A company based in Eibar dedicated mainly to the manufacture of firearms (1905-1997).
Bonifacio Echeverría (1859-1951), after several years of apprenticeship in various companies in Eibar, began working with his father José Cruz (1833-1909) making revolvers for other local manufacturers. In 1905 Bonifacio decided to incorporate his brother Julián (1875-1948) into the company - called Echeverría e Hijo - in order to exploit the pistol designs that the latter had patented, inspired by the Austrian Mannlicher pistols. As a result of this collaboration, the production of the first Star pistols began in 1908, and the trademark was registered in the same year.
After the death of his father in 1909, Julián's participation in the company was increased and it was renamed ‘Bonifacio and Julián Echeverría’, the former dedicating himself to the management of the company while the latter focused on the design of new gun models.
But this fraternal collaboration was short-lived because, despite the success of the pistols they were manufacturing, Julián decided to leave the company and relinquish his patents, although he continued to receive a commission for the sale of his designs. In 1914 he took over the management of the recently created Eibar Armoury School, a position he held until 1938. After Julián left, the company was taken over by Bonifacio who, in addition to adding his name to the company name, expanded the range of models and increased the size of the company.
During the First World War (1914-1918), like other Basque arms companies, ‘Bonifacio Echeverría’ sold large quantities of arms to the allies, especially to the French army. In those years, the number of workers in the workshop was around fifty, and in addition to his Star pistols, he also sold large quantities of Eibar type pistols using the Izarra brand. In recognition of his collaboration, Bonifacio Echeverria was awarded the Gold Medal by the French government in July 1917.
During the post-war crisis, like Unceta y Cía. of Gernika-Lumo, he managed to gain a foothold in the demanding official markets. Although it did not succeed in the case of the army, which opted for the weapon proposed by the Biscayan firm, it did win the competition to provide the Guardia Civil with a regulation pistol in 1922. This enabled it to ensure minimum sales levels during the 1920s and 1930s, when the arms industry was going through one of the worst crises in its history.
Although some steps were taken towards diversification of the industry, arms continued to be its main production, and it was one of the companies, together with Beistegui Hermanos and Unceta y Cía., that managed to enter the booming Chinese market of the time with a new model of machine pistol.
In 1923, at the age of 65, Bonifacio Echeverría left his position at the head of the company. Valentín Suinaga, a relative of his wife, took over the position of design and production manager, while another member of the family, Isaac Irusta, took over the administrative management of the factory, a position he held until his death in 1971.
These changes were also reflected in the company deeds. New members of the family joined the company and the company name was changed to ‘Fabrica de Armas Star-Continuadora de B. Echeverría’, a name that remained until the end of the civil war.
During the conflict, and due to the proximity of the front, the company was moved to the Biscayan town of Derio, where it remained until 1942. By then the company had already become a public limited company, changing its name to ‘Star-Bonifacio Echeverría, S.A.’.
It was one of the companies that, together with Unceta y Cía. of Gernika-Lumo and Gabilondo y Cía. of Elgoibar, were allowed to continue manufacturing small arms after the war. This enabled the company to take advantage of the demand from some of the countries in conflict in Europe, specifically Germany and Bulgaria, which acquired 27.000 and 15.000 Star pistols respectively.
After the end of the war, the Star pistol won the competition to provide the Spanish army with a new automatic pistol, which enabled the company to overcome the economic difficulties of those years more comfortably. This relative prosperity provided sufficient resources to take on new challenges in the manufacture of weapons. Thus, efforts were intensified in the manufacture of submachine guns, in which they had already taken their first steps before the civil war. The various STAR submachine guns manufactured then and the 1980s were adopted by the Spanish military and police forces. This made the company the main supplier of light armament to the official forces in Spain.
The 1950s also saw the start of a thriving business in the private market after an agreement was signed in 1947 with the American import company ‘Firearms International Corporation’, through which large quantities of pistols were exported to the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, which became the main destination for the company's production.
Restrictions on arms imports passed by the US government in 1969 dealt a severe blow to the company, although they managed to survive thanks to innovation and the design of new pistol models. The 1970s also saw a renewal of the company's management after the death of Isaac Irusta in 1971 and the retirement of Valentín Suinaga.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the company was being managed by Iñaki de Subiñas and Eduardo Iraegi, who set in motion a process of renovation of the models produced to adapt them to the new times. The new pistols enjoyed a relative success that allowed the company to remain in business without major upheavals until the end of that decade, employing 260 workers at that time. It was then that the company entered a drift that would lead to its definitive closure.
Continuous changes in the administrative and technical management and the failure of new manufacturing projects put the company under increasing financial pressure. In addition, the arms market was in recession due to increasingly restrictive international regulations on the marketing and use of arms.
The decline in sales was unstoppable and all attempts to overcome the situation, including the attempted merger with Astra, were unsuccessful. In 1997, shortly before its closure, the company had less than 40 employees.
The building where the factory was located in Eibar was demolished in 2003 and replaced by the new headquarters of ALFA.