Company

Early Factory In Ezechiele's Basement

Early Factory In Ezechiele's Basement

Early Factory In Ezechiele's Basement

Rino Chiappa

Chiappa Firearms Facility In Azzano Mella, Italy

Chiappa Firearms USA Branch

Ezechiele (Oscar) Chiappa worked for several years in a company in Valtrompia. He developed a great passion for his job, and his natural technical ability allowed him to acquire the necessary knowledge to build complete weapons. In 1958 he started an independent artisanal company. At the beginning he worked alone but shortly, thanks to the good quality of his products, his activity expanded considerably.

Oscar had to endure tremendous sacrifice to make his company grow. For many years he worked an average of 16 hours a day, but he always could draw joy and enthusiasm from two inexhaustible wells. One was the passion for his job, which clearly shows from the precision and historical accuracy of his handicrafts. The second was his family: his wife, and afterwards his children, were always ready to give him their moral as well as concrete support.

During the first 4 years the company only produced one pistol model, the Corsair; in 1962 the Kentucky pistol was added to the production, and the following year the Kentucky rifles, all destined for American customers such as Intercontinental Arms and Levi Arms.

The pictures show Ezechiele back in the 70’s, working in a small factory in the basement of his house together with his wife and 8 specialized workers.
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From 1987 and years to follow, Rino Chiappa, along with his father leading the company, brought forth some fundamental changes. A fan of technology, Rino was convinced that modern production methods could be applied to the ancient art of firearms production. With ingeniousness and great determination, he adapted machinery which could perform automatic and precise machining operations.

The complete industrialization of the manufacturing process was achieved introducing modern machining techniques and a thorough control of the production flow through a process which began at the end of the ‘80s : the company was then working on large numbers, and at an update of the working methods was compulsory.

Rino had to prove the validity of his ideas with a lot of patience and an effort to win the resistance on the side of his father’s workers. These expert artisans, as knowledgeable as jealous of their job as they were, put up a tough fight against changing their working methods.
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In the mid ‘80s Kimar was established, a company producing blank firing, signal pistols and air guns. In a very short time period, Kimar gained a positive reputation worldwide, covering a new market share.

With the foundation of Kimar, the Chiappa Group began to shape, and the industrial organization of the factory took an incisive turn. Two different production methods started to cohabit under the same roof: an artisanal, piece-by-piece activity required by replica firearms and a standardized, high-quantity activity required by blank guns.

Thanks to the ability and deep know-how of Rino and his engineering and production team, these two working methods have been managed with a synergy that has enriched both areas, reaching an unbeatable level of proficiency and cost effectiveness.
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