(Ft. Worth, Texas – October 26, 2021) The company feels the change better reflects its goal of manufacturing premium air rifles that are focused primarily on competition target shooting, sport shooting, and small game hunting. The R.A.W. nickname will continue to be used as it has become as recognizable as the brand itself. In addition, Rapid Air Worx’s parent company, AutoNumatic Corporation, plans to resurrect the famous Theoben brand mark for some legacy PCP models. The name change does not reflect any change in manufacturing and assembly practices or location. Rapid Air Worx rifles will continue to be assembled and tested in Minor Hill, Tennessee with parts machined in both the Minor Hill facility as well as Fort Worth, Texas, just as they have been since AutoNumatic purchased RAW in 2018.
“From the outset of our relationship with RAW we had planned to drop “weapons” from the official company name,” states Cameron Brinkerhoff, director of marketing at AutoNumatic Corporation. “We don’t consider our products to be weapons in the traditional sense, they are tools for competition shooting, hunting, and target practice. While the term “air weapons” is common in Europe, here in the US air rifles are not considered weapons and we felt it made sense to drop it from the company name. Similarly, the original vision for RAW was to be a high-end competition line of semi-custom air rifles while Theoben was to remain the brandmark for the base model, off the shelf rifles.”
Established in 1997, AutoNumatic Corporation is the parent company of AirForce Airguns, Rapid Air Worx, and BKL Technologies. Under the AirForce Airguns brand it was the first company to mass-produce PCP air rifles in the United States. AirForce rifles feature a German-made Lothar Walther match grade barrel with other components being manufactured and assembled in their Ft. Worth, Texas-based manufacturing facility. In 2018 Automatic Corporation acquired RAW Airguns and continues to assemble RAW rifles in the original RAW factory in Minor Hill, Tennessee.
For more information on AirForce Airguns, Rapid Air Worx or BKL Technologies visit our perspective websites at www.airforceairguns.com, www.rapidairworx.com, or www.bkltech.com or write to AirForce Airguns, P.O. Box 2478, Fort Worth, Texas 76113.