Lorcin Engineering Company
{{Short description|Defunct American firearms manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Lorcin Engineering Company
| logo = File:LORCIN logo.jpg
| logo_size = 150px
| type = Private
| fate = Bankrupt
| predecessor =
| successor =
| foundation = {{start date and age|1989}}
| founder =
| defunct = {{end date and age|1998}}
| location_city = Mira Loma, California
| location_country = U.S.
| location =
| locations =
| area_served = U.S.
| key_people = James Waldorf
| industry = firearms
| products = weapons
}}
Lorcin Engineering Company was a firearms manufacturer established in 1989 by Jim Waldorf.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-27-mn-2618-story.html|title=Legal Claims Get Costly for Maker of Cheap Handguns|last=Levin|first=Myron|date=December 27, 1997|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=14 January 2015}} Lorcin produced a series of very inexpensive handguns, which were sold primarily through pawn shops and marketed to people with low income. As such, their guns were frequently referred to as Saturday night specials, and Lorcin was noted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as one of the Ring of Fire companies, a series of companies established around Los Angeles, California, all of which manufactured inexpensive handguns of similar design{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/ring/companies.html|title=Hot Guns: Ring of Fire|work=Frontline|publisher=PBS|accessdate=14 January 2015}} and all of which were connected to Raven Arms. Waldorf was a high school friend of Bruce Jennings, founder of Jennings Firearms who was also the son of Raven Arms founder George Jennings.
Lorcin guns were constructed of injection-molded Zamak, a zinc alloy.
In 1993, Lorcin was the number one pistol manufacturer in the United States, producing 341,243 guns.{{cite web|url=http://www.vpc.org/studies/deadstan.htm|title=Standard Arms (incorporated by former ownership of Lorcin Engineering)|publisher=Violence Policy Center|accessdate=14 January 2015}} However, in 1996, Lorcin filed for bankruptcy, with 18 pending product liability, personal injury, and wrongful death lawsuits. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 1997, but closed in 1998 with an additional 22 lawsuits having been filed.
Sept. 8, 1999. In 1999, Waldorf established a new company, Standard Arms of Reno, Nevada.
Products
- L-22: Semi-automatic, .22 LR, 9-shot capacity. A 2001 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives publication warned that the pistol is "extremely dangerous" when dropped, with the "potential for serious injury", due to an insufficient gap between the trigger bar and the sear.{{cite web|url=http://www.firearmsid.com/Recalls/FA_Recalls%203.htm|title=Firearm Recalls & Warnings Index|accessdate=2014-02-12}}
- L-25: Semi-automatic, .25 ACP, 7-shot capacity
- L-32: Semi-automatic, .32 ACP, 7-shot capacity
- L-380: Semi-automatic, .380, 7-shot capacity
- L-9mm: Semi-automatic, 9×19mm Parabellum, 10-shot capacity
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/interviews/waldorf.html Interview with Jim Waldorf]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorcin Engineering Company}}
Category:1989 establishments in California
Category:1998 disestablishments in California
Category:Manufacturing companies based in Riverside County, California
Category:Defunct firearms manufacturers of the United States
Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles