A carbine is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.
The M16 rifle 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 AR-15 is a product line of magazine-fed, gas-operated, autoloading rifle manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company ("Colt") in many configurations. 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 M4 carbine is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle.
The Mini-14 is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. Introduced in 1973, the design was outwardly based on the M14 rifle and is, in appearance, a scaled-down version chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, though with its own gas system design.
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 ; these select-fire carbines have ultrashort 10.5-inch (270 mm) and 11.5-inch (290 mm) barrels with over-sized flash suppressors.
The Bushmaster XM-15 series is a line of AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles and carbines manufactured by Bushmaster Firearms International, LLC. Variants include the Bushmaster M4-type Carbine, Patrolman series, QRC series, Bushmaster XM15-E2S, and the Carbon 15 line.
The Close Quarter Battle Receiver (CQBR) is a replacement upper receiver for the M4A1 carbine developed by the US Navy.
The 6.8mm Remington Special Purpose Cartridge is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate rifle cartridge that was developed by Remington Arms in collaboration with members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and United States Special Operations Command to possibly replace the 5.56 NATO cartridge in short barreled rifles (SBR) and carbines. Based on the .30 Remington cartridge, it is midway between the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO in bore diameter. It uses the same diameter bullet as the .270 Winchester hunting cartridge.
The Heckler & Koch HK416 is an assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch.
The SR-25 is a designated marksman rifle and semi-automatic sniper rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight's Armament Company.
The Barrett REC7 is an American firearm manufactured as a selective-fire fully-automatic and semi-automatic rifle by Barrett Firearms. It is an M4 carbine utilizing a short-stroke gas piston system and is available in either 5.56×45mm NATO or 6.8mm Remington SPC. The REC7 is Barrett's second AR-pattern rifle chambered for the 6.8mm Remington SPC cartridge, the first being the Barrett M468 rifle. The 6.8 SPC-chambered M468 rifle employed the same Stoner expanding gas system as the M4.
Bushmaster Firearms International, LLC, is an American firearm manufacturer and distributor. The company's product line revolves around semi-automatic pistol and rifle variants of the M4/AR-15 design. It is currently in full operation and is based in Carson City, Nevada. Bushmaster Firearms is unrelated to the M242 Bushmaster autocannon, which was produced by Northrop Grumman.
The Carbon 15 is a family of lightweight, magazine-fed pistols, carbines, and rifles developed by defunct United States weapons manufacturer Professional Ordnance, with the design later picked up by Bushmaster Firearms.
The Type CQ is an unlicensed Chinese variant of the M16 rifle manufactured by Norinco. According to the Norinco website, the rifle is officially known as CQ 5.56.
A STANAG magazine or NATO magazine is a type of detachable firearm magazine proposed by NATO in October 1980. Shortly after NATO's acceptance of the 5.56×45mm NATO rifle cartridge, Draft Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4179 was proposed in order to allow NATO members to easily share rifle ammunition and magazines down to the individual soldier level. The U.S. M16 rifle's magazine proportions were proposed for standardization. Many NATO members, but not all, subsequently developed or purchased rifles with the ability to accept this type of magazine. However, the standard was never ratified and remains a "Draft STANAG".
The Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) is a modular assault rifle formerly designed by Magpul Industries of Austin, Texas, and known initially as the Masada.
The .300 AAC Blackout, also known as 7.62×35 mm, is an intermediate cartridge developed in the United States by Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) for use in the M4 carbine. The cartridge yields increased performance in shorter barrels and effective subsonic performance for silencer use when compared to 5.56 mm NATO. The .300 AAC Blackout uses standard 5.56 mm NATO magazines and components with the exception of the barrel.
The Colt Model 933 is a compact carbine based on the AR-15, M16 rifle and M4 Carbine produced by Colt starting in 1995. Due to its compact size, the short-barreled Colt 933 continues to be used by various US Special Forces and by some foreign forces, including Israeli Special Forces.
