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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]
The Colt AR-15 is a product line of magazine-fed, gas-operated, autoloading rifle manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company ("Colt") in many configurations. [1] The rifle is a derivative of its predecessor, the lightweight ArmaLite AR-15, an automatic rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and other engineers at ArmaLite in 1956.
After Colt's patents expired in 1977, an active marketplace emerged for other manufacturers to produce and sell their own semi-automatic AR-15–style rifles. [1] Some versions of the AR-15 were classified as "assault weapons" and banned under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994 within the United States. This act expired in 2004. [2] [22]
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.
ArmaLite AR-15 with the charging handle located on top of the upper receiver, protected within the carrying handle and a 25-round magazine. 1973 Colt AR-15 SP1 rifle with "slab side" lower receiver (lacking raised boss around magazine release button) and original Colt 20-round magazine.
Eugene Stoner, Jacques Michault, Melvin Johnson, Robert Fremont, and Jim Sullivan are some of the designers credited with their development. [1] In the United States, these rifles are generally known by their model numbers. The AR before the model number stands for "ArmaLite Rifle". [2] [3]
Other cartridges were derived from re-forming an existing case and possibly trimming the length in order to arrive at a case-shape that meets the standardized SAAMI-spec dimensions. AR-15 : 22 Nosler : Proprietary, uses the head and rim dimensions of the 5.56x45, and a case-body that is similar to the 6.8 SPC case.
The rifle itself is offered in two variants: the S-5.56 A1 with a 19.9-inch barrel and 1:12 pitch rifling (1 turn in 305 mm), optimized for the use of the M193 Ball cartridge; and the S-5.56 A3 with a 20-inch barrel and a 1:7 pitch rifling (1 turn in 177, 8 mm), optimized for the use of the SS109 cartridge.