Their first products, the AR-1 and AR-3 , reflected this, but proved commercially unsuccessful. ArmaLite also attempted to capitalize on the civilian market with the AR-9 shotgun, to little success. In the ensuing years, Fairchild instructed ArmaLite to focus their attention on achieving a military contract. The Stoner-designed 7. Development of the AR rifle led to the conception of ArmaLite's most famous design, the. ArmaLite lacked the manufacturing capacity to supply the high numbers of rifles demanded by the Army, so they sold the AR's production rights to Colt in January , thus losing out on the bulk of the profit that the rifle made.
ArmaLite attempted to recuperate their losses by producing the affordable AR for the international market, but the weapon failed to achieve any sales. In , Fairchild dropped ArmaLite, which then became an independent company. The AR also proved to be commercially unsuccessful, despite attempts to market the weapon internationally throughout the s and 70s.
Colt had erroneously claimed the rifle to be self-cleaning. This meant the rifle wasn't clean, and would keep jamming. Most often, the problem was "failure to extract," i. Report after report came in about soldiers found dead, rifles in pieces in front of them as they desperately tried to put their rifle back together in time to shoot back. In the words of one Marine:. Our own rifle. Practically every one of our dead was found with his M16 torn down next to him where he had been trying to fix it" Time Magazine, The new rifle was designed, a version of the M called the M16A1.
Included with the rifle was a comic book, outlining how to clean and take care of the rifle. These opened AR's up to the civilian market from the year to Civilian production had to be halted, however, after the Federal Assault Weapons Ban made civilian assault weapons illegal from to Unfortunately, this legislation resulted in no significant decrease in gun violence. Did the legislation ultimately fail?
In light of the growing number of public mass shootings in recent years, the debate between gun enthusiasts and anti-gun activists continues.
The AR has recently been in the media spotlight, as the weapon has been involved in a number of deadly assaults on civilians in the United States. This has launched a heated debate over the future of civilian versions of the AR and other similar rifles. The AR was used on the deadly assault on Sandy Hook, the attack in San Bernardino, as well as the shooting a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. Could renewing the Federal Assault Weapons Ban have prevented these violent crimes?
Lawmakers continue to disagree. Most statistics, however, point in the direction of handguns, not rifles, as being involved in most violent crimes. The AR continued to be the service weapon of the United States in the years to come, until finally being phased out for the M4 Carbine , a weapon based off the M, but designed to be shorter and lighter.
Nevertheless, the M is still used throughout the world by militaries all over. Even though it's starting to be phased out in the United States, it still remains a popular choice for militaries across the world. The M16 remains in use in more than fifteen NATO countries and over eighty countries across the globe. Manufacturing continues in the United States, Canada, and China. It has also become the focus of civilian gun enthusiasts who have developed new markets for accessories like AR red dot scopes and other optics systems.
The M might have been replaced in the United States Military, but it's far from an antique. Production continues, as the M models continue to see use in militaries around the world. Likewise, the AR continues to be a favorite of hunters and gun hobbyists, making it one of the most popular modern sporting rifle choices on the market today. Sam Bocetta is a retired engineer who worked for over 35 years as an engineer specializing in electronic warfare and advanced computer systems.
Sam now teaches at Algonquin Community College in Ottawa, Canada as a part time engineering professor. Civilian production of a semi-automatic AR began long before the date claimed in the article above. Guns going to other states were "pre-ban" continued but without all of the normal features- flash hiders, collapsible stocks and bayonet lugs etc.
The result was an increase in the value of "pre-ban" guns and an increase in sale of after market parts to retroactively make "post-ban" guns more appealing. The entire AWB business was for show but gun violence did decrease during the AWB but it didn't and couldn't have anything to do with whether a AR had a flash hider or not. Similar nonsense is underway today in California where legislators have enacted laws to require certain "bad guns" to be registered and the remainder to conform to a new list of cosmetic details.
As usual gun makers have found ways around the laws before the ink was dry and the result of laws aimed at lawful gun owners is the usual uptick in both sales and disrespect for lawmakers and the law. It was only after a reformulated WC propellant containing less calcium carbonate packing reached fighting units, that the rifle's reputation was salvaged. AR-5 What was the concept behind the AR-5?
The company was revived in by Mark Westrom. The idea of entering the small arms industry caught the interest of then-company president Richard Boutelle at Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, and Armalite was incorporated as a division of Fairchild on October 1, Their first design, the AR1 Parasniper from , used foam-filled fiberglass furniture and a composite barrel using a steel liner inside an aluminum sleeve.
This was little used, but when they were asked to compete in a contest for an aircrew survival rifle their AR-5 and AR-7 designs from saw production use.
This was followed by an invitation to compete for the new combat rifle for US forces, which led to the AR The AR lost the contest, but many of its ideas were reused in the smaller and lighter AR Fairchild sold its interest in Armalite in Commercial models were then sent to Special Forces in Vietnam, who reported success using the weapon. This led to its being adopted as the Armys main combat rifle starting in Officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5. It has been adopted by many NATO countries in the s.
Armalite had further brushes with success, especially with the ArmaLite AR These were not enough to keep the company going, and they ceased operations in the early s.
The design rights and name were purchased in by Mark Westrom, who re-launched the company Armalite, Inc. In , Westrom sold Armalite, Inc.
Strategic Armory Corps was formed with the goal of acquiring and combining market-leading companies within the firearms industry. In , 3-Gun Champion Tommy Thacker was appointed president. In , Armalite introduced 18 new products including AR and M platform firearms. In mid , Armalite was relocated to Phoenix Arizona. Armalite began as a small arms engineering concern founded by George Sullivan, the patent counsel for Lockheed Corporation, and funded by Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation.
After leasing a small machine shop at Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, California, Sullivan hired several employees and began work on a prototype for a lightweight survival rifle for use by downed aircrew. On October 1, , the company was incorporated as the Armalite Corporation, becoming a subdivision of Fairchild. With its limited capital and tiny machine shop, Armalite was never intended to be an arms manufacturer. Armalite was instead focused on producing small arms concepts and designs to be sold or licensed to other manufacturers.
While testing the prototype of Armalites survival rifle design at a local shooting range, Sullivan met Eugene Stoner, a talented small arms inventor, whom Sullivan immediately hired to be Armalites chief design engineer.
Since the early s, he had been working at a variety of jobs while building gun prototypes in his spare time.
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