I spotted one of these at a gun show the other day and decided to look into them, which led to this post. This is a short post as there isn't much to tell.
We usually start these stories with the man who started the company, but I think we should talk about the design of the only gun they produced. The AP-9 pictured above is easily mistaken for the gun it imitated: the Intratec Tec-9:
It is pretty easy to see the similarities. The Tec-9 was introduced in 1985 having been developed from an earlier open bolt gun by George Kellgren. Kellgren was born in Sweden and worked for the firearms division of Husqvarna, before starting his own company Interdynamic AB.
Four years after the introduction of the Tec-9, AA Arms introduced their version called the AP-9. While the design is very similar, the AA Arms people did improve some things, most notably the barrels. The AP-9 is without question more accurate than the Tec-9. I am not sure it is the most accurate pistol in America, as the maker claims, but it is more precise than the Intratec.
In 1991 the companies moved to a new facility in Monroe, NC.
Kimel Industries, an importer of guns, distributed the AP-9 out of their North Carolina offices in Matthews and later in Indian Trail.
Thanks to the Democratic Congress & President Bill Clinton the passage of the 1994 "Assault Weapons Ban", put an end to production of the AP-9 ....at least for civilians anyway. Rumor has it that the AP-9 continued to be put together from pieces after 1994 and an attempt was made to market the gun to law enforcement agencies.
The Mint Hill factory sat at 8329 Fairview Road, next to the Mint Hill Fire Station.
Sources:
https://www.carolinashootersclub.com/threads/aa-arms-tec9-clone.139361/
https://artillery.fandom.com/wiki/Kimel_AP-9
http://www.stainlessvalveco.com/CAM.pdf
