ArmaLite

ArmaLite, or Armalite, is an American small arms engineering company, formed in the early 1950s in Hollywood, California. Many of its products, as conceived by chief designer Eugene Stoner, relied on unique foam-filled fiberglass butt/stock furniture and a composite barrel using a steel liner inside an aluminum sleeve, including the iconic AR-15/M16 family. While the original ArmaLite ceased doing business in the 1980s, the brand was revived in 1996, by Mark Westrom.

Originating as the light firearms division of Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, ArmaLite was formally incorporated in 1954. Stoner's first design, the AR-1 Parasniper (dating from 1952), was relatively unsuccessful. However, in 1956, when ArmaLite competed in a contest for an aircrew survival rifle, its AR-5 and AR-7 designs were put into production and adopted by elements of the US military. In 1957, ArmaLite also competed for the contract for a new main US combat rifle, in the NATO standard 7.62×51mm NATO caliber, with its AR-10. While that bid was unsuccessful, the rifle attracted the attention of both Colt and the Dutch company Artillerie-Inrichtingen, both of which acquired licenses to manufacture the AR-10.