since 1995
The history of Christensen Arms
Our story starts in the small town of Fayette—a neighboring city to our current home of Gunnison, Utah.
In 1984, the rural town of Fayette was struggling economically and didn’t have many options for employment. The Christensen family took notice of this. Having always had a strong connection to the town and its community, they decided to move their operations to Fayette.
Roland Christensen takes flight
Armed with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Roland Christensen founded ACT Aerospace and began making strong, lightweight aerospace components using composite materials. He quickly became well-known and respected as a leader in composite design for aircraft and space structures.
An innovator at heart, Roland pondered… “What else can I improve with carbon fiber?”
Working out of his garage, seen below, Roland began playing with carbon fiber. He made products of all kinds, including arrows, softball bats, knife handles, golf club heads, and more.
You want to make what?
Then one fateful day in 1993, Roland Christensen had an idea that stood out from the rest: let’s contour down a stainless steel rifle barrel and reinforce it with carbon fiber.
A carbon fiber rifle barrel seemed crazy at the time, but a shop full of hunting and shooting enthusiasts jumped at the chance to put Roland’s innovative idea to the test.
It worked.
In 1995, Christensen Arms was born, and the team’s success led to a breakout product line: 22 LR rifles.
Growth, fueled by innovation
Between 1995 and 2003, slow, steady growth occurred within the Roland Christensen’s young firearm company. Then in 2003, the company took an incredible leap forward: it evolved from building 22 LR rifles to producing the first aerograde carbon fiber stocks in the firearms industry.
People were confused, amazed, and most of all—very, very curious.
This would be the beginning of Christensen Arms’ development of handcrafted rifle stocks, an innovation that would forever change the company’s trajectory.
