Smith & Wesson Moves Headquarters to Tennessee

After 170 years of making firearms in Springfield Massachusetts, Smith and Wesson has moved. The company announced back in 2021 that it had plans to relocate to a new facility in Maryville, TN. At the time, S&W said proposed laws would make it illegal to manufacture certain guns. Those guns made up 60% of the manufacturer’s sales in 2020. At the time of their announcement, Mark Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, said it was time for a change.

Smith said the company started a review of the best path forward because of the potential for other such laws. After the company spent considerable time evaluating their options, they decided a move to another state was beneficial. Because of the move, the company closed facilities in Connecticut and Missouri. But this does not mean the company is closing its Massachusetts factory down completely. The headquarters and most of its assembly lines are moving, but nearly 1,000 employees will remain at the old factory.

According to the company, revolvers will continue being made in the Massachusetts facility. Plastic injection molding, pistol, and long gun assembly and distribution, however, have moved to the new facility. The most symbolic move is the headquarters, which S&W has relocated to the new facility. They celebrated their grand opening on Saturday, October 7, 2023. Massachusetts has been the company’s home since the company was incorporated in 1852.

Who is Smith & Wesson?

Even if you have little knowledge of firearms, there’s a good chance you have heard of Smith & Wesson before. One of the oldest gun manufacturers in the world, the company has a long history. Founded by Horace Smith and D.B Wesson, the company first made a revolver that could fire a fully self-contained cartridge. Just a couple of years later, they made the first repeating firearm with a self-contained cartridge called the Vulcanic.

The company was renamed to Vulcanic Repeating Arms, and then New Haven Arms Company before being sold to Oliver Winchester. He renamed the company, Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The original businessmen were not finished however and later created a company called the Smith & Wesson Revolver Company. During the Civil War, the company made revolvers that were sold to both sides of the war. Most of the guns were purchased privately, and demand exceeded what S&W could make.

After the war, the company focused on larger caliber weapons for the American frontier. This included the .44 S&W and the famous Model 10, also known as the .38 Military and Police Revolver. This revolver would be used for decades by police around the country. The US Military also purchased the Model 10 for its use. Several other companies purchased Smith & Wesson over the years before it was acquired by its current owner, Saf-T-Hammer Corporation. They are traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker SWBI.

What will become of Smith & Wesson now?

As the company moves into its new 650,000-square-foot building, the CEO said he looks forward to another 170 successful years. The company has plans to build a museum and retail store at its new location sometime in the future. I love gun museums and a Smith & Wesson Museum in Tennessee would be an awesome place to visit. I’m not sure what type of retail store the company plans to build, but that could also be interesting.

Now that the company is not facing heavy manufacturing restrictions, we should see a lot of great products continue to come from the assembly line. Their most popular duty pistol, the M&P, has been out for years. I will admit I wasn’t the biggest fan, but the newest version, M&P M2.0 has caught my eye. They are also making a 10mm version for those who want a larger caliber. If you want a smaller more compact pistol, the M&P Shield is a viable option.

For quite some time, Smith & Wesson stuck with what I would call the traditional guns. Their most popular guns were revolvers and the M&P line. But other gun companies have been pushing the limits with their imagination, leaving S&W to play catch up. After Kel-Tec released the KSG, S&W released the M&P 12. Kel-Tec again led the way with the Sub 2000 and S&W released the FPC. I don’t really care who makes what gun first, if they make a good gun that sells at a competitive price. I hope this move encourages S&W to keep making new models.

Will this become a trend among gun companies?

Smith & Wesson’s move is not the first and it may not be the last. Several other gun companies have also made the move for greener grass, and this isn’t a bad thing. Beretta USA moved its facilities to Tennessee, Mossberg left Connecticut for Texas, and Kimber moved from New York to Alabama. It’s sad that states have attacked the Second Amendment to the point that companies are forced to relocate. This hurts people’s jobs and hurts local economies.

But on the other hand, it’s also good that some states are stepping up to say they will protect our freedoms. States that restrict our right to bear arms claim it’s in the name of safety. But restricting a law-abiding citizen’s right to protect their home and family doesn’t make anyone safer. I’ve been in law enforcement for a long time, and I’ve never heard of a criminal changing their mind because their gun was illegal. Bad people do bad things regardless of the laws against it. But we should have the right to self-defense.

Jerry Miculek set a world record at the new S&W facility.

Smith & Wesson’s move has been in the works since 2021, and there was a lot of buzz created on Saturday with their grand opening. Si Robertson from Duck Dynasty and US Representative Tim Burchett attended the event, but the most exciting person who showed up was Jerry Miculek. If you haven’t followed him before, Miculek is one of the best shots in the world with a wheel gun. On Saturday, he set an NRA world record at the new S&W facility. It was for hitting six steel plates at seven yards with a 9mm revolver. Sound easy? It is, unless you do it in 1.88 seconds which Miculek did.

You may not be a revolver guy and maybe you don’t care for any Smith & Wesson guns. Either way, it’s hard to ignore the fact that S&W is an iconic American gun company. I was glad to see the state of Tennessee open its arms for the company to move. There are some who wish to see all gun manufacturers go out of business and the move to Tennessee adds some protection to another company making American firearms for hunting, sporting, and self-defense.