24/7 Wall St. Insights

• The United States is the largest consumer market for firearms in the world, and to meet demand, there are thousands of federally licensed gunmakers across the 50 states.
• Due to the presence of a handful of companies, more firearms are manufactured in North Carolina than in most other states.
• Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

Home to less than 5% of the global population and more than 45% of the world’s civilian-owned firearms, the U.S. has a gun culture like nowhere else on Earth. The United States is also the only country where guns outnumber people — and demand from American consumers is fueling a multi-billion dollar industry. (Here is a look at the best-selling firearms in the United States.)

As of 2023, the arms and ammunition industry generated more than $90 billion in economic output, according to the industry trade association National Shooting Sports Foundation. Foundational to America’s arms and ammunition industry are the more than 3,700 active gunmakers that were operating in the U.S. in 2022, the most recent year of available data. Records from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives show that these manufacturers produced nearly 13.4 million firearms that same year.

While there are gunmakers operating in each of the 50 states, North Carolina stands out as a hub for small-arms manufacturing. A reported 745,313 firearms were made in North Carolina in 2022, the sixth most among the 50 states, and equal to about 5.6% of all domestic firearm production that year.

Rifles accounted for the largest share of firearm production in North Carolina at about 52.1%. Meanwhile, approximately 43.5% of firearms manufactured in the state were pistols, 2.9% were shotguns, and fewer than 1% were revolvers. Miscellaneous firearms, an ATF category that includes any other unclassified firearm or firearm component, including frames and receivers, accounted for 1.5% of North Carolina’s total output in 2022.

While there were 160 federally licensed gunmakers operating in North Carolina in 2022, the state’s firearm industry is dominated by just a small handful of companies. Only 20 manufacturing facilities in the state produced at least 150 firearms in 2022. Among them, the largest, as measured by total output, is a plant in Mayodan, NC, operated by Sturm, Ruger & Company. Ruger manufactured a reported 590,834 firearms in this plant alone in 2022, or about 79.3% of all firearms produced in the state that year. (Here is a look at the largest firearm company in every state.)

North Carolina’s firearm industry has a meaningful economic impact. Both directly and indirectly, arms and ammunition generated $2.7 billion in output and supported an estimated 11,420 jobs in 2023, according to the NSSF. Additionally, through property, sales, and income taxes, the state and federal government collected a combined $291.7 million in revenue from North Carolina’s arms and ammunition industry.

These are the leading firearm manufacturers in North Carolina. It is important to note that this list is a ranking of federally licensed production facilities, and as a result, a company can appear more than once. Similarly, some brands on this list may be manufacturing firearms within the same facility as another, but are listed separately. Gunmakers who are federally licensed under their first and last name, rather than a company or brand name, were excluded from this list.

Why It Matters

The United States is the world’s largest consumer market for firearms, and partially as a result, there are thousands of federally licensed gunmakers across the 50 states. Due to the presence of a small handful of companies, most notably Ruger, more guns are manufactured in North Carolina than nearly anywhere else in the country.

20. Black Widow Tactical LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 161 (0.02% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 41.0% pistols, 59.0% rifles
• Production facility location: Stoneville, NC

19. AJ Guns LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 167 (0.02% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 41.9% pistols, 58.1% rifles
• Production facility location: Knightdale, NC

18. Dirty Bird Industries LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 178 (0.02% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% misc.
• Production facility location: Raleigh, NC

17. Davis Custom Rifle And Machine LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 198 (0.03% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% rifles
• Production facility location: Zionville, NC

16. PeaceGeek, LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 285 (0.04% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% misc.
• Production facility location: Connelly Springs, NC

15. Barnes Precision Machine Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 293 (0.04% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 18.4% pistols, 81.6% rifles
• Production facility location: Apex, NC

14. Hell Fire Armory LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 308 (0.04% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% misc.
• Production facility location: Wilmington, NC

13. Agile Ventures LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 343 (0.05% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% pistols
• Production facility location: East Flat Rock, NC

12. Bear Swamp Guns LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 432 (0.06% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 36.8% pistols, 4.9% revolvers, 41.0% rifles, 17.1% shotguns, 0.2% misc.
• Production facility location: Warsaw, NC

11. WMSR, LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 639 (0.09% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 10.2% pistols, 42.3% rifles, 47.6% misc.
• Production facility location: Rutherford College, NC

10. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 1,295 (0.17% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 57.4% pistols, 41.7% rifles, 0.9% misc.
• Production facility location: Mayodan, NC

9. Angstadt Arms LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 1,875 (0.25% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 74.5% pistols, 3.0% rifles, 22.6% misc.
• Production facility location: Charlotte, NC

8. James River Armory Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 2,247 (0.30% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 99.4% rifles, 0.6% misc.
• Production facility location: Burgaw, NC

7. Trailblazer Firearms LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 8,753 (1.17% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 92.9% pistols, 7.1% rifles
• Production facility location: Fletcher, NC

6. Unbranded AR, LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 10,647 (1.43% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 50.5% rifles, 49.5% misc.
• Production facility location: Rutherford College, NC

5. Riley Defense Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 15,408 (2.07% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% rifles
• Production facility location: Hickory, NC

4. Del-Ton, Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 27,830 (3.73% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 12.2% pistols, 87.8% rifles
• Production facility location: Elizabethtown, NC

3. Bear Creek Arsenal LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 29,541 (3.96% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 5.5% pistols, 94.5% rifles
• Production facility location: Sanford, NC

2. Outdoor Colors LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 51,527 (6.91% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 21.0% pistols, 37.9% rifles, 41.1% shotguns
• Production facility location: Rutherfordton, NC

1. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 590,834 (79.27% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 50.2% pistols, 49.1% rifles, 0.6% misc.
• Production facility location: Mayodan, NC

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.