An Armalite rifle (AR) is one of a series of rifles the ArmaLite company made or, more generally, a rifle based on one of its designs, such as the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle. Eugene Stoner, Jacques Michault, Melvin Johnson, Robert Fremont, and Jim Sullivan are some of the designers credited with their development. [1] In the United States, these rifles are generally known by their model numbers. The AR before the model number stands for "ArmaLite Rifle". [2] [3]
Model number | Model name | Cartridges | Manufacturers | Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AR-5 | Aircrew survival weapon | .22 Hornet | ArmaLite | A bolt-action, take-down survival rifle. | |
AR-7 | Explorer | .22 Long Rifle | ArmaLite, Charter Arms, Henry Repeating Arms | A semi-automatic, take-down survival rifle. | |
AR-10 | 7.62×51mm NATO, .308 Winchester | Fairchild ArmaLite, Artillerie Inrichtingen (AI) | A lightweight battle rifle. | ||
ArmaLite AR-14 | Unknown | ArmaLite | A lightweight hunting style rifle that never made it past the prototype phase and according to reports had issues of exploding when fired. | ||
AR-15 | .223 Remington, 5.56 NATO | ArmaLite, Colt's Manufacturing Company | A lightweight assault rifle. 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 Machinery Company, Sterling Armaments Company | An inexpensive, easy to make, stamped steel rifle. Also known as "The Widowmaker" in Northern Ireland. | ||
AR-180 | 5.56×45mm NATO | Howa Machinery Company, Sterling Armaments Company | Semi-automatic rifle version of the AR-18. | ||
AR-100 AR-101 AR-102 AR-103 AR-104 | 5.56×45mm NATO | ArmaLite, Elitool | AR-100 series [4] based on the AR-16 that used a self ejecting magazine device. [5] Used in development of Ultimax 100 LMG. | ||
AR-30, AR-30A1, AR-31 | .308 Winchester, .300 Winchester Magnum, .338 Lapua | ArmaLite | Bolt-action rifle based in part on the ArmaLite AR-50 rifle. | ||
AR-50 | .50 BMG | ArmaLite | Single-shot, .50 caliber bolt-action sniper and long-range target rifle. |
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.
AR, Ar, or A&R may refer to:
The .223 Remington is a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire intermediate cartridge. It was developed in 1957 by Remington Arms and Fairchild Industries for the U.S. Continental Army Command of the United States Army as part of a project to create a small-caliber, high-velocity firearm. The .223 Remington is considered one of the most popular common-use cartridges and is used by a wide range of semi-automatic and manual-action rifles.
The ArmaLite AR-15 is a gas-operated assault rifle manufactured in the United States between 1959 and 1964. Designed by American gun manufacturer ArmaLite in 1956, it was based on its AR-10 rifle. The ArmaLite AR-15 was designed to be a lightweight rifle and to fire a new high-velocity, lightweight, small-caliber cartridge to allow infantrymen to carry more ammunition.
The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle designed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite. When first introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative combination of a straight-line barrel/stock design with phenolic composite, a new patent-filed gas-operated bolt and carrier system and forged alloy parts resulting in a small arm significantly easier to control in automatic fire and over 1 lb (0.45 kg) lighter than other infantry rifles of the day. Over its production life, the original AR-10 was built in relatively small numbers, with fewer than 10,000 rifles assembled. However, the ArmaLite AR-10 would become the progenitor for a wide range of firearms.
The ArmaLite AR-18 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition. The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, Eugene Stoner, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an alternative to the Colt AR-15 design, a variant of which had just been selected by the U.S. military as the M16. A semi-automatic version known as the AR-180 was later produced for the civilian market. While the AR-18 was never adopted as the standard service rifle of any nation, its production license was sold to companies in Japan and the United Kingdom, and it is said to have influenced many later weapons such as the British SA80, the Singaporean SAR-80 and SR-88, the Belgian FN F2000, the Japanese Howa Type 89 and the German Heckler and Koch G36.
A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge.
A semi or full-automatic firearm which is said to fire from a closed bolt or closed breech is one where, when ready to fire, a round is in the chamber and the bolt and working parts are forward in battery. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin or striker fires the round; the action is cycled by the energy of the shot, sending the bolt to the rear, which extracts and ejects the empty cartridge case; and the bolt goes forward, feeding a fresh round from the magazine into the chamber, ready for the next shot.
Eugene Morrison Stoner was an American machinist and firearms designer who is most associated with the development of the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle that was redesigned and modified by Colt's Patent Firearm Company for the United States military as the M16 rifle.
The ArmaLite AR-50 is a .50 BMG, single-shot, bolt-action anti-materiel rifle manufactured by ArmaLite.
The M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun, also known as the Johnson and the Johnny gun, was an American recoil-operated light machine gun designed by Melvin Johnson in the late 1930s. It shared the same operating principle and many parts with Malvin's M1941 Johnson rifle and M1947 Johnson auto carbine.
The ArmaLite AR-7 Explorer is a semi-automatic firearm in .22 Long Rifle caliber, developed in 1959 from the AR-5 that was adopted by the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and aircrew survival weapon. The AR-7 was adopted and modified by the Israeli Air Force as an aircrew survival weapon in the 1980s.
The ArmaLite AR-5 is a lightweight bolt-action takedown rifle chambered for the .22 Hornet cartridge and adopted as the MA-1 aircrew survival rifle by the United States Air Force. It was developed by ArmaLite, a division of Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation in 1954.
Howa Machinery, Ltd. is a Japanese machinery manufacturer known internationally for their production of military and civilian firearms. They also manufacture products such as machine tools, sweeping vehicles and windows and doors.
"Little Armalite" is an Irish rebel song which praises the Armalite AR-18 rifle that was widely used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) as part of the paramilitary's armed campaign in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. One recording of the song, by Wolfhound, was released on 7" in 1975.
The ArmaLite AR-30 is a bolt-action rifle manufactured by Armalite. Based in part on Armalite's AR-50 rifle, the AR-30 is available in three cartridges; the .308 Winchester, .300 Winchester Magnum and .338 Lapua. It was introduced at the 2000 SHOT Show.
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. While the original ArmaLite ceased business in the 1980s, the brand was revived in 1996, by Mark Westrom.
An AR-15–style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on or similar to the Colt AR-15 design. The Colt model removed the selective fire feature of its predecessor, the original ArmaLite AR-15, which is a scaled-down derivative of the AR-10 design. It is closely related to the military M16 rifle.
The AR-16 was an American battle rifle produced by ArmaLite.