AR-15
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| AR-15 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | rifle | ||
| Nationality | US | ||
| Era | Modern | ||
| Platform | individual | ||
| Target | personnel | ||
| History | |||
| Date of design | |||
| Production period | |||
| Service duration | |||
| Operators | |||
| War service | |||
| Specifications | |||
| Type | Semi-automatic rifle | ||
| Calibre | 5.56 mm | ||
| Barrel length | 20" or 508 mm | ||
| Ammunition | 5.56 mm NATO | ||
| Magazine | 20/30 round magazine | ||
| Action | gas action | ||
| Rate of fire | |||
| Muzzle velocity | |||
| Weight | 3.4 kg | ||
| Length | 39" or 991 mm | ||
| Variants | |||
| Number built | |||
The AR-15 is a lightweight, magazine-fed, air-cooled, autoloading centerfire rifle designed by Eugene Stoner of the Armalite corporation who developed it as a smaller version of the AR-10.
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History
Armalite sold its rights to the AR-10 and AR-15 to Colt in 1959 after which the AR-15 was adopted by the United States military under the designation M16. Colt retained the name AR-15 for its semi-automatic civilian/law enforcement model. Today the AR-15 and its variations are manufactured by a plethora of companies and have captured the affection of sport shooters and police forces around the world. Please refer to M16 for a more complete history of the development and evolution of the AR-15 and derivatives.
Some notable and revolutionary features of the AR-15:
- An aircraft grade aluminum receiver
- Modular design allows many configurations, as well as rapid swapping of parts for field repairs
- Small caliber
- Synthetic Stock and Grips
- Carry handle
- bayonet lug located under the front sight
- front sight is adjustable for elevation
- rear sight is adjustable for windage and distance
In the United States, variants with certain features were prohibited for new sales to civilians during the period 1994-2004 by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
The Colt AR15 SP1 has been designed to look and feel like the M16A1 battle rifle. The M16A1 battle rifle is select-fire, meaning that it can switch between semi-automatic and fully-automatic fire modes at the discretion of the user, while the Colt AR15 SP1 can only be fired in semi-automatic mode (one shot per pull of the trigger.) The AR15 can be converted into an automatic weapon by the addition of a drop-in auto sear or through the installation of the M16 trigger group and drilling the frame of the weapon.
Technical data
M16-Rifle-Magazine-LineDraw.png
- Caliber: .223 Rem/5.56x45 mm NATO
- Length: 39 in
- Mass: 3.4 kg (7.5 lb)
- Barrel: 20 in
- Rifling: 1:12
- Magazine capacity: 20, 30; 90, 100 (see below)
Standard issue magazines are 20 or 30 round double stack magazines; drum magazines in 90 and 100 round capacities also exist. Low-capacity magazines are available to comply with some areas' legal restrictions or for hunting.
Variants
The Bushmaster XM-15 is a semi-automatic rifle version of the AR-15 made in several different calibers by Bushmaster Firearms, Inc.