founded in 1894
Westfield, Massachusetts & Canada
- 1892 Arthur Savage designed a rifle for Colt
– magazine in the stock, not under the barrel
– but contract was won by the Krag–Jørgensen - 1894 Savage Arms founded by Arthur Savage in Utica, New York
- 1895 Model 1895 the first hammerless lever-action rifle
– Savage invented the rotary magazine rifle - one of six companies to participate in the United States Army trials for a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol
- 1897 – 1999 Model 99 lever-action rifle made for 102 years
- 1908 invented the removable box magazine
– but his patent expired in 1942 - .300 Savage. Savage
- merged with the Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company
- World War I
– produced Lewis machine guns in Sharon, Pennsylvania
– produced Model 1899 muskets - 1919 approached by Chief Lame Deer to buy rifles for his tribe in New York
– Lame Deer offered Savage to use his image as its logo in exchange for discounted rifles and an annual fee - 1091 – Arthur Savage moved to Duarte, California, and formed the Savage Tire company, he invented radial tires
- 1920, Savage Arms bought Stevens Arms of Chicopee Falls, MA
- 1929 Savage acquired the A.H. Fox Gun company of Philadelphia and moved production to Utica, New York
- 1939 Model 24 combination gun
- World War II
– made most of the Thompson submachine guns used in World War II
– produced the British No. 4 Lee–Enfield bolt-action rifle - 1969 Canadian operations began called Lakefield Arms
– Lakefield, Ontario - 2002 the AccuTrigger
- 2018 Savage Arms is still paying the annual fee to Lame Deer
Ammunition
- 1894 – .303 Savage
- 1912 – .22 Savage Hi-Power
- 1915 – .250-3000 Savage
- 1920 – .300 Savage
About Savage Arms
Savage Arms was founded in 1894 by Arthur William Savage, a Jamaican-born inventor, in rented space on Hubbell Street in Utica, New York. Its Model 1895 and the Model 99 that followed were hammerless lever-action rifles with a rotary magazine and a round counter, and the Model 99 design, patented in 1897, stayed in production until 1999. Savage bought Stevens Arms in 1920 and the A.H. Fox Gun Company in 1929, and during World War II it made most of the Thompson submachine guns used in the war.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1988 and recovered, buying its Canadian affiliate Lakefield Arms in 1995. In 2002 it introduced the AccuTrigger, a user-adjustable trigger that changed expectations for accuracy in factory hunting rifles. ATK agreed to buy Savage in 2013 for $315 million, and on July 9, 2019, Vista Outdoor sold Savage and Stevens for $170 million to an investor group led by Savage management. Savage is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts, and Chris Bezzina became CEO in 2023. The often-told story that Chief Lame Deer offered his image for the company logo in 1919 is disputed, since a similar illustration appears in a 1903 catalogue.
Key Facts
- 1894: Founded by Arthur Savage in Utica, New York
- 1897: Model 99 lever-action design patented (produced until 1999)
- 1920: Purchased Stevens Arms
- 2002: Introduced the AccuTrigger
- July 9, 2019: Management-led investor group bought Savage from Vista Outdoor
- 2023: Chris Bezzina became CEO
Sources
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