Massachusetts Arms Company The Massachusetts Arms Company , of Chicopee Falls , Massachusetts was a manufacturer of firearms and firearm - related products from about 1849 into the early 20th century . The Massachusetts Arms Company was incorporated March 5 , 1850 and was founded by Arthur Savage along with Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson , who later founded Smith and Wesson . It was an outgrowth of the Wesson Rifle Company . Christian Sharps , who later founded the Sharps Rifle Company , transferred the manufacture of his first rifle to the company in 1849 or 1850 . The company also manufactured Wesson & Leavitt revolver s between 1850 and 1851 . These were said to be the first revolvers patented after Colt ' s . In 1851 , Samuel Colt filed and won a historic patent infringement lawsuit against the Massachusetts Arms Company . The company then limited its revolver production to relatively unpopular designs by Edward Maynard until 1857 , when Colt ' s patent expired . Maynard patented his revolutionary breechloading rifle in 1851 . It was actually manufactured by Massachusetts Arms , which had been using Maynard ' s system under contract for several years . In 1855 they produced 2 , 000 Greene Carbines , a Maynard system firearm , for a British government contract . These carbines were used in the Crimean War . Maynard ' s rifle was operated by a lever which when depressed raised the barrel to open the breech for loading . A brass cartridge , also developed by Maynard , was then inserted and the lever raised to close the breech . Once cocked the loaded rifle could then be primed by either placing a percussion cap directly on its nipple or by using Maynard ' s patented priming system to advance a primer to the nipple . Also in 1857 the company received a contract to manufacture Adams revolvers under license for the U . S . government . Some 500 or so were produced and used in the U . S . Civil War . The company also produced single - and double - barrel shotguns , including both box - locks and external central hammers . Later it manufactured a selection of 20 - and 28 - bore Maynard - action shotguns of 1865 and 1873 patterns . With civil war looming some Southern states purchased Maynard rifles from the company for their state militias . Of close to 3000 sales , most were to Florida , Georgia , and Mississippi . The First Model Maynard was designated an official Confederate firearm . The factory burned down in January 1861 , halting production until the factory was rebuilt in 1863 . The company then received an order for 20 , 000 of the simpler Second Model Maynard carbines . Deliveries of these guns began in June 1864 continuing through May 1865 . As the war was then coming to an end few saw service . Some , however , are known to have been used by the 9th and 11th Indiana Cavalry and the 11th Tennessee Cavalry regiments . In the late 19th century the company began producing revolvers on various Smith & Wesson patterns . Production continued until the factory closed permanently during the Great Depression . The Massachusetts Arms Company is also the trade name used by J . Stevens Arms and Tool Company for firearms produced for sale at the Blish , Mize and Silliman Hardware Company of Atchison , Kansas .