Military Armament Corporation

The Military Armament Corporation (MAC) was an American manufacturer of small arms, founded by Gordon Ingram, a firearm designer, and Mitchell WerBell III, the owner of SIONICS, a manufacturer of suppressors. The company is known for manufacturing the MAC-10 and MAC-11 machine pistols in the 1970s.

History

In 1969, Gordon Ingram, the designer of the MAC-10, joined SIONICS as a Chief Engineer. Mitchell WerBell III designed the MAC-10's suppressor. The company focused on the military market, and attempted to sell the MAC-10 to the United States Army for use in the Vietnam War. WerBell and Ingram demonstrated the MAC-10 to several units of the US Army and in 1970 convinced a group of investors, Quantum Corp, that it might replace the M1911 pistol as the standard sidearm of the Army. The investors formed a new company, the Military Armament Corporation, to make and sell this weapon. WerBell became president of the new company and Ingram Chief Engineer,[1] but within a year, they were both ousted from the company by its investors.[2] SIONICS was later absorbed by the Military Armament Corporation.

The company stopped producing the firearms in 1973 due to internal company politics[2] and filed for bankruptcy in 1975.[3]

In 2017, SDS Imports began operations in Knoxville, Tennessee,[4] and revived the MAC brand, importing shotguns, handguns, and most notably both the MP5 (Mac-5) and the MP5K (Mac-5K) under the MAC name.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Lewis, Jack (2011). Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons 7th Edition. Gun Digest Books. p. 145.
  2. 1 2 Miletich, John (2003). Homicide Investigation: An Introduction. Scarecrow Press. p. 134. ISBN 9780585471464.
  3. ↑ Larson, Erik (2005). Lethal Passage. Random House.
  4. ↑ "SDS Imports - About Us". sdsimports.com. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  5. ↑ "About MAC". milarmamentcorp.com. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
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