Accuracy International

Extremely precise, rugged and deadly accurate, Accuracy International makes rifles for the world's sharpest shooters.Put one of their 6.8kg rifles in the right hands and it can hit a human-sized target from 1,400 metres.

Until recently, British soldier Craig Harrison held the record for the longest deadliest shot with an Accuracy International rifle; he killed two Taliban fighters in Afghanistan from a distance of 8,120 feet - or one and a half miles. (The bullet took three seconds to reach its target.)

The company started in the 1970s when work colleagues and shooting enthusiasts Dave Walls and David Caig started to create working replicas of Colt revolvers. Their first attempt was so successful that they started their own company to design target rifles. They came into contact with Malcolm Cooper, the shooting gold medallist at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games and world champion in non-Olympic rifle disciplines. The trio were the driving force behind the formation of Accuracy International.

The company has had a turbulent history, including ownership by private equity form 3i, going into administration in 2005 and then being bought out by its current management team. For all its corporate ups and downs, it has emerged as one of the foremost suppliers of high accuracy, robust and reliable sniper rifles in the world. Its most recent filed accounts reported that rifle production was at a record high and the business is healthy and stable.

From its factory in Portsmouth, its rifles are the weapons of choice for military marksmen and special forces operatives in more than 60 countries.

The company uses the slogan “the best sniper rifle in the world.” It’s well-earned, owner Tom Irwin told the Telegraph in this interview. “We did not just come up with it. Real users in the forces said it, so I thought we should. How many other British companies can say they make such a world-class product?”