Ron Smith (born 8 April 1951) is an American

small arms 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 ...

designer and President of Smith Enterprise Inc. Smith is most famous for developing the

Vortex Flash Hider The Vortex Flash Hider or Vortex Flash Eliminator is a flash suppressor made by Smith Enterprise, Inc. for a variety of different rifles, carbines, machine guns and handguns. History The Vortex Flash Hider was developed in 1984, and a patent wa ...

for use on a variety of small arms and developing the major upgrades and refinements found on the M14 rifle, particularly the United States Navy Mark 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle.

Early life

Smith became a Certified Journeyman in Ordnance and Metallurgy at age 22 in California in the San Francisco Bay Area working at his father's facility in 1972, trained by immigrant German, Austrian, Hungarian, French and Czechoslovakian craftsmen and ordnance manufacturers. In 1979 he became co-owner with his father and the company relocated to Mesa, Az and became Western Ordnance International (dba Smith Enterprise). The company produced over 500,000 M16 bolt carriers 60,000 M16 bolts, M14 receivers and building M14 and M16 rifles as well as M1911 handgunss, ANS/PVS5 night vision goggles for Lorton, ITT, and Varo of Garland, Texas. Smith served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

and the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

for a total of 16 years of active duty. While serving in the Army, Smith was stationed in South Korea as a

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

and chief of a M109A3 Howitzer battery. He was certified with nuclear credentials to man the nuclear M109A3 in preparation for a possible invasion by

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Western Ordnance

Smith was a partner at Western Ordnance, a firearms manufacturing firm that specialized in rifles such as the

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the United States Army, U.S. ...

and M14. Western Ordnance was founded in 1979 by Smith's father, Richard Smith, in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

. While at Western Ordnance, Smith was the first person to design and field a commercial

flash suppressor A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a device attached to the muzzle (firearms), muzzle of a rifle that reduces its Muzzle flash, visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersin ...

. Smith would also invent a

sound suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a gun barrel#Muzzle, muzzle device that suppresses the muzzle blast, blast created when a gun (firearm or airgun) is discharged, thereby reducing the sound inten ...

that could be rebuilt as opposed to being obsolete after firing a number of rounds. He developed the first full size double action 1911 on a Series 70 frame for

Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt that has become a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is th ...

that later became the

Colt Double Eagle The Colt Double Eagle was a double-action / single action, semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company between 1989 and 1997. It was available in standard full-size, as well as in more compact versions. It featured a decock ...

Smith Enterprise Inc.

In 1993, Ron Smith reformed the company as Smith Enterprise, Inc. and relocated production to

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

.Poyer (2006), p. 21 The company is known for its

, a proprietary heat treating processes, the Crazy Horse weapons upgrade and making numerous upgrades to the M14 rifle for the US Military; all of which came from Ron Smith's designs. Ron Smith is the owner of 3 awarded patents and over 10 more initiated patents or patents pending and 5 trademarks in the Sound Suppressor and Flash Hider industry including the following:

Crazy Horse rifle The Crazy Horse rifle or M14SE is a semi-automatic designated marksman rifle based on the M14 rifle. It is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge and is built by Smith Enterprise Inc. Overview The goal of the Crazy Horse rifle project w ...

, Good Iron

Muzzle Brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...

and

Wind Talker sound suppressor The Wind Talker sound suppressor is a direct-connect sound suppressor made by Smith Enterprise Inc. for use by the US military on M14 rifles and M4 carbines that utilize a Vortex Flash Hider. It is an improvement over the older M14 Direct Connect ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Smith Enterprise, Inc.
* (Official) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ron 1951 births Living people Firearm designers 20th-century American inventors Engineers from California Weapons scientists and engineers People from Glendale, California