AR-15 ArmaLite sold its rights to the AR-10 and (Rifle)
Thursday, August 31st, 2006AR-15
ArmaLite sold its rights to the AR-10 and AR-15 to Colt in 1959 after which the AR-15 was adopted by the United States military under the designation M16. Colt continued to use the AR-15 trademark for its semi-automatic variants. The “AR” in AR-15 parts comes from the Armalite name and does not in fact stand for assault rifle as is commonly believed. Today the AR-15 Accessories
and its variations are manufactured by many companies and have captured the affection of sport shooters and police forces around the world due to their low cost, accuracy, and modularity. Please refer to the M16 accessories for a more complete history of the development and evolution of the AR-15 parts and derivatives.
Some revolutionary or otherwise notable features of the AR-15:
Aircraft grade aluminum receiver
Modular design allows for a variety of accessories, renders repair AR-15 sight
Small caliber, high velocity round
Synthetic stock and grips do not warp or splinter
Front ironsight adjustable for elevation
Rear ironsight adjustable for windage and distance
Wide array of optical devices available in addition to or as replacements of ironsights
Semi-automatic and automatic variants of the AR-15 are effectively identical in appearance. Automatic variants have a rotating selective fire switch, allowing the operator to select between three modes: safe, semi-automatic, and either automatic or three round burst depending on model. In semi-automatic only variants, the selector only rotates between safe and semi-automatic.
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AR-15
In December of 1959, Colt acquired manufacturing and marketing rights to the AR-15. In 1962 Colt was able to get the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) to test 1,000 weapons in its Vietnam-oriented Project Agile. An enthusiastic report led to more studies from the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army, and despite strong Army opposition, Defense Secretary McNamara ordered 85,000 M16’s for Vietnam, and 19,000 for the Air Force.
However, early reports showed that the M16 was not living up to expectations. These reports, presented to McNamara by the Ordnance Department, showed the M16 having reliability as well as accuracy problems. These reports in turn praised the Ordnance Department’s own M14. While the M14 performed well, it was too heavy for the hot jungles of Southeast Asia, and its ammunition also would not allow more than 50-100 rounds to be carried on patrols, severely limiting its capabilities as an automatic weapon.
Further evaluation of the M14 and M16 was done by an independent agency. It concluded that M14 was not as bad as had been suggested by some, that the AR15 itself was not as good as its proponents had represented it to be. However, they did note that the ” AR-15” had greater capability for improvement, and that its small size and weight made it a handier weapon in Vietnam.
The M16 was issued w/o proper training and inadequate cleaning supplies. Combined with the humid jungle of Southeast Asia, this caused problems and the rifle gained a bad reputation. Because tolerances were tighter than in previous military arms, the M16 had to be kept extremely clean. War correspondents filed reports where the M16 was jamming, and many were shown on the evening news. It was reported that our soldiers were being killed by a faulty rifle.
This led to Congressional investigations which turned up two related problems. First, the cleaning issue. As training was provided, supplies issued, and some redesign, M16 performed more reliably. The second issue dealt with the use of ball propellants instead of IMR propellants. Remington had developed the 5.56mm round using one type of powder, but the specification was changed during military contract production to allow an alternate. This powder caused more fouling and increased the rate of fire.