ArmaLite began as a small arms engineering concern founded by George Sullivan, the patent counsel for
Lockheed Corporation and funded by
Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. After leasing a small machine shop at 6567
Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, Sullivan hired several employees and began work on a prototype for a lightweight survival rifle for use by downed aircrew. The first ArmaLite concept to be adopted for production was the
AR-5, a survival rifle chambered for the
.22 Hornet cartridge. The AR-5 was adopted by the
U.S. Air Force as the
MA-1 Survival Rifle. A civilian survival weapon, the
AR-7, was later introduced and chambered in
.22 long rifle. The semi-automatic AR-7, like the AR-5, could be disassembled and the components stored in the buttstock. Primarily made of alloys, the AR-7 floats, whether assembled or stored, due to the design of the buttstock which is filled with plastic foam. Several companies have produced the AR-7 and derivative models since their introduction in the late 1950s, including
Henry Repeating Arms, of
Bayonne, New Jersey, on the
Bergen Neck peninsula east of
Elizabeth. ArmaLite engineers spent most of their time and engineering efforts in 1955 and 1956 developing the prototypes for what became the
AR-10. Based on Stoner's fourth prototype,
Springfield Armory tested two hand-built production AR-10s in late 1956 and again in 1957 as a possible replacement to the venerable yet outdated
M1 Garand. The untested AR-10 faced competition from the two other significant rifle designs, the Springfield Armory
T-44, an updated M1 Garand design which became the
M14, and the
T-48, a version of the famous
Belgian FN FAL rifle. The T-44 and the T-48 were several years more advanced than the AR-10 in development and trial testing; the T-44 had the additional advantage of being an in-house Springfield Armory design. The
US Army eventually selected the T-44 over both the AR-10 and the T-48. ArmaLite continued to market the AR-10 based on a limited production of rifles at its Hollywood facility. The limited-production, virtually hand-built rifles are "Hollywood" model AR-10s. In 1957, Fairchild/ArmaLite sold a five-year manufacturing license for the AR-10 to the
Dutch arms manufacturer
Artillerie-Inrichtingen (AI). Converting the AR-10 engineering drawings to metric, AI found the Hollywood version of the AR-10 to be deficient in many respects and made many significant design and engineering changes in the AR-10 that continued throughout the production run in the
Netherlands. Firearms historians have separated AR-10 production under the AI license into three identifiable versions of the AR-10: the "Sudanese" model, the "Transitional", and the "Portuguese" model AR-10. The Sudanese version derives its name from its sale to the government of
Sudan, which purchased approximately 2,500 AR-10 rifles, while the Transitional model incorporated additional design changes based on experience with the Sudanese model in the field. The final AI-produced AR-10, the Portuguese, was a product-improved variant sold to the
Portuguese Air Force for use by paratroopers. While AR-10 production at AI dwarfed that of ArmaLite's Hollywood business, it was still limited as sales to foreign armies proved elusive.
Guatemala,
Burma,
Italy,
Cuba,
Sudan, and
Portugal purchased AR-10 rifles for limited issue to their military forces, resulting in a total production of less than 10,000 AR-10 rifles in four years. ArmaLite never adopted AI's suggested design changes and product improvements. Disappointed with AR-10 sales, Fairchild ArmaLite decided to terminate its association with AI and instead concentrate on producing a small-caliber version of the AR-10 to meet a requirement for the US Air Force. Using the Hollywood-produced AR-10, the prototype was downsized in dimensions to accept the
.223 Remington (5.56 mm) cartridge. That resulted in the
ArmaLite AR-15, designed by Eugene Stoner,
Jim Sullivan, and Bob Fremont, and chambered in 5.56 mm caliber. Frustrated by what it perceived as unnecessary production delays at AI and poor AR-10 sales, Fairchild decided not to renew Artillerie-Inrichtingen's license to produce the AR-10. In 1962, disappointed with ArmaLite's meager profits, primarily derived from licensing fees, Fairchild dissolved its association with ArmaLite. In 1963, development began on the
AR-18 rifle, a "downsized" 5.56 mm AR-16 with a new gas system utilizing a short stroke gas piston instead of the Stoner direct gas impingement system used on the AR-10 and AR-15. Designed by Art Miller, ArmaLite accompanied the AR-18 with a semi-automatic version, the AR-180. It was never adopted but led to the
Ultimax 100. By the 1970s, ArmaLite had essentially stopped all new rifle development, and the company effectively ceased operations. Production plans for the AR Series 100 failed to be completed as Elisco dissolved and liquidated its assets in the late 1980s.
Resurrection of the ArmaLite brand After passing through a series of owners, Mark Westrom, a former U.S. Army
ordnance officer and inventor of a 7.62 NATO sniper rifle based on Eugene Stoner's design concepts, purchased the ArmaLite brand name and rampant lion logo in 1996. The company resumed business as ArmaLite Inc. ArmaLite produced some AR-15 and AR-10-based rifles, as well as
.50 BMG rifles (the
AR-50), and a modified AR-180 named the AR-180B (discontinued in 2009). In the mid-2000s, ArmaLite announced that it was introducing a handgun line including the
AR-24 and AR-26 (both pistols also discontinued). In 2013, Westrom sold ArmaLite, Inc. to
Strategic Armory Corps, owner of AWC Silencers, Surgeon Rifles, Nexus Ammo, and
McMillan Firearms. Strategic Armory Corps was formed to acquire and combine firearm companies. == Products ==