Harvey Shuhart III created the Lima Six belt-fed AR-15 upper after his father Harvey Shuhart Jr. died unexpectedly in 2023. The elder Shuhart invented the NFL coach-to-player wireless headset system in 1994.

The son named the brand after the L-6 marking on his father's hangar and aimed for an affordable design using numerous common AR parts. Lima Six has sold more than 2,000 units and employs five full-time workers plus part-timers, with his mother handling the books.