Special Report
Rifles have long dominated the consumer firearm market in the United States. American gunmakers produced more rifles than any other firearm type in 20 of the 36 years of available government data. And though pistols have outsold rifles in the U.S. for much of the past decade, demand for rifles is beginning to pick up. More than 3.9 million rifles were manufactured domestically in 2021, up 43% from 2020 and more than double the production totals of 2019.
The increase in rifle production is being fueled largely by surging demand for modern sporting rifles, or MSRs, which are civilian versions of assault rifles used by militaries around the world. These include the AR-15, the M4, and AK-47. Of the 18.9 million MSRs made in the U.S. between 1990 and 2020, over 50% were produced in 2016 or later, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Polling data from the Washington Post suggests that about 1-in-every-20 American adults today owns at least one MSR.
MSR sales have been a boon for major gun manufacturers, some of which have reported exponential sales growth since introducing more of these rifles to their product lines.
Using data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 24/7 Wall St. identified America’s top rifle companies. The 36 companies on this list are ranked by the number of rifles manufactured in the U.S. in 2021. All data on this list, including manufacturing locations, is from the ATF’s Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Export Report.
While there were over 2,500 rifle manufacturers operating in the U.S., the vast majority of them were relatively small operations, producing fewer than 50 rifles annually. Meanwhile, each company on this list manufactured over 10,000 rifles domestically in 2021. The top three companies on this alone accounted for over 40% of all U.S. rifle production.
While MSRs, or assault-style rifles, are part of the product line of nearly every company on this list, many of these gunmakers also offer other, more traditional rifles that target specific market segments including, target shooters and hunters. (Here is a look at the most powerful hunting rifles.)
Two brands on this list, Ruger and Remington, continue to manufacture two rifles that have been popular with American gun owners long before the MSR trend began: the Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rimfire and the bolt-action Remington 700. (Here is a look at the 50 most popular guns of all time.)
Click here to see Americas favorite rifle companies.
