However, one thing that has not changed has been it’s size. The selective fire has varied between Semi/Full Auto, and Semi/Burst throughout the years. The most recent adaptation, the M16A4, was finalized in 1997, giving our soldiers the ability to mount optics and accessories to the top rail and handguard, giving them a rifle more adaptable to their environment and fight. WIth four variations in service with the United States Military (yes, there are still rear-echelon units with the M16A1), the rifle has developed over time to suit the constantly advancing and adapting needs of our warfighters overseas. While it got off to a rocky start due to magazine issues that were largely blamed on the rifle (although the rifle did have some issues related to an un-chromed chamber at first as well), it has since become one of the most iconic military weapons of all time. You will never be this cool.Īfter Colt won it’s manufacturing contract, the M-16 was first shipped to troops overseas in Vietnam in 1964.
So how exactly does the M-16 differ?Ī soldier in Vietnam with the XM16E1, firing fully-automatic, while puffing a cigarette. With so many variations available now from the Pistol to SBR, or a service rifle to SPR or hunting variety, the AR-15 has developed into a platform suitable for the every man, and all of their needs.
With an estimated 10,000,000+ in civilian hands, it has earned the well-deserved moniker, “America’s Rifle”. Nowadays, the AR-15 is the most popular rifle in America. However, due to financial difficulties (probably related to manufacturing machine guns in California), they made one of the poorest business decision in history, and sold the design to Colt in 1959, as well as the rights to the names AR-15, and AR-10. The AR-15 traces it’s lineage back to 1956, when Armalite (then based in Costa Mesa, California), and Eugene Stoner designed a lightweight, gas-powered, selective-fire rifle for the United States Military. Besides the civilian and military designations what’s the real difference between the M16 and the AR15? Why separate names for something that is so similar, and which ones can we and can’t we own as civilians? AR15: History and Designation
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