Calico M960
Calico Light Weapons Inc. (CLWS) was an American privately held manufacturing company based in Elgin, Oregon, that designed, developed and manufactured semiautomatic firearms. It was established in 1982 in Bakersfield, California, and released its first production weapon in 1985.
Calico M960

joelogon / Joe Loong · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Field
- submachine gun.
- Period
- 1990.
- Region
- United States.
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Documentary summary
Calico Light Weapons Inc. (CLWS) was an American privately held manufacturing company based in Elgin, Oregon, that designed, developed and manufactured semiautomatic firearms. It was established in 1982 in Bakersfield, California, and released its first production weapon in 1985.
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Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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- Admitted assertions
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2655279 · wikipedia · Calico M960
In this article
Projects and operations
Projects and operations
In 1998 operations were moved to Sparks, Nevada, where replacement parts for existing weapons were produced. In 2006, it was sold once again and moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, where full firearm production resumed. It implemented a CNC machining process and upgraded materials used in manufacture. There were also minor redesigns of some production models to increase durability and reliability. The company went out of business in 2024.
Calico was one of the largest manufacturers of large (50- and 100-round) magazines for automatic and semi-automatic weapons in 2011. CLWS produced a line of pistols and pistol-caliber carbines that feature a top-mounted helical-feed 50- or 100-round magazine that ejects spent shells from a bottom port, making a brass catcher practical in various situations. Nine millimeter pistols, carbines and submachine guns use the roller-delayed blowback principle used in the Heckler & Koch series of firearms. The Calico M950 is a pistol manufactured in the United States. Its main feature, along with all the other guns of the Calico system, is to feed from a proprietary helical magazine mounted on top, available in a 50 or 100-round capacity. The factory sights enable accuracy to about 60 meters (197 feet). The Calico Liberty is a roller-delayed blowback-operated semi-automatic rifle (Liberty II) or pistol (Liberty III) chambered for the 9 mm Parabellum. These firearms use an unusual 50- or 100-round helical magazine that allow for a large number of rounds in a relatively compact and convenient package. The spent cartridges are discharged in an unusual fashion as well: downward, ahead of the trigger guard. This makes it relatively easy to fit an effective device to catch the cartridge cases, which can then be reloaded. A full-automatic (machine gun) version was available for military, police, and other government agencies. At the 2012 SHOT Show, Calico exhibited a prototype 12-gauge shotgun with top-mounted helical magazine.
Products
Products
Current.22 LR pistols Calico M110.22 LR rifles Calico M100S and M-100 tactical M-100FS and M-100FS tactical 9 mm pistols Calico Liberty III and Liberty III tactical 9 mm rifles Liberty I and II Liberty I and II tactical Calico M960 (Military and law enforcement only) Calico M960A Discontinued.22 LR pistols M-100P 9 mm pistols M950 Carbines M-900 M-951 Sub-machineguns M-750 M-900A M-950A Cancelled Shotgun Calico 12-gauge shotgun

A Calico M960 (top) and a Thompson M1921, Type L 50 round Thompson drum on left side. Taken at the National Firearms Museum
Amendola90
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 2 entries
1990
Calico M960 first recorded.
1990
Calico M960 is recorded from 1990.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Calico M960”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2655279: Calico M960
Unverified · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lewis, Jack. Assault Weapons. Gun Digest Books. 158–161. 28 February 2011. 978-1-4402-2629-8.
- 2.Peterson, Phillip. Gun Digest Buyer's Guide to Tactical Rifles. Gun Digest Books. 32–34. 15 November 2010. 978-1-4402-1781-4.
- 3.Hogg, Ian V. Pistols of the World. David & Charles. 56. 29 August 2004. 0-87349-460-1.
- 4.Hogg, Ian V. Submachine Guns. Greenhill Books. 126–127. 2001. 978-1-85367-448-8.
References
Citations
References
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Connections
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Connections
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Broader subject
1- submachine gunTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Calhoon cartridgesTerminology
- Calico LibertyTerminology
- Calico M100Terminology
- Calico M950Terminology
- Calico M960ATerminology
- caltropTerminology
- Campo GiroTerminology
- CAN IEDTerminology
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