Steyr Arms

Josef Werndl turned his father’s blacksmith shop into a rifle factory in 1864 and within twenty years it was the largest arms manufacturer in Europe, supplying Austria-Hungary and much of the world besides. The twentieth century took it through the Treaty of Saint-Germain’s ban on weapons production, a long period as part of Steyr-Daimler-Puch making cars and trucks as well as rifles, and independence again in 1989. Its 1977 bullpup remains the design it is best known for.