Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson (S&W) is an American manufacturer of firearms, ammunition and restraints. The corporate headquarters are in Springfield, Massachusetts. Smith & Wesson was founded in 1852 and after various corporate changes is now a unit of American Outdoor Brands Corporation. Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson founded the Smith & Wesson Company in Norwich, Connecticut in 1852 to develop the Volcanic rifle. Smith developed a new Volcanic Cartridge, which he patented in 1854. The Smith & Wesson Company was renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms in 1855, and was purchased by Oliver Winchester. Smith left the company and
Smith & Wesson Model 469 Smith & Wesson Model 469 The Smith & Wesson Model 469 is a semi-automatic pistol, chambered for the 9mm cartridge. The Model 469 is an early model in Smith & Wesson's 59-series, envisioned as pistols that could be easily concealed, but with sufficient firepower to work as service weapons as well. It is a traditional double-action pistol with a 3.5-inch barrel, equipped with a slide-mounted safety/decocker. Magazine capacity is 12 rounds. When Smith & Wesson introduced its "third-generation" series of semiautomatics, several similar pistols succeeded the Model 469. These included the Model 6904, which had an alloy frame with black