Korth is a high-end firearms manufacturer based in Lollar,

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Their high-end

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

s cost over €3,300 and their

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

s cost over €4,500.

History

The company was founded in 1954 by Willi Korth, a railway engineer, who began his business in a basement workshop making gas revolvers able to fire blanks or

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

cartridges. Later on, production of firearms began. In 1982, Willi Korth retired from the management of the company and sold it. However, he remained loyal to the company for a short time as production manager.Information from the book about Willi Korth
/ref> In 1999, the company, which was owned by ''Bernstorff'' at the time, had to file for bankruptcy. The company, which had around 30 employees at the time, was broken up as a result of this bankruptcy. Since April 2000, Korth has been owned by ''Armurerie Freylinger & Cie.'', Luxembourg, and in 2001 expanded into the American market by establishing a branch in the United States. According to an announcement by Korth GmbH in November 2008, Korth was closing its factory. This information was announced, among other things, through an advertisement in the specialist journal ''DWJ''. On April 22, 2009, the company moved its headquarters to Lollar near Gießen and, according to its own statements, would resume production there with Martin Rothmann as its CEO.

Firearms

Revolvers

Each revolver is custom-made involving about 70 percent manual labor and four months time. A rare feature of .357 Magnum/ .38 Special Korth revolvers is a user toolless changeable cylinder, sold as an accessory, enabling firing

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

ammunition after being correctly timed to the gun. * Korth CombatKorth Combat Revolver, $4,700: The Ultimate Conditional Buy GUN TESTS, July 2002
/ref> * Korth Ranger * Korth Sport * Korth Target *Korth NXR *Korth NXS

Semi-automatic pistol

* Korth PRS

References

{{reflist

External links

Korth German
* http://www.korthusa.com/ Korth USA]
KORTH - Revolver Technical data and instruction manual

KORTH - Semi-Automatic Pistol Technical Data and Operating Instructions
Manufacturing companies established in 1954 Firearm manufacturers of Germany Giessen (district) Companies based in Hesse 1954 establishments in West Germany