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The first version produced for commercial sale by Colt was the SP1 model AR-15 Sporter in .223 Remington, with a 20-inch (51 cm) barrel and issued with five-round magazines. [21] Initial sales of the Colt AR-15 were slow, primarily due to its fixed sights and carry handle that made scopes difficult to mount and awkward to use. [84]
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]
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 Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA) is a California law that bans the ownership and transfer of over 50 specific brands and models of firearms, which were classified as assault weapons. Most were rifles, but some were pistols and shotguns. The law was amended in 1999 to classify assault weapons by features of the firearm.
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.
The AR-15 was later adopted by United States military forces as the M16 rifle. [7] [8] After ArmaLite sold the rights to the AR-15 to the Colt Firearms Company, Stoner turned his attention to the AR-16 design. This was another advanced 7.62 mm rifle but used a more conventional short-stroke piston and a number of stamped parts to reduce cost.
Olympic was the first in the industry to offer AR-15-style firearms in 9×19mm and .45 ACP, 10mm Auto, 7.62×39mm, and the Winchester Super Short Magnum cartridges. [ 1 ] In late 1987, the company purchased Phoenix, Arizona-based M-S Safari Arms, adding the M1911 pistol to its lineup under the name Safari Arms.
Colt's first two models produced after the acquisition of the rifle from ArmaLite were the 601 and 602, and these rifles were in many ways clones of the original ArmaLite rifle (in fact, these rifles were often found stamped Colt ArmaLite AR-15, Property of the U.S. Government caliber .223, with no reference to them being M16s). [51]