Our Brands
The Wilson Family of Companies
Since 1977
Built to the Same Standard
Wilson Combat started in 1977 as Bill Wilson's gunsmithing shop in Berryville, Arkansas. Over the years, other makers who share that standard have joined the family, from bullets and 1911 magazines to ultralight hunting rifles. Each brand keeps its own name and its own specialty, with the same focus on quality and service behind it.
Wilson Combat
Bill Wilson turned a one-man gunsmithing shop into the largest custom firearms company in America. Wilson Combat builds custom 1911 and double-stack handguns, AR rifles, tactical shotguns, ammunition, magazines and Bullet Proof® parts, with CNC machining, gunsmithing, test fire and finishing all at one location.
Lehigh Defense
Lehigh Defense designs and machines solid copper and brass bullets, a craft that traces back to 2004, and is known for lines like Xtreme Defense and Xtreme Penetrator. Its plant in Clarksville, Texas runs Swiss-style screw machines that also turn out a wide range of firearm components.
Chip McCormick Custom
Chip McCormick spent decades designing 1911 magazines, including the Railed Power Mag. He and Bill Wilson met at a match in 1981 and stayed friends through years of competing against each other. When Chip decided to retire, he chose Wilson Combat to carry his company forward.
Scattergun Technologies
Scattergun Technologies made its name building custom Remington shotguns for law enforcement. Wilson Combat still builds combat shotguns on the Remington 870 under the Scattergun name, trusted by federal agencies and police departments, along with ghost ring sights, magazine tubes and other shotgun parts.
New Ultralight Arms
Melvin Forbes founded New Ultralight Arms in West Virginia in 1985 and is credited with creating the true 5-pound .308 hunting rifle, work that earned him the NRA Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award in 2011. NULA joined the family in 2022, and its bolt-action rifles are now built in Berryville.
Guncrafter Industries
Guncrafter Industries, founded by Alex Zimmermann, developed the .50 GI cartridge and builds single- and double-stack 1911 pistols. It joined the Wilson family in April 2026, and its product lines continue with Wilson Combat's manufacturing, engineering and distribution behind them.
Wilson Tactical
Wilson Tactical is the knife side of the family: fixed blades and folders, including the Custom Alliance series of limited, handmade knives built with some of the country's top custom knifemakers.
Performance Engineering
For more than four decades, Performance Engineering of Hillsboro, Missouri, supplied 1911 and AR-15 parts to the firearms industry. When owners Russ and Darla Narzinski retired in 2025, Lehigh Defense took over the business and moved production to its Clarksville, Texas plant, keeping the same part numbers and pricing.