Initial comments by Springfield Armory test staff were favorable, and some testers commented that the AR-10 was the best lightweight automatic rifle tested by the Armory.
For a 7.62mm NATO rifle, the AR-10 prototype was incredibly lightweight at only 6.85 lb empty. In the fourth and final prototype, the upper and lower receiver were hinged with the now-familiar hinge and takedown pins, and the charging handle did not reciprocate and was not attached to the bolt carrier. The AR-10 prototypes (four in all) featured a straight-line stock design, rugged elevated sights, an oversized aluminum flash suppressor and recoil compensator, and an adjustable gas system. Springfield Armory's T44E4 and heavier T44E5 were essentially updated versions of the Garand chambered for the new 7.62 mm round, while Fabrique Nationale submitted their FN FAL as the T48.ĪrmaLite's AR-10 entered the competition late, hurriedly submitting two hand-built "production" AR-10 rifles based on the fourth prototype in the fall of 1956 to the United States Army's Springfield Armory for testing. At the time, the United States Army was in the midst of testing several rifles to replace the obsolete M1 Garand. The first prototypes of the 7.62 mm AR-10 emerged during 1955 and early 1956. With Stoner as chief design engineer, ArmaLite quickly released a number of unique rifle concepts. was a very small organization (as late as 1956 it had only nine employees, including Stoner). While testing the prototype of the Armalite AR-5 survival rifle design at a local shooting range, Sullivan met Eugene Stoner, a small arms inventor, whom Sullivan hired to be ArmaLite's chief design engineer. Sullivan leased a small machine shop in Hollywood, California, hired several employees, and began work on a prototype for a lightweight survival rifle for use by downed aircrew. The company focused on producing small arms concepts and designs to be sold or licensed to other manufacturers. With its limited capital and tiny machine shop, ArmaLite was never intended to be an arms manufacturer. On October 1, 1954, the company was incorporated as the ArmaLite Corporation, becoming a subdivision of Fairchild. 308/7.62x51 caliber Armalite type riflesĪrmaLite began as a small engineering concern founded by George Sullivan, the patent counsel for Lockheed Corporation, and funded by Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. Colt continued to use the AR-15 trademark for its line of semi-automatic-only rifles, which it marketed to civilian and law-enforcement customers as the Colt AR-15. After modifications (most notably, the charging handle was re-located from under the carrying handle like AR-10 to the rear of the receiver), the new redesigned rifle was subsequently adopted by the U.S. In 1959, ArmaLite sold its rights to the AR-10 and AR-15 to Colt's Manufacturing Company due to financial difficulties, and limitations in terms of manpower and production capacity. 223 Remington cartridge, and given the designation ArmaLite AR-15. In 1957, the basic AR-10 design was rescaled and substantially modified by ArmaLite to accommodate the. However, the ArmaLite AR-10 would become the progenitor for a wide range of firearms. Over its production life, the original AR-10 was built in relatively small numbers, with fewer than 10,000 rifles assembled. When first introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative straight-line barrel/stock design with phenolic composite 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. The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle developed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite, then a division of the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation. 3.6× telescopic sight)Īdjustable aperture rear sight, fixed post front sight Gas-operated, rotating bolt (internal piston, not direct impingement)ħ00 rounds/min (fully automatic), variable (semi-automatic)Ħ00 m (660 yd) (700 m (770 yd) with A.I.
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