed with a minimum of parts that could be produced easily with a minimum of machining required and which could be installed without hand fitting . variants of the basic mossberg 500 shotgun have been adopted for use by the u.s. military as well as law enforcement . diversifying in the 1960s the company at one point produced gun racks golf clubs and even campers and sailboats but never abandoned its core sporting firearms business . citation needed today mossberg produces a complete line of bolt action lever action and autoloading rifles as well as pump action and autoloading shotguns all made in the usa . citation needed the company also markets an imported line of over under shotguns bearing the mossberg name . citation needed products edit mossberg 715t 22 . lr mossberg brownie 4 shot .22 derringer pistol model 42 .22 bolt action rifle model 44 .22 bolt action rifle mossberg 100atr mossberg 183 mossberg 185 mossberg 464 mossberg 500 pump action shotgun new haven 600 mossberg 800 series 1 mossberg 930 autoloading shotgun mossberg maverick mossberg mmr hunter rifle mossberg plinkster mossberg 144 lsa mossberg mvp 5.56 mossberg blaze .22 caliber rifle mossberg blaze 47 mossberg patriot references edit of mossberg & sons inc. armed and ready . us industry today . retrieved 2008 05 29 . a b c d e o.f. mossberg & sons inc.north haven ct united states . retrieved 2008 05 29 . a b o.f. mossberg & sons inc. . mcraes bluebook . retrieved 2008 05 29 . a b c d e f g h i j k l gun digest the mossberg story 17th anniversary edition chicago the gun digest co. 1963 pp. 120 124 i. johnson & o. mossberg u.s. patent no. 511 620 dec. 26 1893 about mossberg . retrieved 2008 05 29 . haar dan upbeat gun industry numbers mask deep turmoil a year after law the hartford courant 6 april 2014 bellmore michael mossberg gun company may leave connecticut after 100 years of making shotguns litchfield county times 27 april 2013 a b miniter frank america s largest shotgun maker shifts more jobs to texas forbes magazine online 11 july 2014 o.f mossberg a brief history of the early years mossberg international 702 plinkster . mossbergintl.com . retrieved 2008 09 13 . mossberg 500 surpasses 10 millionth production landmark the daily caller 30 april 2013 external links edit official website mossberg forum a brief history of o.f. mossberg & sons inc. at the wayback machine archived november 27 2010 v t e o.f. mossberg & sons firearms rifles bolt action 100atr 801 802 semi automatic plinkster lever action 464 shotguns pump action 500 590 590 a1 maverick new haven 600 bolt action 183 185 semi automatic 930 handguns derringer brownie category commons wikimedia commons has media related to o.f. mossberg & sons . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title o.f. mossberg % 26 sons & oldid 735657414 categories o.f. mossberg & sonsfirearm manufacturers of the united statesnorth haven connecticutshotgunshidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from june 2016articles with wayback machine linkscommons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated 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