Nine Hundred Years of Gunsmiths
History & Tradition

Honoré Blanc (1736-1801), French gunsmith who pioneered the use of interchangeable parts

Hugo Borchardt (6 June, 1844 – 8 May, 1924), German firearms inventor and engineer, invented the Borchardt C-93 pistol and Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle.

Nicolas-Noël Boutet (31 August, 1761 – 1833), French gunsmith, bladesmith, director of Versailles state arms factory

Browning family

Jonathan Browning (October 22, 1805 – June 21, 1879), American pioneer and firearms inventor. Was a notable producer of harmonica guns, an early type of repeating rifle.

John M. Browning (January 23, 1855 – November 26, 1926), firearms inventor and designer. Created many notable firearms, including the Browning Auto-5, Winchester Model 12, the Browning Automatic Rifle, M1911 pistol, and the M1919 Browning and M2 Browning.

Val A. Browning (August 20, 1895 – May 16, 1994), weapons designer and engineer. Designed the Browning Double Automatic Shotgun.

Henry Deringer (October 26, 1786 – February 28, 1868), inventor of the Derringer pistol.

Louis-Nicolas Flobert (1819 – 1894), French inventor of the first rimfire metallic cartridge in 1845.

John Garand (January 1, 1888 – February 16, 1974), Canadian-American firearms designer, inventor of the M1 Garand.

Richard Jordan Gatling (September 12, 1818 – February 26, 1903), inventor of the Gatling gun.

Jacob and Samuel Hawken (1786 – 1849, 1792 – 1884), American gunsmiths, designed the Hawken rifle.

Alexander Henry (1818-1894), Scottish gunsmith, designed the Henry rifling and barrel used in the Martini–Henry rifle.

Benjamin Tyler Henry (March 22, 1821–December 29, 1898), American gunsmith, inventor of the Henry rifle.

Kunitomo Ikkansai (November 21, 1778 – December 26, 1840), Japanese gun manufacturer.

Erik Jørgensen (17 May 1848 – 1896), Norwegian gunsmith, noted for his part in developing the Krag–Jørgensen rifle.

Mikhail Kalashnikov (10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013), Soviet firearms designer, inventor of the AK-47 and AK-74 line of assault rifles.

Ole Herman Johannes Krag (7 April 1837 – 9 December 1916), Norwegian military officer and weapons designer, noted for his part in developing the Krag–Jørgensen rifle.

Jean Alexandre LeMat (1824–1883), French gunsmith, inventor of the LeMat revolver.

Georg Luger (6 March, 1849 – 22 December, 1923), Austrian weapons designer, inventor of the Luger pistol and the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge.

Nikolay Makarov, (22 May, 1914 – 13 May, 1988), Soviet weapons designer, inventor of the Makarov pistol.

Mauser family

Paul Mauser (27 June, 1838 – 29 May, 1914), German weapons designer, manufacturer, and industrialist.

Wilhelm Mauser (2 May, 1834 – 13 January, 1882), German weapons designer, manufacturer, and industrialist.

Hiram Maxim (February 5, 1840 – November 24, 1916), American-born inventor and later naturalized British subject, known as the inventor of the Maxim gun.

Bob Munden (February 8, 1942 – December 10, 2012), gunsmith and exhibition shooter.

Evelyn Owen (1915 – 1949), Australian gunsmith and inventor of the Owen submachine gun.

William B. Ruger (June 21, 1916 – July 6, 2002), American gunsmith and co-founder of Sturm, Ruger & Company.

Dieudonné Saive (1889–1973), Belgian small arms designer, inventor of the FN Model 1949 and the FN FAL.

Giulio V. Savioli (June 12, 1933 – July 31, 2009), Italian-American firearms designer and gunsmith.

Eugene Stoner (November 22, 1922 – April 24, 1997), American firearms designer, inventor of the ArmaLite AR-15, later adopted for military use as the M16 rifle.

Patrick Sweeney, American gunsmith, author, and editor of Guns & Ammo magazine.

John T. Thompson (December 31, 1860 – June 21, 1940), United States Army officer, inventor of the Thompson submachine gun.

Fedor Tokarev (2 June 1871 – 6 March 1968), Russian weapons designer, designed the Tokarev pistols and rifles.

Ernest Vervier, Belgian gunsmith, designed the FN MAG and FN Minimi.

Carl Walther (22 November, 1858 – 9 July, 1915), German gunsmith, founder of the firm Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.