FÉG stands for Fegyver És Gépgyár, which could be translated as "Arms and Machine Factory". It comes from the Hungarian "Fegyver- és Gépgyártó Részvénytársaság" ("Arms and Machine Manufacturing Company"). Founded on February 24, 1891 in Budapest and renamed to Fémárú, Fegyver- és Gépgyár (Metalware, Arms and Machines F.) in 1935, it is now known as the FÉGARMY Arms Factory Ltd. (FÉGARMY Fegyvergyártó Kft.). Between 1946–1965 it was called Lamp Factory (Lámpagyár) (Lampart), and from 1965 through decades as Fegyver- és Gázkészülékgyár (Arms and Gas equipment F.), manufacturing most of the propane water boilers and heaters

Water heating

Water heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water are for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating...

 found in Hungarian panel houses

Panelház

Panelház is the name of a type of block of flats in Hungary and Hungarian inhabited areas of the Pannonian Basin. Transylvanian Magyars call these buildings tömbház . It was the main housing type built in the Socialist era. From 1959 to 1990 788,000 panel flats were built in Hungary...

.

Through its history it always fulfilled a crucial role in supplying the Honvédség

Military of Hungary

The Hungarian Defence Force is the national military of Hungary. It currently has two branches, the Hungarian Ground Force and the Hungarian Air Force....

 with small arms

Small arms

Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...

, this company also manufactured and exported a variety of semi-automatic pistols and rifles, including the P9R (a copy of the famous Browning Hi-Power

Browning Hi-Power

The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized...

) and the FEG PA-63

FEG PA-63

The FÉG PA-63 is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by the FÉGARMY Arms Factory of Hungary.-History:FÉGARMY Arms Factory of Hungary started producing Walther PP/PPK clones in the late 1940s starting with their Model 48 which differed from the Walther PP only in minor details...

 (a Walther PP/PPK clone in 9x18mm Makarov), but currently only self-loading pistols (P9L, P9M, P9R, etc.) and break-barrel air rifles

Air gun

An air gun is a rifle , pistol , or shotgun that fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, in contrast to a firearm, which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. Air guns that only use plastic projectiles are classified as airsoft...

 (LG 427, LG 527). In Hungary the company is also famous for its starting pistol

Starting pistol

A starting pistol or starter pistol is a handgun or electronic toy weapon that is fired to start track and field races, as well as competitive swimming races at some meets. The loud report of the gun going off is a signal to the athletes to begin the event. Usually a cloud of smoke can be seen...

s, for example the GRP-9.

After 2004 many of its traditional export markets were put under embargo and this caused the company to finally go bankrupt.

See also

• Villa d'Este (Cernobbio)