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After most of the patents for the Colt AR-15 expired in 1977, many firearm manufacturers began to produce copies of the rifle under various names. While the patents are expired, Colt has retained the trademark to the AR-15 name and is the sole manufacturer able to label their firearms as such. [1]
ArmaLite, or Armalite, is an American small arms engineering company, formed in the early 1950s, in Hollywood, California.Many of its products, as conceived by chief designer Eugene Stoner, relied on unique foam-filled fiberglass butt/stock furniture, and a composite barrel using a steel liner inside an aluminum sleeve, including the iconic AR-15/M16 family.
The AR-15 was found to be three times more reliable than the M14 rifle. [3] However, General Maxwell Taylor, then Army Chief of Staff, "vetoed" the AR-15 in favor of the M14. [3] In 1959, ArmaLite—now frustrated with the lack of results and suffering ongoing financial difficulties—sold its rights to the AR-10 and AR-15 to Colt. [1]
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Colt has since made many different models of AR-15 rifle and carbine models, including the AR-15, AR-15A2, AR-15A3, AR-15A4, and others. Sale of new AR-15s in the US was banned by the Federal Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004. Colt and others continued to sell legally compliant versions during that period. [8]
Stoner was born in Gosport, Indiana, on November 22, 1922.He moved to Long Beach, California where he graduated from Long Beach Polytechnical High School.In 1939, after the Depression, there was not enough money for him to attend college, so he went to work as a machinist for Vega Aircraft Company, the forerunner of what became Lockheed Airplane Company (now the Lockheed Martin Corporation).
Weapons patterned on the original ArmaLite AR-15 design have been produced by numerous manufacturers and have been used by nations around the world, some of which created their own variations. The tables here are split into a variety of categories and provide an overview of different subtypes.
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