Other names Jim Sullivan Occupation Small arms designer | Name L. Sullivan Role Inventor | |
Nationality United States of America | ||
Leroy James Sullivan (born on June 27, 1933) is an American firearms inventor. Going by Jim Sullivan, he is noted as a designer of several 'scaled-down' versions of larger firearms.
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Early life
Sullivan was born on June 27, 1933 in Nome, Alaska. Sullivan lived in Nome until he was seven years old, concerned that World War II would spread to Alaska, Sullivan's family moved to Seattle, Washington.
Education
Sullivan attended the public schools of Seattle, and later in Kinewagon, Washington. Sullivan went on to study engineering, for two years, at the University of Washington in Seattle. Aware that he was about to be drafted to fight in the Korean War Sullivan wanted to become an Army diver, so he left the University of Washington to attend the Sparling School of Deep Sea Diving in Long Beach, California.
Military service
Sullivan served in the US Army, from 1953 to 1955, although he was trained by the Army to be a telephone installer/repairman because he had civilian training, he went overseas to Korea in 1954, Sullivan was assigned by the Army to be a diver to repair oil pipelines and other facilities damaged during the US invasion of Inchon Harbor.
Small arms designer
Sullivan is largely responsible for the Ultimax 100 light machine gun. He also contributed to the Ruger M77 rifle, and the M16, Stoner 63, and Ruger Mini-14 rifles (scaled from the AR-10, Stoner 62, and M14 rifle respectively).