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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.
The Canadian company Colt Canada (formerly Diemaco) licensed production of a rifle (Colt Model 715) and carbine (Colt Model 725), but later went on to produce an entire line of AR-15/M16 pattern weapons developed independently. In May 2005, Colt's Manufacturing Company acquired Diemaco, and the name was changed to Colt Canada.
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]
Between 1964 and 1965, Colt began to expand the AR-15 beyond the realm of an infantry/assault rifle with the development of light machine gun weaponry. The result was the Model 606 series. [5] Colt made two of the model 606, called A and B models. The A model “featured forward assist devices found on the Colt 603 rifles.”
Colt would capitalize on this with a range of AR-15 derivative carbines. They developed AR-15-based Squad Automatic Weapons, and the Colt SCAMP, an early PDW design. The Colt XM148 grenade launcher was created by Colt's design project engineer, gun designer Karl R. Lewis.
Colt manufactured their first batch of 300 Colt ArmaLite AR-15 rifles in December 1959. [41] Colt would go on to market the Colt ArmaLite AR-15 rifle to military services around the world. In July 1960, General Curtis LeMay, then Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, was impressed by a demonstration of the AR-15 and ordered 8500 ...
The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine.
The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 or CAR-15 is a family of M16 rifle–based firearms marketed by Colt in the 1960s and early 1970s. However, the term "CAR-15" is most commonly associated with the Colt Commando (AKA: XM177 ); these select-fire carbines have ultrashort 10.5-inch (270 mm) and 11.5-inch (290 mm) barrels with over-sized flash suppressors.