Tag: Armalite

ArmaLite was founded by George Sullivan in 1954. Its present headquarters is in Geneseo, Illinois. After renting a small hop in Santa Monica, California, Sullivan hired a couple of people and then began work on a lightweight survival rifle prototype. It was on October 1, 1954 that the company was incorporated, and with its small capital, limited income, and small shop, ArmaLite was not originally intended to become a firearms manufacturer but only for producing designs and concepts intended to be sold and licensed to bigger arms manufacturers. Sullivan then met Eugene Stoner who eventually became ArmaLite’s chief design engineer.

Under the helm of Stoner, ArmaLite released several unique rifle concepts. The AR-5, a survival rifle chambered with the .22 Hornet Cambridge, was the first concept by ArmaLite to be produced. Later on, this rifle concept was adapted by the US Air Force and named as the MA-1 survival rifle.

In 1996, the ArmaLite brand was sold to Mark Westrom, a former US Army officer and an inventor of a 7.62 NATO sniper which was inspired by the design concepts of Stoner. Today, ArmaLite manufactures AR-15, AR-10, and AR-50 rifles. ArmaLite has also recently made the announcement that it will be coming up with its own handgun line.

Website: ArmaLite