Smith & Wesson
By the start of the war S&W was nearly bankrupt. The company was now run by Carl R. Hellstrom. Under his management the company concentrated its efforts on handguns and the company began to expand. In 1965 the Wesson family sold the company to the Bangor Punta corporation. The company began producing firearms accessories as well as firearms. In 1884, S&W was sold to Lear Siegler who, in 1986, was acquired by Forstmann Little & Company. Forstmann & Little was mainly interested in Siegler's aerospace and automotive lines. So they sold Smith & Wesson to Tomkins plc, a British holding company. Under Tomkins, S&W developed a number of semiautomatic pistols. This included several using the new .40 S&W cartridge. During this time handgun sales declined. Because of anti-gun lawsuits, operating costs began to rise.