Submachine guns made in Oregon


Chris Holmgren of Cornelius makes Calico submachine guns that are quickly gaining fame in movies and with law-enforcement.

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Chris Holmgren of Cornelius makes Calico submachine guns that are quickly gaining fame in movies and with law-enforcement.

Holmgren took control of Calico in April of 2006, and since then has driven the business towards manufacturing advanced guns.

Holmgren moved the company from its base in Reno, 541 miles north to Hillsboro and this year settled into a shop in Cornelius. He’s been busy ever since, pushing the limits of what he can do in his western Oregon workshop, he says. Currently Calico controls and does 60 percent of the manufacturing process on-site; but he hopes to do more.

Calico guns don’t look like a typical automatic weapon, say an M-16 or AK-47. Instead of a magazine of bullets hanging off the bottom of the carbine, a round chamber – known as a helical magazine – holds the ammunition above the main body of the rifle. This design gives Calico guns a futuristic look and has made them popular with Hollywood set designers.

Read more at the Portland Tribune.

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