Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats arnold arms company

can anyone tell me anything about the company and the gun?
ive just bought one in 7mm stw for $850 didnt know anything about them

They went under some time ago is what I heard. They did the accuracy work on my 25-06 Sendero. I am happy with the work they did for me.

Armold Arms is justifiably no longer in business.

I just had another of their rifles in the shop, and yet again it was an adventure. I didn't realize that nylon washers were an acceptable method for bedding bottom metal.

Glad they ran out of those before they did my rifle.

I don't know the quality for their work, but one of the 'smith for Arnold Arms is now working for Benchmark Barrels, and the competition rifle he built me is a true hummer.

Oh yeah, sround the mid to late 90s Arnold Arms advertised a rifle and said something like it shot 3.5" groups at 1600 yards daily for two weeks. That is most likely such gross overstatement that it borders on--if not completly--being a lie.

Some of their employees were members of my gun club. They had one very good rifle smith, the rest were machinists hired during a down turn in the local economy (Boeing lay-off ripple down effect). Alot of money was spent on marketing and advertizing and little on tooling. Before long quality output could not keep pace with demand. Next thing they new, the company was unable to make payroll and the employees bailed out, compounding the delivery problems and morale, leading to more people leaving.

fwiw,
After listening to JJHack I cam SOO close to having a rifle built by Arnold Arms in about 96'. Sent them a 53' Model 70 action and a deposit. Talking with them on the phone something felt wrong. Canceled the project and requested a refund. Took an order of congress but I eventually got the money/action back. I consider myself to be a very lucky individual to have escaped that train wreck...

Regards, Matt.

plumberbob123,

Arnold Arms may have had employee and quality problems but it was the State of Washington Securities Commission that ended his career. From the official State records:

STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
SECURITIES DIVISION
IN THE MATTER OF determining
whether there has been a violation of the
Securities Act of Washington by:
ARNOLD ARMS CO., INC. and DOUGLAS E.
ARNOLD
Respondents
SDO - 046 - 01
STATEMENT OF CHARGES AND
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO ENTER
ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST
Case No. 01-03-117
THE STATE OF WASHINGTON TO: DOUGLAS E. ARNOLD
STATEMENT OF CHARGES
Please take notice that the Securities Administrator of the State of Washington has reason to believe that
Respondents, ARNOLD ARMS CO., INC. and DOUGLAS E. ARNOLD, have each violated the Securities Act of
Washington and that their violations justify the entry of an order of the Securities Administrator under RCW 21.20.390
to cease and desist from such violations. The Securities Administrator finds as follows:
TENTATIVE FINDINGS OF FACT
I.
RESPONDENTS
1. ARNOLD ARMS CO., INC. ("Arnold Arms") is a Washington corporation with its principal place of business
at 19007 61st Avenue NE, Suite 1, Arlington, Washington 98223.
2. DOUGLAS E. ARNOLD is president of Arnold Arms.
II.
PUBLIC OFFERING OF CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURES
During March 2001, Arnold Arms took out a newspaper advertisement that was published in The Seattle Times.
The advertisement announced that Arnold Arms had initiated a limited private convertible debenture offering pursuant to
Rule 504, Regulation D in order "to raise $500,000 to be used for increased production to support market demand." The
advertisement also touted the company's guns and ammunition and said that the company intended to file for an IPO late next year. The company also published information from the newspaper advertisement on its Internet website at
www.arnoldarms.com.
STATEMENT OF CHARGES AND NOTICE
OF INTENTION TO ENTER ORDER TO
CEASE AND DESIST

III.
UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
Arnold Arms Co., Inc. is not currently registered to sell its securities in the state of Washington and has not
previously been so registered.
V.
UNREGISTERED SECURITIES BROKER-DEALER OR SALESPERSON
Douglas E. Arnold is not now and never has been registered as a securities broker-dealer or salesperson in the
state of Washington.
Based upon the above Tentative Findings of Fact, the following Conclusions of Law are made:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
I.
The offer of convertible debentures described in paragraph II of the Tentative Findings of Fact constitutes the
offer of a security, as defined in RCW 21.20.005(10) and (12), whether in the form of a debenture, right to purchase stock
or investment contract.
II.
The offer of said securities is in violation of RCW 21.20.140 because no registration for the securities offering
described in paragraph II of the Tentative Findings of Fact is on file with the Washington Securities Administrator and
because the offering does not quality for an exemption from registration pursuant to WAC 460-44A-504.
III.
Douglas E. Arnold violated RCW 21.20.040 by offering the securities described in paragraph II of the Tentative
Findings of Fact while not being registered as a securities broker-dealer or salesperson in the state of Washington.
STATEMENT OF CHARGES AND NOTICE
OF INTENTION TO ENTER ORDER TO
CEASE AND DESIST

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Securities Division
PO Box 9033
Olympia, WA 98507-9033
360-902-8760

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO ORDER RESPONDENTS TO CEASE AND DESIST
Based upon the above Tentative Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the Securities Administrator intends to
order the respondents to each permanently cease and desist from violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act
of Washington.
AUTHORITY AND PROCEDURE
This STATEMENT OF CHARGES AND NOTICE OF INTENTION TO ENTER ORDER TO CEASE AND
DESIST is entered pursuant to the provisions of RCW 21.20.390 and is subject to the provisions of ch. 34.05 RCW. The
respondents, Arnold Arms Co., Inc. and Douglas E. Arnold, may each make a written request for a hearing as set forth in
the NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO DEFEND AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING accompanying this order. If a
respondent fails to request a hearing within the allowed time, the Securities Administrator intends to adopt the above
Tentative Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law as final and to enter a permanent cease and desist order against that
respondent.
DATED this _____ day of _____________________, 2001.

_______________________________________________
JOHN L. BLEY
Director, Department of Financial Institutions
Approved by: Presented by:

______________________________________
Michael E. Stevenson
Chief of Enforcement

__________________________________________
Janet So
Securities Examiner