Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Smith & Wesson

Comments

17 comments

  • Hunter Mag
    (AP)Smith & Wesson, an American gun manufacturer with roots going back to 1852, is trying to change its name to American Outdoor Brands Corp.

    According to The Wall Street Journal, the company will ask its shareholders next month to approve of the name change. If it is approved, the company's handguns will still carry the name Smith & Wesson.

    Currently known as Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., the company was acquired by Saf-T-Hammer Corp. in 2002.

    "We believe the new name really better reflects our many brands and products and our growth strategy," a company spokesperson told the Journal.

    Besides firearms, Smith & Wesson now sells hunting knives, flashlights, and equipment used for camping. It was announced last week that Smith & Wesson is purchasing Ultimate Survival Technologies Inc., which makes everything from survival kits to camping gear.
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Interestin article.[^]

    http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/02/20070202-F1-00.html

    TARGET MARKETING
    Smith & Wesson uses brand strength, new products to regain lost sales
    Friday, February 02, 2007
    Adam Gorlick
    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Smith & Wesson may be best recognized as the brand of choice for Dirty Harry, the movie cop who warned punks his .44 Magnum was "the most powerful handgun in the world." But that was in 1971, and much has changed in the past 36 years. Police officers want lighter-weight pistols than the bulky steel revolver "Dirty" Harry Callahan barely concealed under a sport coat. Soldiers need foolproof weapons that won't get jammed by the desert sands.

    There are guns now more powerful than the .44, and Smith & Wesson has realized it can't get by on its name, or Dirty Harry's, alone.

    That's why Mike Golden, Smith & Wesson's CEO for the past two years, has targeted new technologies and sales to the military and police departments to ensure the company's future.

    Except for the pistol-shaped cufflinks he sometimes wears, there isn't much about him that says "gun guy." A past corporate boss at Black & Decker, Kohler and the Stanley Works, Golden, 52, knew more about power tools and toilets than pistols.

    "When I joined the company, I had never shot a firearm before in my life," Golden said. "I tell people the board wasn't looking to find a marksman."

    When he took over the 155-year-old company, its earnings were flat. The country was at war, and the military's handgun contracts were all going to Italy's Beretta. Handgun sales to police departments, a market that Smith & Wesson once practically owned, were going mostly to Glock, an Austrian company.

    "The company had been under-managed and undermarketed for the last 10 to 15 years, at least," Golden said. Golden hired a Washington lobbying firm to go after government contracts. In the past two years, the company has made four deals worth $20 million to make the 9 mm pistols the Army is giving to security forces in Afghanistan.

    Smith & Wesson's earnings have experienced double-digit growth since Golden took over. The company's work force stands at about 900 nonunion employees, 200 of which were hired in the past two years.

    The company reported $50.8 million in sales for its second quarter that ended in October, an increase of 43 percent from the same period in the year before. It expects sales for the 2008 fiscal year to be about $320 million.

    About 75 percent of the company's sales are in the sportinggoods market, which has remained steady despite guncontrol efforts.

    But Golden still has his sights set on government sales.

    This year, the military handgun contract that Beretta has had a lock on for nearly 20 years is expected to come up for bid. Analysts say that deal could fetch about $310 million, and predict that Smith & Wesson's chances to land it are good, but far from guaranteed.

    When Glock introduced a lightweight polymer pistol for police departments in the 1980s, Smith & Wesson's managers "thought cops would never buy a plastic gun," Golden said. They could only watch as police departments shifted to pistols made by other companies.

    Golden pushed the company to come up with a product that could compete, and last year Smith & Wesson launched its M &P (Military and Police) line of polymer pistols. Smith & Wesson has so far climbed back to about 10 percent of sales to police departments, but is still dwarfed by Glock's 65 percent control of the market.
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Just heard on the news that the chairman of S&W has resigned.

    Appears that he had felony convictions back in the 50s.

    Bolt

    PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Went to an auction tonight, and a fellow I know sold me this one, Model 66-3 bull barrel. adj sights :

    Guess people dont like the Wheel guns anymore. Got a Mdl 65 this morning. Damn! 2 in one day..

    SW66.jpg

    Pepe_stand3.jpg

    "A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"
    BIG DOG
    wheelie.gif
    pirate.gif
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Model 422/622.

    Wow, where did these prices come from? For a gun that was billed as average at best, the value sure has rocketed!

    I need a barrel and can't fine one for the life of me.

    Anyone sitting on one of these they want or need to put up for auction?
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Well I showed the old colt, so thought I would share the 9mm S&W that was the 2nd gun I got this week end. This one came with three mags, and the take down tool and book. I might put the Beretta 950 on later. it was the third deal this week end.. LR



    "A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Is ther a step by step Detailed Disassembly for a Smith & Wesson Cs9??

    flag.gif
    navylogo.gif
    logo2.gifwww.operationdearabby.net
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    Recently bought a nice Smith 686 at a gun show. Nice wood grips, shoots great ect.
    I remember seeing a while back that S&W has a site where I can reference the serial # to find out how old/when the gun was made ect.
    Can any of you provide a link for me? I can't seem to find it.
    Thanks!!
    0
  • MVP
    I don't know the site but if you post the serial number I can look it up in my books.
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    That would be great. But I will not be home till after 6 tonight. I can post it then.
    Thanks!
    0
  • bondai
    HAS ANYONE ON THIS SITE HEARD OF GOOGLE...Can gun owners be this stupid?
    0
  • MVP
    quote:Originally posted by bondai
    HAS ANYONE ON THIS SITE HEARD OF GOOGLE...Can gun owners be this stupid?



    I know of atleast one gun owner that appears pretty damn stupid.
    Need his name?[:0]
    Let me give you a hint...starts with a B[;)]
    0
  • SuburbanNoize
    and ends with ONDAI
    0
  • whompuss
    What MVP said +1
    0
  • Hunter Mag
    MVP serial numbers e-mailed. Thanks
    0
  • bondai
    quote:Originally posted by HobbyGuy
    From the majority of his postings, I believe a more appropriate word would be "COWARD" [;)]


    Coward? I'll tell you what brave boy...Give me your address and I'll come to your house and we can discuss my attitude....

    It won't happen though because HobbyGuy is a poop slime COWARD....Please don't waste anymore of my time with your empty threats...Thanks...
    0
  • dongizmo
    quote:Originally posted by bondai
    quote:Originally posted by HobbyGuy
    From the majority of his postings, I believe a more appropriate word would be "COWARD" [;)]


    Coward? I'll tell you what brave boy...Give me your address and I'll come to your house and we can discuss my attitude....

    It won't happen though because HobbyGuy is a poop slime COWARD....Please don't waste anymore of my time with your empty threats...Thanks...

    heh heh heh
    Tourists_W_Camera10.jpg
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity