From Trbovlje towards Podkum and on to Zagozd, we drive past meadows and forests, with an ever-improving view of Zasavje as we reach the top of the hill on a macadam road. There is a beautifully furnished house and a large outbuilding. Surrounded by a variety of ironwork, the workshop quickly shows that this is not just a small craft ... 

Rich The 400-year-old tradition of blacksmithing in the Mandelj family gave them the foundations on which they work today. They moved from blacksmithing to more advanced metalworking. 

Founder and director of the company M-Arms is Žiga Mandelj, who was involved in sport shooting (precision shooting, IPSC and IDPA disciplines). With his knowledge of metalworking, he spontaneously started to repair and improve his pistol, as he could not find suitable spare parts and upgrade parts for sport guns on the market. He started to produce parts and accessories for his own guns and then for his fellow shooters. 

It was a promising start. When they won the P2 tender, they also gained enough visibility that within a year and a half copies of their products started appearing, from Thailand to Slovenia, where the retailer himself said "If I don't get the product when I want it, I have the right to steal the intellectual property". Žiga says: "The products were copied, only the logos were changed. So I started studying that if we want to survive, we have to do something to differentiate ourselves. That's when the whole gun thing started to evolve."

John Browning is considered one of the most successful firearms designers of the 19th and 20th centuries, and a pioneer of modern repeating, semi-automatic and automatic firearms. Colt M1911 is a single-action semi-automatic pistol, the most famous of which is the pistol. It has been widely imitated, and this system of action has evolved into the dominant type of the 20th century and of almost all modern centrefire pistols. There have been no serious innovations in this field since Browning made this gun in 1907. 

"So far," Žiga proudly points to their three models of pistols. 

First prototype unveiled in Nuremberg at Europe's largest arms fair IWA Outdoor Classics 2022. "They recognised a lot of the innovations we have brought in, but to be honest, the quality I want for my guns has not been there yet." Step by step, finishing on finishing ... and after five years of constant development, testing and finishing, there is a gun on the market of a sophisticated quality, made up of a number of remarkable innovations. The entire development, from idea to actual production, took almost 10 years. 

What have they changed? They have redesigned the actuator. The gun is made up of over 60 parts. All parts are manufactured by the company or with partners in Slovenia. Almost every part is made of a different type of steel. For all the innovations, see the description on the website >>

What impresses those who are still unfamiliar with weapons is also visual appearance. An eye that must have been exceptionally skilled in industrial design could easily have competed for design plaques. The longer you turn the gun, the more tiny elements of beauty you notice. 

We had to ask: "Ziga, what if these guns fall into the hands of armies that would use them on the battlefield?" "No worries," he says, "Pistols for the army cost between €100 and €600 depending on the quantities, ours cost between €5,000 and €10,000. Many of the parts on military pistols are plastic, ours are all metal. The army guns are light, ours are almost two kilograms. Our pistols are very precise and consequently sensitive to dirt, which is why they are not useful in the army. Even if it is not obvious at first sight, the technology is completely different from military weapons." 

When you innovate like this, successes probably come naturally. "Yes, of course," he smiles painfully. "On 1 January 2024, my girlfriend and I toasted that this was going to be the best year, a breakthrough year, because we had completed the development of the latest gun. Well, if I had known then ..." Delays in orders, non-response to messages from customers who had already confirmed orders and paid partly, changes in the legislation of Asian countries, months of paperwork both on the part of the country importing these guns and on the part of Slovenia, which has to export them ... "I lost 10 kg in a few months," he admits. Entrepreneurship is not just about successes and the excitement of developing something beautiful. Even when you're holding a truly revolutionary product in a niche.

"Yes, it's hard..." he often points out. "In June and July, I repeatedly told myself to stop ..." Yet he persisted.

"We have just had confirmation of a number of orders that will help us a lot financially. Finally... We are still in talks with importers or traders. If at least one of the pending talks is concluded successfully, I will be able to sleep well for a year." It has importers and agreements to buy guns almost all over the world, from Europe, to America, Africa, Asia, the Arabian Peninsula. ... 

His partner, whom he met at the shooting range, is also a great support and help to him, so they share a passion for the sport and the business, as she also works for the company and is his right-hand woman. And they have just been to the African Championships in South Africa, where they are competing and representing the brand with the hope of winning more markets.

M-Arms has all the right elements to become a globally recognised Slovenian innovation. A prestigious product, Made in Slovenia. 

Ziga, our fingers are crossed! And congratulations already for such a sophisticated, innovative and beautiful product. 

See more at: slo.m-arms.eu

Logo used for pistol accessories (magazine base, magazines, magazines, funnels, etc.). M-Arms consists of a sword and a hammer. The latter two represent the rich 400-year-old tradition of blacksmiths in the Mandelj family on Slovenian territory. At the same time, the sword represents a weapon, as blacksmiths used hammers, fire and pig iron to make weapons for defence and attack. The logo for the repertoire of weapons (silencers, bolts and the guns themselves) is a logo with two crossed swords.