The German firm of FW Heym has a proud history of gunmaking, dating back all the way to 1865 when they first started out as a gunmaking concern in that mecca of German firearms manufacturing, Sühl. In typical German fashion, Heym’s speciality at first was typically German: drillings, combination guns and the like for the local market. As time went on and devices like the bolt-action mechanism were introduced, Heym naturally gravitated towards these modern inventions and started offering sporting rifles on M98 Mauser and other actions.
With the advent of WW II, Heym, just like every other German arms manufacturer, was roped in by the Nazi regime to manufacture weapons of war. The company made many thousands of M98k Mauser rifles for use by the German armed forces during the conflict. However, when the war ended, Heym faced a new challenge: It found itself in a part of Germany occupied by Soviet forces.
In the aftermath of the war, the Soviets were eagerly inspecting German factories in their occupation area for any useful equipment, new technologies or skilled workmen and shipped the whole lot off to Mother Russia.
Thankfully, American forces helped in spiriting the bulk of Heym’s machinery over the lines of occupation to what would later become West Germany, along with the company’s skilled workforce. This fortuitous move undoubtedly saved Heym for posterity as the Russians wouldn’t have
