Roosevelt Avenue Factory

[DARE]

I understand the plant is still open in some capacity.
Has anyone here been on a tour? Wonder if tours are available?

Carl Hellstrom, president of Smith & Wesson, made a speech in 1952 titled: "S&W 100 Years of Gunmaking! (1852-1952)"

The occasion for the speech was the 100th Anniversary of S&W.
He had quite a bit to say about the Roosevelt Avenue facility. I found it quite interesting. Here is what he said.

As an arms manufacturer, we can expect to be a prime target in case of war. It was, therefore, our patriotic duty to plan for the safety of our employees and equipment in order to insure a dependable supply of weapons for our Armed Forces in case of trouble.

Wow. Wonder if similar provisions were made for the new plant in Tennessee? I'm guessing not. Roosevelt Avenue was completed in 1949. WWII was still fresh in memory.

 

[boykinlp]

That's pretty wild, David! I'm sure, back in the day, employees probably thought about it often when heading to work.
Larry

 

[murphydog]

Revolver production remains in MA. The factory cited a hostile climate there to the manufacture of high(er) capacity pistols and rifles as the reason for the relocation of their production to TN.

 

[Baxter6551]

Who knew ? That's very interesting. I did wonder years ago when I went to the factory to drop guns off for work why the building was so far from the guard shack. I'm afraid this age of tactical readiness is long gone. There's a You Tube video about the guy who bought Thompson Center back that has some good views of inside the factory. It's huge !

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

This was thirty plus years ago...when I attended S&W Armorer School we were given a tour of the main facility. At the time the Armorers School was in an off-site building and not the main plant. We weren't taken to some areas due to safety concerns but got to see most of it. The CAD/CAM machines were a wonder to see operate...no human hands involved. That was for pistol games and slides. Revolvers at the time were still being done the time honored way of handwork.

At the time the Sigma was being produced...polymer receivers were bing brought in from an outside vendor...there were boxes of magazines from another vendor. About the only part of the Sigma being made in-house were the barrels.

It was a very interesting visit.

 

[Mortimer94]

Worked there for 14 years, a lot of underground tunnels.