These Are the Largest Gunmakers in Tennessee

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 Tennessee 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, Tennessee stands out as a hub for small-arms manufacturing. A reported 207,086 firearms were manufactured in Tennessee in 2022, the 14th most among the 50 states, and equal to about 1.5% of all domestic firearm production that year.

Pistols accounted for the largest share of firearm production in Tennessee at about 61.9%. Meanwhile, approximately 26.6% of firearms manufactured in the state were shotguns, 5.6% were rifles, and 0.1% were revolvers. Miscellaneous firearms, an ATF category that includes any other unclassified firearm or firearm component, including frames and receivers, accounted for 5.8% of Tennessee’s total output in 2022.

While there were about 100 federally licensed gunmakers operating in Tennessee in 2022, the state’s firearm industry is dominated by just a small handful of companies. Only 18 manufacturing facilities in the state produced at least 100 firearms in 2022. Among them, the largest, as measured by total output, is a plant in Gallatin, TN, operated by Beretta USA.

Beretta is a centuries old Italian company that began manufacturing firearms in the United States in the 1980s, when it had a contract with the federal government. Beretta’s M9 handgun was used by the U.S. military for more than 25 years. Beretta’s Gallatin plant, which opened in 2016, produced a reported 180,447 firearms in 2022 alone, or about 87.1% of all firearms produced in Tennessee that year. (Here is a look at the largest firearm company in every state.)

Tennessee’s firearm industry has a meaningful economic impact. Both directly and indirectly, arms and ammunition generated $3.4 billion in output and supported an estimated 12,633 jobs in 2023, according to the NSSF. Additionally, through property, sales, and income taxes, the state and federal government collected a combined $370.2 million in revenue from Tennessee’s arms and ammunition industry.

These are the leading firearm manufacturers in Tennessee. 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 Beretta, more guns are manufactured in Tennessee than nearly anywhere else in the country.

18. Arlington Armory LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 102 (0.05% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 59.8% pistols, 11.8% revolvers, 13.7% rifles, 14.7% shotguns
• Production facility location: Arlington, TN

17. Rusty Oak Design and Fabrication, LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 116 (0.06% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 13.8% pistols, 86.2% rifles
• Production facility location: Mount Juliet, TN

16. MBX Tactical LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 133 (0.06% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 7.5% pistols, 92.5% rifles
• Production facility location: Loudon, TN

13. KC Firearms LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 197 (0.10% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 55.8% pistols, 44.2% rifles
• Production facility location: Cleveland, TN

12. Ripcord Industries LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 240 (0.12% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 4.2% rifles, 95.8% misc.
• Production facility location: Mount Pleasant, TN

11. The Tactical Edge LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 270 (0.13% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 48.5% pistols, 51.5% rifles
• Production facility location: Clarksville, TN

10. Cross Machine Tool Co. Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 321 (0.16% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 0.3% pistols, 2.5% rifles, 97.2% misc.
• Production facility location: Lexington, TN

9. GS Performance, LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 382 (0.18% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% pistols
• Production facility location: Nashville, TN

8. CheyTac USA Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 806 (0.39% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% rifles
• Production facility location: Huntingdon, TN

7. Czechpoint Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 1,025 (0.49% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% rifles
• Production facility location: Knoxville, TN

6. Cleveland Shooting Sports LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 2,122 (1.02% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 58.9% pistols, 9.9% revolvers, 24.4% rifles, 6.8% shotguns
• Production facility location: Cleveland, TN

5. Troy Industries, Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 2,281 (1.10% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 9.6% pistols, 32.7% rifles, 57.8% misc.
• Production facility location: Clarksville, TN

4. Tennessee Arms Company LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 3,441 (1.66% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 0.2% pistols, 0.1% revolvers, 0.2% rifles, 0.1% shotguns, 99.4% misc.
• Production facility location: Dyersburg, TN

3. Accurate Energetic Systems LLC

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 6,540 (3.16% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 100% misc.
• Production facility location: McEwen, TN

2. Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 7,098 (3.43% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 0.6% pistols, 99.4% rifles
• Production facility location: Murfreesboro, TN

1. Beretta USA Corp.

• Firearms manufactured in 2022: 180,447 (87.14% of all guns made in state)
• Firearm production by type: 69.6% pistols, 30.4% shotguns
• Production facility location: Gallatin, TN