Serbu Firearms
Serbu Firearms is an American manufacturer of firearms based in Tampa, Florida. Founded by mechanical engineer Mark Serbu, the company is best known for producing the BFG 50 a .50 BMG caliber, single-shot rifle. The rifle is also available in .510 DTC EUROP caliber in some European countries, where .50 BMG rifles are generally banned by law.
Firearms Manufacturer | |
Founded | June 21, 1996 |
Founder | Mark Serbu |
Headquarters | Tampa, Florida , United States of America |
Revenue | Unknown |
Owner | Mark Serbu |
Website | Official Site |
Products
The BFG-50 is a .50 BMG rifle designed to be an affordable, single shot bolt-action rifle.
The company is currently shipping a semi-automatic .50 BMG rifle called the BFG-50A. Production startup had been slow; prototype photos of the BFG-50A were first shown in 2002, and orders were first taken at the 2008 SHOT show in Las Vegas. Deliveries finally started on 6/17/2011.
Serbu Firearms is also noted for its production of the Super-Shorty, a compact 12- or 20-gauge (on special order)[1] shotgun with front and rear pistol grips which in the United States is regulated as what is called Any Other Weapon under the National Firearms Act. They have also appeared in several movies and video games.[2]
Serbu has produced a variety of small-quantity firearms in the past, including a .22LR pen gun called the "Butt-master" and an integrally-suppressed Ruger MK II pistol called the "SIRIS". Serbu has also produced a .22LR muzzle suppressor called the "C-CAN" and an integrally suppressed Ruger 10/22 rifle called the "SIRIS 1022".
Controversy
In 2013, Serbu refused to sell their model BFG-50A semi-automatic .50 rifles to the New York City Police Department after the passage of the NY SAFE Act that classified their weapon as an assault weapon.[3] Instances like this, in which a firearms manufacturer refuses to supply state entities with weapons that are forbidden to their private citizens, have become more common.[4] Following their refusal to sell the rifles, Serbu then had T-shirts printed with an image of the classic Seinfeld character The Soup Nazi, played by actor Larry Thomas, and the words "No Serbu For You".[3] Thomas, a gun control advocate, contacted Facebook and the T-shirt printers to have the shirts removed.[3] Serbu has since removed the image of Thomas and replaced it with one of their founder Mark Serbu.[5]
References
- Long, Duncan (2004). Streetsweepers: The Complete Book of Combat Shotguns. Paladin Press. p. 103. ISBN 1-58160-436-X.
- "Serbu Super Shorty". Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- staff (2013-04-02). "Soup Nazi fires off over guns". New York Post. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
- Berman, Jillian (2013-04-03). "Larry Thomas, 'Soup Nazi' Actor, Pushes Serbu Firearms To Pull Pro-Gun T-Shirt Featuring His Face". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
- Higginbotham, David (2013-04-09). "No Serbu For You, Soup Nazi Wants His Image Back". guns.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.