American handgunners love semi-automatics and BATFE’s 2014 Annual Firearms and Manufacturing Report, the latest available, is proof. It lists 18 1/2 pages of companies that produced “pistols” that year in the United States, but those that made revolvers had trouble covering a single page.
Here’s a look at the top revolver manufacturers, in descending order, according to the report.
Ruger—281,367
Smith & Wesson—268,722
Heritage Arms (and Taurus)—85,464
North American Arms—57,514
Charco 2000 Inc. (Charter Arms)—46,146
Colt’s Manufacturing—2,217
Magnum Research (part of the Kahr Firearms Arms group)—1,043
Freedom Arms—446
Axis Machine—402
CZ-USA—350
Total revolver production for the year was 744,047, compared to 3,633,454 “pistols.” Firms like Bond Arms are stuck in the latter category, where its volume of 20,036 handguns manufactured in 2014 all but disappear in a sea of semi-auto handguns.
