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 645 Smith & Wesson Model 645 The Smith & Wesson 645 and Smith & Wesson 745 are second-generation semi-automatic pistols which predates Smith & Wesson's 4500 series of handguns. The S&W 645/745 is chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The S&W 645 is constructed almost entirely from stainless steel and is thus extremely resistant to harsh weather conditions, whereas the S&W 745 has a stainless steel frame and a blued carbon steel slide. The S&W 645 was introduced in 1985 and discontinued in 1988. The S&W 745 was produced from 1986 to 1990, primarily as a single-action competition gun for IPSC