Accuracy International was founded in 1978 by a Olympic medalist Malcom Cooper, MBE, along with Sarah Cooper, Martin Kay, and weapons designers Dave Walls and Dave Caig. Together they took their knowledge of long range rifle shooting and weapon design to create a suberbly accurate and rugged rifle suitable for both military use as well as long range target shooting.
Their first rifle, the PM was entered into competition in the 1980s when the British military sought to replace the Lee Enfield sniper variant (L42A1). The AE design won the competition, beating out the Parker Hale M85 and was placed into use in 1982 and designated the L96A1 by the British military.
Accuracy International Rifles are deployed by more than 60 militaries and police forces throughout the world, including Britain, Germany, the United States, and Canada. Perhaps their best known rifle is the upgraded version of the PM L96A1 known as the Arctic Warfare rifle, designated the PSG90 by the Swedish military.
The Arctic Warfare rifle was introduced in 1991 and soon became the standard for military sniper rifles. Since its introduction, numerous variants have been designed and placed into servce by a number of militaries, including folding stock versions, as well as various models chambered in .300 Win Mag, .338 Lapua, and the AW50 in .50 BMG.
In 1996, Accuracy International teamed up with Finnish ammunition manufacturer Lapua to develop the .338 Lapua cartridge. The .338 Lapua magnum cartridge was designed to bridge the gap between the 7.62 NATO round and the .50 BMG cartridge.
In 2005 the company was struggling financially and sought liquidation where it was purchased by British consortium. This purchase allowed the original AE design team of Dave Walls, Paul Bagshaw and Tom Irwin to gain ownership of the company. Designer Dave Caig was retained by AE as a design consultant.
Currently, Accuracy International rifles are designed and manufactured in a 20,000 square feet ISO 9001:2008 certified facility in the UK.
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