IMI coming back!

[Mojave Dave]

I was at the Houston Gun Show today and a dealer swore that IMI was building a factory in Georgia to build semi's. Not sure about their ammo too, but that should mean new mags will be available. Maybe even 45acp. That would be cool and should lower prices in general.
Mojave

 

[RoverDave]

That's certainly possible and would be great, but I have heard nothing that would confirm that. IMI (which is a government agency) is in the process of selling off their small arms division to private business. They have been working on it for at least a half a year and maybe much longer. It appears that there's still quite a bit of work to do before that transition is complete. It's highly unlikely that IMI or the new owners would be building a US plant at the time they are trying to complete this transition. I spoke to one of the guys working on this transition last August and there were no plans for US expansion at that time. It doesn't mean it might not happen at some point but it seems very unlikely that it would be happening now.

 

[lkblair]

Get one built now so we can buy a TAVOR without problems. And I would love to get my hands on a Uzi pistol that is under $550.h

 

[suka5168]

Hasn't IMI change their name, or was it another Divison that did ? To reflect thier transition.
Cant find the article , but i do remember reading about it.

 

[Musibike]

What became of Ireali Military Industries? I had a real hard time finding a replacement 16inch barrel for my Model A semi. I hope I don't have to start making replacement parts! Seems easier to get stuff for a STEN than an UZI.

 

[RoverDave]

Musibike, welcome to UZI Talk.

IMI is still around though they are making changes in the small arms division. IMI's market for the semi-auto UZI pretty much went away in 1989 with the US ban on imported assault weapons. Action Arms still provided parts until 1995 when they went away.

You should be able to get a 16" barrel from Vector with no problem. With all of the semi-auto UZIs they're selling, parts should be plentiful.

 

[KingGuns]

I know Glock is building a new factory in Georgia, but hadn't heard about IMI? :dunno

can you say "Glock rifle" anyone?

 

[lkblair]

They already have a Glock rifle, it is a CCI or something carbine top!

 

[mark214]

I wonder if it could be a licensed or partnership deal with the IMI name on it versus a wholly owned IMI venture?

 

[shogun3]

And H&K is building a new plant in Columbus, GA (announced in August). They're not confirming what they're going to build there yet, though.....

But here's the link for confirmation:

http://www.hkpro.com/factory.htm

Glock already has a facility in Smyrna, GA - they used to do their assembly of US pistols there. (I worked on their printers back in '93)

 

[CIB]

From what I've heard HK has'nt even stuck a shovel in the ground at thier GA property. Maybe 'cause the XM8 is tanking.

 

[counterstrike]

I have heard rumours about this and I think it will happen.

IMI is going to soon be a private company if they haven't finished already. From what I understand they are looking to pick up a US manufacturing location.

I know for sure they have already lined up a deal with a very well known importer of european weapons from the west coast.

They also are trying to aquire a large factory in eastern Europe. This might be a done deal.

I can say all this because a company I worked for was approached by the unnamed west coast importer about being bought. The plan was to take a couple of well known US names, get some manufactruing ability on US soil, and for some reason also pick up this factory in Europe.

The way it was explained to me was that IMI gets US federal funds to spend provided it buys a certain amount of US made product. With the split into a private company this was going to change. However the new company wants to make and manufacture firearms for the US military. They also were looking to add a 1911 to their line, possible for Gov't contracts.

We did not go that route. We were approached last summer (04) and the deal wouldn't even shape up until first quarter (05).

One thing to watch for is if your favorite importer of Mausers has a change in ownership. This will be the start of it.