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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.
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.
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.”
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]
The AR-15 rifle usually comes chambered for either the military cartridge 5.56×45mm or the .223 Remington. Because of the pressures associated with the 5.56×45mm, it is not advisable to fire 5.56×45mm rounds in an AR-15 marked as .223 Remington, since this can result in damage to the rifle or injury to the shooter. [ 1 ]
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 ...
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.
A smaller version of the AR-10 and adopted by the United States military as the M16 rifle. Later developed by Colt into a popular semi-automatic Colt AR-15. AR-16: 7.62×51mm NATO: ArmaLite: Prototype battle rifle. ArmaLite AR-17: 12 gauge: Semiautomatic 12ga 2shot shotgun based on the earlier AR-9. AR-18: 5.56×45mm NATO: ArmaLite, Howa ...