History of Remington

It's very possible that a great majority of members at Rockwall Gun Club located at 15950 TX-205 in Terrell, Texas have one or more of these iconic firearms made by Remington. 

It is the oldest American manufacture of firearms and ammo in our country.  The founder was Eliphalet Remington and along with his sons put their shingle out in 1816.  Mr. Remington really believed he could build a better gun than he could buy. It all started when Eliphalet at the age of 23 entered a shooting match with his own homemade flintlock rifle.  He placed second, but his gun impressed so many that he received many orders that same day. This was the springboard in launching the E. Remington Arms Company. 

This very successful enterprise was bought out in 1888 by a major sporting goods chain and the name was formally changed to the Remington Arms Company.  Today Remington is the largest U.S. Producer of shotguns and rifles.  Also Remington has developed more cartridges than any other gun maker in the world.  In 2014, a new plant was built to produce AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles along with the popular Remington 911 pistols. 

They have plants in six states that meet the demands of thousands of gun buyers. During the early years of WW1, Remington produced arms for several Allied powers.  They made the M1907 Berthier rifles for France, Pattern 1914 Enfield rifles for Britain and Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant rifles for Russia.  The Russians really hurt Remington in the pocket book as they refused to pay for the shipments. 

When America entered the War, Remington became deeply involved in the war effort and for our troops made the efficient M1917 Enfield rifle. Remington also geared up their line of weapons for civilian use when they introduced hunting rifles and shotguns as a more stable business endeavor than the wars. 

Around 1940, the U.S. Army became concerned about their ammunition capacities and asked Remington, now owned by DuPont, to assist in making ammo.  During WW11, Remington made the very dependable and popular M1903A3 Springfield bolt action rifle.  This rifle is in use today and probably be seen target practicing at the club.  In 1962, they introduced the Model 700 bolt action rifle and became one of their most successful firearms.  Sub-variants of the 700 are still being used by police agencies.   

Later, the military M24SWS was developed and became the standard sniper rifle with our military up to 2010.  In late 2007, Remington Arms bought rifle maker Marlin Firearms and continued to be a success among gun enthusiasts and especially government contracts.  Then in 2017, dark clouds came over Remington due to declining sales and debt they went into bankruptcy.  That only lasted less than two months as sales took off again.  Some of the most famous guns made by Remington were the New Model Army Revolver (1863-1875), Rolling Block Carbine introduced in 1867 and the Model 700.  Just to mention a few.  Stay tuned for another chapter about the history of firearms in the U.S.A.