Location: Springfield, Massachusetts

Thompson/Center Arms Co. was founded in Rochester, New York in 1965 by K.W. Thompson and Warren Center. Company's first gun was a break-open, single-shot pistol, known as Contender. More than 400,000 were produced between 1967 and 2000, when the original model was discontinued. In 2007, Thompson/Center became a division of Smith & Wesson and production was moved to Springfield, Massachusetts.