Calico Light Weapons Inc. (CLWS) is an American privately held

manufacturing company Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

based in

Elgin, Oregon Elgin is a city in Union County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,711 at the 2010 census. The community is named after the '' Lady Elgin'', a ship lost on Lake Michigan. The city is known for the Elgin Opera House, originally dedica ...

, that designs, develops and manufactures semiautomatic firearms. It was established in 1982 in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

, and released its first production weapon in 1985. In 1998 its operations were moved to

Sparks, Nevada Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno, Nevada, Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the List of citi ...

, where replacement parts for existing weapons were produced. In 2006, it was sold once again and moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, where full firearm production resumed. It implemented a CNC machining process and upgraded materials used in manufacture. There were also minor redesigns of some production models to increase durability and reliability.

Products

CLWS produces a line of

pistols A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a barrel with an integral chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the English language when early handguns ...

and pistol-caliber

carbines A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and light ...

that feature a top-mounted helical-feed 50- or 100-round magazine that ejects spent shells from a bottom port, making a brass catcher practical in various situations. Nine millimeter pistols, carbines and submachine guns use the roller-delayed blowback principle used in the

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK or H&K; ) is a German firearms manufacturer that produces handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg and also has subsidiaries in the United ...

series of firearms. The Calico M950 is a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

manufactured in the United States. Its main feature, along with all the other guns of the Calico system, is to feed from a proprietary helical magazine mounted on top, available in a 50 or 100-round capacity. The factory sights enable accuracy to about 60 meters (197 feet). The Calico Liberty is a roller-delayed blowback-operated

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...

(Liberty II) or

(Liberty III) chambered for the 9 mm Parabellum. These

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s use an unusual 50- or 100-round helical

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

that allow for a large number of rounds in a relatively compact and convenient package. The spent cartridges are discharged in an unusual fashion as well: downward, ahead of the

trigger guard A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger (firearms), trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, ...

. This makes it relatively easy to fit an effective device to catch the cartridge cases, which can then be reloaded. A full-automatic (machine gun) version is available for military, police, and other government agencies. At the 2012

SHOT Show The SHOT Show, which is an acronym for "Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show", is an American annual trade fair, trade show for the shooting sports, hunting, outdoor recreation, and firearm manufacturing industry (economics), industries. The ...

, Calico exhibited a prototype 12-gauge shotgun with top-mounted helical magazine.

Projects and operations

Calico is one of the largest manufacturers of large (50- and 100-round) magazines for automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

Products

Current *.22 LR pistols **Calico M110 *.22 LR rifles ** Calico M100S & M-100 tactical **M-100FS & M-100FS tactical *9 mm pistols **Calico Liberty III & Liberty III tactical *9 mm rifles **Liberty I and II **Liberty I and II tactical **Calico M960 ''(military and law enforcement only)'' ** Calico M960A Discontinued *.22 LR pistols **M-100P *9 mm pistols ** M950 *Carbines **M-900 **M-951 *Sub-machineguns **M-750 **M-900A **M-950A Cancelled *Shotgun **Calico 12-gauge shotgun

References

{{reflist

External links

Calico Official Web Site

Firearm manufacturers of the United States Companies established in 1982 Privately held companies based in Oregon Union County, Oregon 1982 establishments in California

Products

Projects and operations

Products

See also

References

External links