Back in April 2008, the brains behind Cerberus Capital Management (the brains behind sticking the U.S. taxpayer with the bill for cratering Chrysler) bought Bushmaster Firearms. Cerberus Sig Sigma-ed the company. In December 2010, Cerberus shuttered Bushmaster’s Windham, Maine factory and transferred production to their under-utilized Remington manufacturing ops. This master plan left Bushmaster’s core behind: the man who ran the joint and the people who’d made the brand what it was (before they made rifles that jumped into full-auto mode). Six years after cashing the check, Bushmaster founder Richard Dyke’s wife has grown tired of his seeing him mope around the house [guessing]. And his non-compete is finally up. Dykes has formed a new firearms company called Windham Weaponry. According to pressherald.com the new manufacturer will . . .
make rifles and employ as many as half of the 73 people who worked at the Bushmaster plant, which closed earlier this year. More employees may be hired before the end of the year, said a news release.
“A group of investors felt there was a great opportunity for a new company when Bushmaster Firearms International LLC decided to relocate the company to another state and lay off all its employees,” said the release. “These employees in many cases have 25 years of experience in making one of the finest rifles in the world.”
Windham Weaponry will operate in the Windham Business Park and begin production in July, with initial shipments scheduled for September.
All great brands start with a great product. We’ll be watching.