{"id":224477,"date":"2022-06-04T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=224477"},"modified":"2025-04-11T12:37:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T17:37:23","slug":"the-ar-15-what-you-need-to-know-about-americas-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/the-ar-15-what-you-need-to-know-about-americas-rifle\/","title":{"rendered":"The AR-15: What You Need to Know About America’s Rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AR-15 is a gun most people are familiar with by name if nothing else. After all, over the years it\u2019s become perhaps the most popular, high-selling rifle platform in the United States. It\u2019s frequently depicted simply as a black rifle and used for everything from self-defense to hunting. There\u2019s a great deal about the AR-15 platform you might not know, so we\u2019ve put together this guide to help out.<\/p>\n

\"AR-15
Guesstimates put the number of AR-15s in the United States somewhere over 20 million. (Photo credit: Police 1)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is an AR-15?<\/h2>\n

An AR-15 platform rifle is a lightweight, gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle with a rotating bolt. It\u2019s manufactured in a wide array of chamberings and is designed to be portable and highly customizable. According to Forbes, there are more than 20 million AR-15s in the United States, and it\u2019s likely the number is higher than that. This is, after all, the rifle often referred to as America\u2019s Gun.<\/p>\n

Who Invented the AR-15?<\/h2>\n
\"Eugene
The man behind the invention of the AR-15 was Eugene Stoner. (Photo credit: HistoricalFirearms.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eugene Stoner invented the AR-15 in 1956 as a lighter-weight version of the AR-10, which he designed first. It was 1945 when Stoner went to work for a machine shop and honed his trade as a design engineer, and by 1954 his skills had advanced him to chief engineer at ArmaLite. One minute yet important detail is that ArmaLite was a division of the Fairchild Engine and Plane Corporation; today ArmaLite is known for its small arms engineering, and understandably so.<\/p>\n

The invention of the AR-15 was prompted by the United States military. Following World War II, the military understood that it needed better firepower than its current weapons allowed. At that time, the most common service rifles included the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and the M1918 Browning Machine Gun. During the initial military trials, a number of rifles were submitted for consideration including Springfield Armory\u2019s T44E4 and T44E5, both chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO as requested. The military ultimately chose Springfield\u2019s rifle, labeled it the M14, and tried it out.<\/p>\n

\"M14
The M14 was the end result of Springfield Armory’s T44 submission to the military trials for a new rifle in the 1950s. (Photo credit: GunWiki.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the field, the M14 failed rather dramatically. It was used in combat in the early stages of the Vietnam War, and it turned out to be ill-equipped to stand up to the capabilities of the enemy\u2019s AK-47. There was also the issue of control during full-auto; apparently, the soldiers had a lot of trouble handling the M14.<\/p>\n

\"original
The original AR-10 rifle was designed by Eugene Stoner and was the predecessor of the AR-15. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The AR-10, which was the predecessor of the AR-15, had already been submitted to the military trials, but Stoner continued working on it even after the military chose Springfield\u2019s rifle. Some of the unique features of the original AR-10 included:<\/p>\n