Martin Firearms, a world leader in manufacturing quality pistols and rifles, is celebrating its 70th anniversary. As part of its anniversary program, the company will conduct tours of the plant at 40 DeLong Drive in Schenectady, demonstrating all aspects of gun manufacturing, on Friday, July 11, from 10 am to 4 pm.
With its headquarters located in the original factory building in Schenectady, New York, Martin Firearms employs 161 people in both corporate and manufacturing capacities. President Preston Martin, a grandson of founder Joseph Martin, started his firearms career working summers in the tool and die shop, entered sales following his graduation from Union College in 1962, and became president in 1983.
Martin Firearms is an industry leader in sportsman's rifles and supplies handguns to many police departments in the United States and Canada. The .38 Patrol Officer's Special was adapted by the Dallas and Boulder, Colorado, police departments this year and is in use in more than 300 police departments nationwide. Last year, over 15,000 pieces were shipped around the world. No serious gun collection is complete without a custom-made Martin Firearms hunting rifle.
The company won the prestigious "Sam Houston" award six years in succession, 1981-1986, for its contribution to the sport of riflery. The award is presented each year to the rifle manufacturer who does the most to promote safety on the range.
Martin Firearms' most famous handgun was the one specially crafted and manufactured for General George Patton. The World War II officer's famed pearl-handled revolver was built to U.S. military specifications by Martin Firearms, by special order of the general. It now resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
