The Fabrique d'armes Émile et Léon Nagant, later known as L. Nagant & Cie, Liège, was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

firm established in Liège in 1859 as a manufacturer of firearms and later automobiles.

History

The company was originally founded by brothers Émile (1830–1902) and Léon (1833–1900) as an industrial repair business, which included repairing damaged firearms. In 1867, the Nagant brothers entered the firearms market when their company received a license to produce 5,000 Remington Rolling Block rifles for the

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; they later adapted the rolling-block design to produce double-barreled shotguns under the name "Remington-Nagant". The company is best known for Émile's contribution to the design of the Mosin–Nagant Russian service rifle, adopted in 1891. This introduction to the

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's military administration led to the adoption, in 1895, of the Nagant M1895 revolver (designed by Léon) as their standard-issue sidearm. The following year, Émile's progressive blindness led to his retirement from the firm which was renamed to "L. Nagant & Cie, Liège", with Léon being joined by his sons Charles and Maurice.

Car manufacture

Later, the firm moved to the manufacture of automobiles; Nagant made cars under licence of the French firm

Rochet-Schneider Rochet-Schneider was a French company, based in Lyons, that produced automobiles between 1894 and 1932. The Rochet-Schneider sales slogan was "strength, simplicity and silence". Like other motorcars of the Brass Era, the cars made by Roche ...

. Nagant cars were made from 1900 to 1928. The firm was purchased by Impéria in 1931.

References

Firearm designers Defunct firearms manufacturers Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Belgium Car manufacturers of Belgium Liège Companies based in Liège Province Defunct manufacturing companies of Belgium {{Belgium-company-stub