If you spend a little time around firearms forums or read gun news, you’ve probably seen rumors crop up about various manufacturers going under. One name that pops up every so often is POF-USA, or Patriot Ordnance Factory. So what’s going on here—are they actually going out of business, or is there something else to the story?
Let’s take a closer look at what’s true, what’s just internet rumor, and what’s fueling all this talk about POF-USA’s business status.
POF-USA: Still Open, Still Selling
The most straightforward way to check if a company is still around is to see what they’re doing right now. As of early 2024, POF-USA continues to operate, and if you head over to their website, it’s very much alive. Their pages are loaded with rifles, AR parts, accessories, and company news.
If you try to buy something, you’ll see current product listings and pricing, not “out of stock” labels everywhere or big banners about closing down. They have distributors listed and still update their site layout, which is usually a good indicator of activity.
This also isn’t just a shell of a business with no actual products or updates—these are standard signs that a company is operating and serving customers. If they were actually going out of business, you’d expect some sort of announcement or at least radio silence. Instead, it just feels like business as usual.
Where Did the “Out of Business” Rumors Start?
Rumors about companies in the firearms industry aren’t new, but in the case of POF-USA, you can trace a lot of the gossip back more than a decade. The earliest round of concern about their status appeared in 2011, mostly from online forums like Sniper’s Hide.
Back then, some users reported that representatives from another company at the SHOT Show—a big annual gun expo—claimed POF was shutting down. Others pointed out that POF-USA was facing a few civil lawsuits in Maricopa County, which got people buzzing about possible legal trouble.
The lawsuits were a real thing, but court disputes aren’t exactly rare in any manufacturing sector. Competitors sometimes say negative things at trade shows, too. But by later that same year, POF-USA was still shipping rifles and showing up at events. The idea that they closed down just didn’t pan out.
Every so often, especially when there’s a shakeup in the firearms industry or POF-USA goes quiet on social media, these rumors resurface. But so far, nothing dramatic has happened.
Legal Issues: A Quick Snapshot
Legal headaches happen in every business, but it can look worse for gun makers since they tend to stay in the public eye. Back in 2011, the Maricopa County Civil Court had a few cases involving POF-USA.
In some industries, those lawsuits might make people shrug. For gun companies, they can fuel rumors fast. But none of those legal brawls resulted in POF-USA closing its doors. If anything, the company got right back to work, continuing to ship rifles and expand their lineup.
Big Growth, Not Big Exit
If you really want to know if a business is in trouble, a good way is to look at whether they’re shrinking or expanding. In POF-USA’s case, it’s mostly been expansion.
In 2017, they built a new manufacturing facility—over 27,000 square feet out in Phoenix, Arizona. This facility was custom-built for firearms production, complete with a 75-yard rifle hallway for live-fire testing and plenty of floor space for machines and workers. At the time, it was built for 50 employees, with even more room to grow.
And let’s talk sales. POF-USA wasn’t just trying to hang on; they were thriving. After some high-profile political pushes for gun control, their sales spiked, with monthly firearm production jumping from an average of around 600–800 units to as much as 4,200 in a single month.
Annual revenue soared as well, jumping into the hundreds of millions. Those are numbers you don’t see from a business teetering on the edge. New products and patents also began rolling out, with POF continuing to innovate in the AR-platform market.
What’s Fueling the Uncertainty?
Part of what keeps these rumors going is just the general nature of the firearms industry. The space is more tightly regulated than most, and that breeds challenges that some people assume are fatal.
First, bank loans. Gun companies, even established ones, can struggle to get financing. Many banks don’t want to be associated with firearm production, so owners often lean on private capital or personal funds. Frank DeSomma, POF-USA’s late founder, talked openly about how hard it was to find reliable commercial loans for the factory expansion.
Next, there’s the cost of doing business. Regulatory compliance is expensive in this industry, and healthcare costs have also gone up—especially after the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. At one point, DeSomma said he was paying over $20,000 each month in employee healthcare alone. For a mid-sized company, that’s a significant hit.
Even with all these challenges, POF-USA has continued adding new products, keeping staff, and growing its customer base.
Plenty of Fish? The “POF” Mix-up
There’s another odd piece of the rumor picture—a little confusion with the acronym “POF.” Over the years, you might have seen chatter online about “POF going out of business,” but sometimes these posts don’t even mean the gun company.
Plenty of Fish, an online dating app, uses the same acronym. Every so often, people mix up POF-USA and Plenty of Fish. Rumors about one ripple out to forums and social feeds about the other.
It doesn’t help that both companies have faced their own rumors before. But as of now, both are still in business. So if you saw a TikTok or Facebook post suggesting POF is shutting down, take an extra second to check if it’s the right POF—or if it’s even recent news.
The Bigger Picture: Firearm Makers and Business Rumors
The firearms business, more than most, ends up in rumor territory. Some of that comes from how political changes affect everything from sales spikes to compliance headaches. Every time there’s a new law, a court case, or even a rumor about a ban, you’ll see chatter about companies like POF-USA.
Social media pours fuel on the fire. If someone posts about product delays, people immediately ask if it’s because the company is “in trouble.” And unlike tech companies, gun makers don’t get much benefit of the doubt from the mainstream press.
But the reality is, there’s nothing in POF-USA’s current business to indicate a big exit or collapse. They ship products, develop new technology, and expand when the market gives them a chance. That said, it’s true that any manufacturer can have a bad quarter or tough year—especially when banks are shy or laws change overnight.
Other Industry Examples
If you pay attention to this market, you’ve seen this play out before. Similar rumors surrounded Remington, Colt, and even tiny boutique brands. Some firms really did face bankruptcy, but it usually came after long struggles and was pretty obvious before any final closure.
With POF-USA, the opposite has been true in the last decade—they doubled down on US manufacturing, increased output, and steadily hired more staff. You’ll notice a pattern: when there’s talk of closures or financial trouble in the gun industry, the real story rarely breaks as a secret. Announcements, layoffs, or asset sales make headlines, sometimes months in advance.
You can keep up with financial news on gun businesses (and plenty of other companies, too) at outlets like Blue Business Mag, which covers real business happenings, not just rumors.
So, Is POF-USA Going Out of Business?
If you heard POF-USA is closing or about to close, the facts right now say different. They’re operating, selling rifles, making parts, and showing up at industry events like any healthy company would. Their customer service team is still answering emails, and distributors are still listing their products.
Sure, there’s always a chance for changes—new ownership, economic slowdowns, and regulation—that’s just life for any business. But none of these rumors have held up so far, and their activity today points to business as usual.
In the end, it pays to double-check what you read online, especially with companies in industries people have strong opinions about. For now, if you’re a fan of POF-USA’s rifles or just following gun business news, you’ll find them open and selling, not shutting down. And if anything changes, it’d likely make real headlines—not just another forum post.
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