Facts and Myths about the Infamous
AR-15 Rifle
The AR-15 rifle
is an extremely controversial firearm in the United State and for the most
parts those in favor of ownership and those the oppose it misstate the facts
and have created numerous myths and outright lies about the rifle.
Let’s start
with some explanations and definitions and then a bit of history and see if I
can clarify the issue.
First off
the AR-15 semi-automatic, gas-operated, magazine fed rifle. That is a lot to
take in.
Starting
with the term semi-automatic: A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle
that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of
the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into
the chamber. In contrast, a bolt-action rifle requires the user to cycle the
bolt manually before they can fire a second time, and a fully automatic rifle
fires continuously until the trigger is released. These were first invented in
1883 so this is not a new idea.
Gas-Operated:
The AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner is commonly called a direct impingement
system, but it does not utilize a conventional direct impingement system. In
U.S. Patent 2,951,424, the designer states: ″This invention is a true expanding
gas system instead of the conventional impinging gas system.″ Gas is routed
from a port in the barrel through a gas tube, directly to a chamber inside the
bolt carrier. The bolt within the bolt carrier is fitted with piston rings to
contain the gas. In effect, the bolt and carrier act as a gas piston and cylinder.
The subtleties involved in ArmaLite's patent on the gas system significantly
diverge from classical direct impingement; upon firing, the pressurized
propellant gasses exit the barrel via the gas port and travel the length of the
gas tube, but instead of simply applying the inertia necessary to cycle the
weapon directly to the bolt carrier, the gas is funneled inside the bolt
carrier wherein the increase in pressure results in the bolt itself acting as a
piston, forcing the bolt carrier away from the barrel face.
Magazine Fed:
A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm,
either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached
(detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges
within itself and sequentially pushing each one into a position where it may be
readily loaded into the barrel chamber by the firearm's moving action. The
detachable magazine is sometimes colloquially referred to as a
"clip", although this is technically inaccurate since a clip is
actually an accessory device used to help load ammunition into a magazine.
Magazines
come in many shapes and sizes, from tubular magazines on lever-action and
pump-action firearms that may tandemly hold several rounds, to detachable box
and drum magazines for automatic rifles and light machine guns that may hold
more than one hundred rounds. The standard magazine holds 30 rounds.
Round or cartridge,
in weaponry, unit of small-arms ammunition, composed of a metal (usually brass)
case, a propellant charge, a projectile or bullet, and a primer. The first
cartridges, appearing in the second half of the 16th century, consisted merely
of charges of powder wrapped in paper; the ball was loaded separately.
Caliber: In
guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as
"cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel
bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished
bore matches that specification. It is measured in inches or in millimeters. In
the United States it is expressed in hundredths of an inch; in the United
Kingdom in thousandths; and elsewhere in millimeters. For example, a US
"45 caliber" firearm has a barrel diameter of roughly 0.45 inches (11
mm). Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions. For
example, a "9 mm pistol" has a barrel diameter of about 9
millimeters. Since metric and US customary units do not convert evenly at this
scale, metric conversions of caliber measured in decimal inches are typically
approximations of the precise specifications in non-metric units, and vice
versa.
Rifling: a
system of spiral grooves in the surface of the bore of a gun causing a
projectile when fired to rotate about its longer axis
Now we have
definitions we can delve into the history of the AR-15. The history starts in
the late 1950s with a new type of rifle designed by Eugene Stoner called the
AR-10. The AR-10 looks a lot like an AR-15 except it is bigger.
On the left
is an AR-15 and right an AR-10.
It was designed
as a replacement for the US Army M-14 Rifle which was an automatic rifle. His
timing was a bit off. The US had just decided to adopt a new round. The M-14
used the 7.62x51mm or .308 caliber NATO round and that required a fairly large
rifle and the ammunition was heavy. The new caliber was the 5.56x45mm or .223 caliber
which had less recoil and could be used in a smaller rifle and the ammunition
was lighter so the soldiers could carry more ammunition.
Mr. Stoner
scaled down the AR-10 to handle the smaller round and making the rifle lighter.
The US Army expressed interested but wanted several modifications to make it a
military rifle. The changes included converting it to full automatic. This
meant the trigger assembly, bolt and lower receiver were changed. The Army also
had a longer barrel of 20”, changed the rifling from 1:8 to 1:14. What does
that mean. Well a 1:14 means that the bullet rotates 360 ° in 14 inches. With a 20 inch barrel
it only makes a 1 ½ rotations, whereas 1:8 2 ¼ rotations.
How does this
effect a rifle, well the more times a round rotates, the longer it goes and
more accurately. The less times it rotates the faster it goes. The longer a
barrel is gives more time for the powder to burn, but with the gas port is
further from the bolt that it needs to operate which means less gas on the bolt
causing jamming.
The US Army
in it’s infinite wisdom decided not to chrome the bolt, the firing chamber or
the inside of the barrel like the Russians did with the AK-47 so they didn’t
need to cleaned as much as a M-16. The Army told their soldiers the M-16 was as
reliable at the AK-47, which it is IF you keep it clean. Which didn’t
happen at first.
So now I
want to deal with some of the myths and lies told about the AR-15.
1) It is a weapon
of war. It is not the AR-15 was built as a civilian weapon
2) The AR-15 is
nothing like the M-16. That too is wrong. The design and most of the parts are
interchangeable.
3) It is a large
caliber round that no civilian should use. It is actually a fairly small round and
it the primarily hunting round in America. Probably the smallest round that can
legally used to hunt deer in the United States. AR-15s are now available in
over a dozen different calibers.
4) It’s just a .22
round. Well that “.22” is travelling at 1,000m/3,000ft per second and while not
the fastest round it is within the top 50 rounds available. It will shoot
through steel plates at close range.
5) AR means Assault
Rifle. No just a company name. ArmaLite Rifle.
6) It is no good
for defense. Actually the exact opposite, it is excellent for self-defense. Pistols
are hard to use accurately, they do jam and hard to aim. Most people can use an
AR-15 effectively with 30 minutes of practice, they are easier to aim and are
better than a shotgun, because with a shotgun no matter how good you are
everything down range is within the radius of the shot pattern.
7) It is the go to
firearm of criminals. Not exactly. It is rarely used to commit homicide and
because it is too big to conceal and costs too much criminals prefer pistols.
8) It can be
changed into a machinegun in minutes. Well no, first you need a machine shop
and some specialized parts. And with those you could built your own firearm
regardless of the laws.
I hope this explains some of the myths and misconceptions about the AR-15
This page was compiled and posted by Chief Mac, 06/24/23
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