The Savage Arms Company was organized in 1894 by Arthur Savage in Utica, New York. A native of Jamaica, Arthur led a romantic life, having been schooled in England and the United States. In his thirties, he explored the interior of Australia and was held captive for a year by Aborigines.Later he became the owner of the largest cattle ranch in Australia. After moving to Utica, New York, he developed the Savage Halpine torpedo, became the Superintendent of the Utica Belt Line Railroad, and invented the first "hammerless" lever action rifle with the entire mechanism enclosed in a steel receiver. This remarkable rifle featured a rotary magazine with unique counter that visually displayed the number of bullets remaining in the receiver.The Model 99, as it became known, advanced firearm technology, offered the average person an affordable rifle, and started a business that has stood the test of time. In 1919,Chief Lame Bear (opposite) approached Arthur to purchase lever-action rifles for the Indian reservation and the two men struck a deal. The tribe would get discounted rifles and Savage would get their support and endorsement. It was at that time that Arthur Savage added the Indian head logo to the company name, a direct gift from the chief. By 1915, Savage Arms was manufacturing high power rifles, 22 caliber rifles, pistols and ammunition. During World War I, Savage merged with Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company, and made Lewis machine guns. In 1920, Savage purchased J. Stevens Arms which was associated with the famous barrel maker, Harry Pope. Later, Savage acquired the assets of Page Lewis Company, Davis-Warner Arms, Crescent Firearms, and A.H. Fox, thereby becoming the largest firearm company in the free world. During the Second World War, Savage contributed literally millions of firearms to the campaign, converting it's factories to accommodate heavy munitions. After the war, Savage had excess capacity and adopted some of it's manufacturing processes to alternate consumer products, including the worlds first motorized lawnmower. In early 1960's, Savage was purchased by a large New York conglomerate, which in turn was sold to Black and Decker. By the early 1980's, Savage was in financial difficulty and was sold twice more before filing for bankruptcy protection in early 1988. At that time, the company was named Savage Industries. This was a turning point for the company and an opportunity to rationalize the business, the market direction and products. Ronald Coburn was promoted to President/CEO immediately after bankruptcy was declared and started to define the future of the business. The company downsized and produced only the model 110 bolt-action rifle until mid 1989. Savage Industries was sold in late 1989 to a publicly traded venture capital group, located in Texas and renamed Savage Arms Inc. Two more product lines were added: the model 24 shotgun/rifle combination and the model 99. All other products, previously produced by the now liquidated company, were discontinued. The company developed a strategy to niche market- build superior products not available from the competition at a price no one else could match. Savage redefined VALUE during the 1990's, providing unequalled price, function and accuracy and continued to develop new products. In 1992, Savage designed and patented the SNAIL, a environmentally friendly shooting range system that has since be adopted by all major firearms manufacturers, police, military and private shooting clubs in America and 14 other countries. The NRA, FBI and numerous special forces currently use the SNAIL Savage system. By 1995, Savage was now financially strong enough to attract potential buyers and the owners showed interest in selling. In order to keep the company focused and under the control of local management, Ronald Coburn raised the money to purchase the company and took it private. Since then, Savage has opened a factory in Canada to produce all .22 rim-fire rifles and reintroduce the famous lever-action "Favorite" rifle. A wood factory in Connecticut now produces stocks and a bolt-action shotgun and a hunting handgun called the "Striker" was introduced in 1998. In late 2000, Savage developed the worlds first smokeless muzzleloader and introduced a number of short magnums to complement it's center-fire rifle series. Savage Arms is proud of it's reputation for product improvements and has become the standard for accuracy in the industry. The innovations that originally defined the company is still evident today and history is currently being written!