Les Jones

Guns > Interesting BATF Statistics

While doing some research at the BATF Web site I ran across the Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation Report for 2001 (PDF). Lots of hard statistics on pistol vs. revolver sales, handgun sales by caliber, and gun sales by manufacturer. Note that only domestically-produced guns are included. Imported brands like Glock don't appear in the report's figures.

Some Sales Statistics for 2001

• Pistols outsold revolvers 2 to 1.
  
• The most popular pistol caliber was 9 mm. The most popular revolver caliber was .357. (There was a surprising number of .44 Magnums sold - 39,515, or about half as many .44s as .22s. I had no idea .44 Magnums were so popular.)
  
• Ruger was first in pistol sales at 112,847. Bryco Arms was second at 66,874.
  
• Ruger was first in revolver sales at 150,844. Smith &Wesson was second at 92,325.
  
• Marlin was first in rifle sales at 258,383. Ruger was a close second at 242,166. (Makes sense. The two most popular .22 rifles are the Marlin 60 and Ruger 10/22.)
  
• Remington made 276,116 shotguns. Mossberg made 168,733.
  
• There were 3,010,780 guns manufactured and sold in the U.S. Another 190,966 were manufactured and exported.