Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne followed by Nexter
History
Saint-Étienne was well-known as a center of sword and knife manufacturing beginning in the Middle Ages. In 1665, a Royal Arms Depot was created in Paris to store military weapons made in Saint-Étienne.
The Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne was created by royal decree in 1764 under the supervision of the General Inspector of the Royal Arms Manufacture of Charleville.
12,000 weapons were being produced each year when the French Revolution began in 1789. The city was renamed Armsville during the Revolutionary period and production increased to arm the French Revolutionary Army.
Subsequently, the French Empire required a threefold increase in production to meet the needs of the Grande Armée in its conquest of Europe.
By 1838, during the July Monarchy, annual production was well over 30,000 firearms.
In 1864, the modern factory was built, new steam-powered machines were installed and the first military standardized bolt-action rifle, the Chassepot, was produced from 1866 on, then the Gras rifle after 1874.
The MAC-designed Lebel rifle entered production in 1886. MAS later designed and manufactured the family of rifles chambered in 7.5×54mm French, from the MAS-36 through the MAS-49/56, then later the FAMAS bullpup assault rifle, which uses the 5.56×45mm NATO round.
In 2001, weapons production ceased as MAS was absorbed into the Nexter Group.  OPTSYS, a Nexter subsidiary specializing in optical equipment and protected vision for armored vehicles, is currently located in Saint-Étienne.