Blaser

In 1957 Horst Blaser founded his company in Isny, and the Diplomat, an over-and-under rifle-shotgun, appeared the same year.^{1, 2} Blaser later engineered the F3 at Isny, Germany.³ The group’s headquarters are still in Isny.⁴

In 1985 Horst sold the company to Gerhard Blenk.⁴ Michael Lüke and Thomas Ortmeier took over Blaser in 2000 and also bought MAUSER and J. P. Sauer & Sohn from the Swiss SIG group.⁴ The group later acquired John Rigby & Co., MINOX and LIEMKE.⁵ Its shotguns include the F3, F16 and FBX.^{6, 7, 8}

The Blaser group’s headquarters are at Ziegelstadel 1, Isny im Allgäu.⁹ The group describes the Isny premises as a centre for hunting and outdoor equipment.⁴ It has production sites at Isny, Wetzlar and Gabrovo.¹⁰

When the group acquired John Rigby & Co. in 2013, it revived an earlier cooperation between Rigby and MAUSER.⁴ Blaser Group’s American company was established in 2006 and operates from San Antonio, Texas.¹¹ It imports Blaser, MAUSER and J. P. Sauer firearms, John Rigby & Co. guns and MINOX optics.¹¹