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Zenith Firearms cuts ties with MKE

islandfocus2

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It's official.. No more Z5RS and Z5P's from Zenith Firearms. LINK: https://zenithfirearms.com/blog/news/

November 24, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ZENITH FIREARMS CUTS TIES WITH MKE; PLANS NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH IN 2021​

This press release serves as an announcement that Zenith Firearms will no longer be importing MKE-produced firearms. The philosophy that Zenith has always carried is to reach for excellence with integrity. The product that we brought to the US market is high-quality, the customer service that we provide is superior, the ammunition that we now import is of excellent quality. Zenith is just getting started. We have opened a retail gun shop in Afton, VA, and continue to service and custom-build all manners of firearms. Zenith will continue to service those models that were imported under its brand and will continue to work on roller-delayed firearms sent to us for repair, upgrades and refurbishments. Zenith arguably has one of the most capable gunsmithing workshops in the US.

Those with a love of the roller-delayed platform, watch for Zenith’s US-manufactured product launch in 2021!

Many have asked what happened between Zenith and MKE. So, here is a factual account. Please note that MKE is a government entity and in many ways immune to retribution, and business rationale is a secondary consideration.

MKE had a product liability lawsuit dating from 1976 with the plaintiff, Mr. Ohntrup, in Pennsylvania, in which judgement was entered in favor of the plaintiff with a significant monetary award. MKE refused to settle with the Pennsylvania defendants and the award grew to nearly $42 million (https://casetext.com/case/ohntrup-v-makina-ve-kimya-endustrisi-kurumu-1). Consequently, MKE products were prevented from importation into the US. ATI attempted to import their product in 2009-2010, but were quickly prohibited.

In 2011, one of Zenith’s owners, who had been a longstanding representative for MKE in other countries, was approached by buyers from Walmart to import MKE ammunition during the period of ammunition shortage. Zenith went to work, first settling MKE’s legal matters to ensure imports would not be stopped, by preparing a $4.47million settlement to Mrs. Ohntrup (the widow of the plaintiff), and then preparing contracts with MKE and Walmart for the first year of product importation. This led to the successful importation of 111million rounds of ZQI ammunition in 2012-2013, and the relationship formed the foundation of Zenith’s firearms business with priority given to the importation of MKE-made firearms.

When the ammunition shortage ended, Walmart essentially liquidated their stock of ZQI ammunition below cost and destroyed the market for ZQI and its partners. The contract with MKE however was set to continue ammunition imports for an additional 12 months at a price no longer viable in the US. Knowing that Zenith would be suffering a considerable loss due to the ammunition pricing, the defined agreement between Zenith and MKE was that the loss would be borne by Zenith but corrected through firearm imports and the cooperation of Zenith and MKE in order to build a robust US market for MKE products. The aim was to eventually manufacture 922R parts here in the US, as a joint effort between Zenith and MKE. Unfortunately, in the end, Zenith absorbed all the loss and paid the settlement, and was left in debt to MKE.

In 2015-2016, MKE’s factory manager, Mr. Tanriverdi, attempted to elicit a bribe from Zenith’s owner, Kutlay Kaya, to be given the technical data packages of the Z-series firearms and the new MPT-55 and MPT-76. When MKE’s management failed to deal with the problem, Mr. Kaya took the case to the authorities which led to the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Tanriverdi for treason (https://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2016/12/14/man-faces-prison-term-for-saleof-weapon-project). Instead of this action bringing forth better relations, it appeared that it was the beginning of a troubled relationship with MKE.

Just when Zenith was anticipating an increase in firearms imports and the release of long-awaited WWII surplus ammunition, the July 2016 coup attempt occurred and all MKE’s effort was diverted to the local needs in Turkey. Zenith waited. MKE focused on manufacturing their new infantry rifle, the MPT, and Zenith continued to wait. Management at MKE changed several times, and each change meant less understanding of the value of Zenith’s reintroduction of MKE products, brand and impact on the US market. Certified delivery schedules became meaningless and late deliveries missed critical market deadlines, in one instance resulting in a $1.8million loss. Additionally, product prices increased with inflation at 10% per year, even when no product was delivered in a given year. Zenith remained protective of MKE’s reputation throughout and continued working towards establishing honest trade which would have brought great success to both parties.

In January 2019, a new agreement was put in place with much effort to ensure shipments would be on a monthly basis. MKE used more subcontractors to overcome their filled capacity as the MPT production remained a priority and it led to manufacturing and quality deficits. Intentional sabotage was even suspected. However, Zenith corrected the significant quality control issues here in the US while making the concerns known to MKE. MKE accused Zenith of being in breach of contract according to payment schedules and Zenith countered that the quality issues constituted a priority breach and prevented products being put into the market. To this day, funds that were sent to MKE in mid-2019 for product orders have been diverted to the ammunition debt that Zenith has been working to clear since 2016. This act alone is illegal since the financial matters were in two separate companies (Zenith Firearms vs Zenith Quest International). It appeared that MKE’s then deputy manager, Mehmet Unal, was set on working with others, cancelling Zenith’s contractual exclusivity as Zenith refused to line pockets and were insistent on necessary corrections being made. Management changed again in late 2019, and at Shot Show 2020, MKE informed Zenith that they appointed a new company as their exclusive representative to the US. They have since proceeded to select Century Arms as the company that they will use to import MKE’s MP-5 clones. In October 2020, Century released a video in which they showed their AP-5 with black tape over the manufacturer and importer names. One can
only assume it is because “Zenith Firearms” is actually engraved on the receiver.

The focus of Zenith remains on servicing the US firearms industry with excellent product and service. For more information on our services and products visit www.zenithfirearms.com and www.zqiammunition.com.
 

Nehalem Man

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As the world turns........
I think I'd better keep my ATI rifle.
Yeah I'm thinking that I did the smart thing when I jumped on a Z43-P last January at the LGS for $1500 with all the original accessories plus wide forearm and A2 stock. Merry (late) Christmas to me! Wasn't even looking for one at the time but it kept whispering "please take me home".

-E-
 

Grease Gunner

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I sold my 16” MKE MP5 “pistol” last spring as I never shot it. Maybe I should have kept it, but I couldn’t make it into a good host without having to do a lot of work so I didn’t make sense to keep it. Don’t miss it but I’ll say this-it was a top notch gun.

Very interesting read for sure.
 

MMissile

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It's not a really easy or cheap conversion on the ATI AT43 rifle, but I've got if figured out, and they shoot REALLY well. This 922r suppessor-host, will be more expensive than my 33K conversion. GRRR
 

Grease Gunner

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I sold my MKE when I got my PTR MP5 Clone as I wanted it as a full auto host. I shoot that a lot but still enjoy my pre sample HK MP5....waiting for the paperwork to come in so my pre sample HK MP5SD can come home :)
 

MMissile

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I haven't shot select-fire 9mm in ages. It's fun, but I'm sorting-out my bigger stuff.
 

Raygixxer89

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It's a shame Zenith couldn't keep it going. What's even worse is that they even paid off delinquent funds in order to be able bring in these firearms and MKE still screwed them over. I wonder how long the relationship will last Century. I still want a Z5K to compete my pistol collection. But I doubt I'll get it from Century as I've read that their CS is horible.
 

Johnny

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If I had to guess they wont be as good with century...I dont think most people realize how much work zenith put into those guns after they got to the states (on top of their good customer service after the fact) Most of those guns came in looking rough / surplus and zenith made it better. They refinished / fixed issues and I dont see century doing the same
 

esh21167

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If I had to guess they wont be as good with century...I dont think most people realize how much work zenith put into those guns after they got to the states (on top of their good customer service after the fact) Most of those guns came in looking rough / surplus and zenith made it better. They refinished / fixed issues and I dont see century doing the same
Agree 100%. Century does not have the intellectual resources to do what Zenith did. And when people have issues, who will fix them?

century arms receiver welding monkey SWWELDER.jpeg
 

islandfocus2

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Still waiting on PSA to release their roller delay MP5 style firearms.
 
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