Welcome back!
Its been a while since I last got on here, but laziness mixed with vacation time is a potent formula for not getting on and writing, much to my loyal fans disappointment (all 2 of them).
Today we will be looking at The Armalite patent 15, better known as the AR-15. This is an infamous rifle, easily one of the most recognizable in the world. It's military version, the M-16, has been in service with the armed forces for almost 50 years, longer than any other primary service rifle. It has earned its place as America's battle rifle, if by nothing else than by that fact alone.
First a little history. The rifle was first designed by the Armalite company in the late '50s as the AR-10, chambered in the 7.62. It was made form the start as a military weapon, for thier trials to replace the M1 design. The government wanted a smaller caliber to help manage recoil in full auto and a few other features added, so Armalite came up with the AR-15 chambered in the Remington .223/5.56. Eventually the rifle was adopted, and saw service as the Armalite AR-15, XM16-E1 rifle. The X designator on a weapon denotes it as an "experimental" model in the military. It was fielded with units in Vietnam, where it first earned its reputation as "The Black Rifle". Enemy units saw the American troops with thier space age plastic rifles, and thought that they looked positively evil. Any soldier can tell you, if the enemy is scared of you and doesn't want to fight you, all the better. These big Americans with thier evil looking Black Rifles were the stuff of nightmares.
During these initial fieldings, the rifle was touted as "Self Cleaning".
Now that any of you who has even a little bit of knowledge about the AR rifles are finished laughing, we can move on.
For the rest of you, this is what is called an outright lie. An AR's operation requires that it use the gases from an expended round to drive back the bolt carrier. Not a new idea, but the AR bolt carrier itself is the piston in the acuation, it doesn't have a seperate piston as many other rifles do. This cuts down the weight of the rifle, but it fouls its own chamber and action with carbon and debris from every shot. So the more rounds fired, the less likely the rifle is to work. They found this out the hard way when the GI's wouldn't clean the "self cleaning rifle" and it jammed on them. A lot. The rifle was reissued with chrome plated bolts and chambers. This cut down on the friction and made the rifle easier to clean. GI's were also issed cleaning kits, and given the proper training on how to clean the rifle. With regular maintenance the rifle was moderately reliable.
The 5.56 also came under fire as being a "pop-gun" round. While substantially less powerful than the 7.62, the 5.56 turned out to be a great round against soft targets. When it enters, instead of punching straight through the way a 7.62 will, the front end of the bullet will slow down while the rear of the slug will continue at the same speed. This makes the round begin to spin head over heels while still in the target. The result: massive amounts of damage as the bullet cuts a swath through the target while following an erratic path. It was nicknamed by GIs as "The Meat Axe".
Since then the AR-15 has filled every role there is in modern combat, short range, long range, tactical, and more. There are apporxamately 600 million different versions of the rifle, variations according to need and preference. It is easily the most adaptable and prolific rifle in the world today.
Everybody under the sun makes a version of the AR. Most of the military rifles are made by Colt, follwed by FN. Lately many major companies have taken to making piston operated ARs, where the piston actuation is above the barrel, keeping the gasses out of the main chamber, thus making the rifle cleaner, cooler, and much more reliable. There are also many retrofit kits available to make a standard AR piston operated, but some have been known to damage the buffer tube by tilting the bolt carrier back with excessive force during operation.
I have had a great deal of expeirience with the M4 variant of The Black Rifle. As an Infantryman and as a civilian I have worked with both. To be honest, while it is very adaptable, and very scary looking, I never thought it was cut out for military use. Civilian and law enforcment would probably be fine, as they are cleaner, not as harsh conditions as the field, but I have had my M4 jam on me one too many times (once is too many times) when I needed it the most. Now, I know some NCO out there will say "If you had been doing proper weapons maintenance, then it wouldn't have jammed!" Not true. The thing will jam after you crawl through the dirt (A basic skill as an Infantryman). And every time you fire it, the likelihood of it jamming increase. Not to mention all of the dust that just kind of hangs out in the air and gets everywhere when in the desert. The rifle is not airtight. That's why I stuck with my M-14 whenever possible. I also often carried a confiscated AK with two mags in my assault pouch, for not if, but when my M4 would jam. I like to equate it to defecating where you eat. Not really a good idea.
It's also kind of a pain in the butt to clean. Lots of little pins and parts that have to come out, because the gasses get everywhere during operation.
That said, the rifle is accurate, easy to handle, and can do almost any job for a small arm out there. The ideal place for it would be police, SWAT teams, and civilians where the conditions are not as harsh and a rifle's ruggedness is not really an issue. Because when clean the AR is a wonderful rifle, light, low recoil, accurate and reliable. There is a reason it is so popular amongst police and civilians.
All in all, the main problem is that the rifle is dated. As it exists now, it needs to be retired from military use. At a service record as long and varied as it has, it has earned it's place on the walls as America's Battle Rifle, but there is better stuff out there. It has already been partially replaced in some units. The 75th Rangers now carry the MK17 (see my posting on the SOF Combat Assault Rifle), and some Deltas use the piston operated HK416, a piston operated AR made by HK (Because you suck, and we hate you). Even if replaced fully, the AR will never fully go away. The parts and rifles are much to prolific in today's market. So much so, that the price of a civilian AR has dropped dramatically in the last 10 years. It has earned its place in America's history. As long as there are shooters, there will always be The Black Rifle.
