ArmaLite AR-10

History

In 1953, NATO countries agreed on the use of common cartridges (eg 7.62x51mm) for their rifles, and thus began to use weapons designed to fill the role of "battle rifle" - automatic, self-loading systems, refillable - Fires rifle-caliber powered cartridges. Prolific American gun designer Eugene Stoner developed what would become the ArmaLite "AR-10" in the second half of the 1950s, and when the rifle was introduced in 1960, its sales and acceptance Only moderate, and then overwhelmed by the competition.

Overall, the design is well thought out and incorporates a "straight forward" barrel and stock arrangement for improved fully automatic fire controllability. Additionally, metal components are machined from aluminum, and critical components are chrome-plated to ensure long-term reliability.

All of this has resulted in a light rifle whose action is based on the now proven AR-15/M16 series of rifles. In fact, the M16 is a smaller version of the AR-10, firing the 5.56x45mm NATO round instead.

A muzzle compensator must be installed on the AR-10 rifle because the lightweight construction causes the muzzle to rise when firing the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge at full power in fully automatic mode.

Despite these qualities, the design is late. Prototypes existed as early as 1955, but series production ended as early as 1961, with fewer than 10,000 completed under the Fairchild ArmaLite brand label.

Other examples come from Colt's manufacturing company and Artillerie Inrichtingen before closing, but traditional production continues to provide additional samples to the world.

The AR-10 was also the basis for many prototype designs, including the AR-10 LMG, a proposed form of light machine gun, but it was only used in the development phase, and only in the development phase.

The AR-10 family found a home in Brazil, Myanmar, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany (West Germany), Guatemala, Italy, Nicaragua, Portugal, Romania and Sudan's inventory (part police, part army). Rifle conflicts include the Vietnam War (1955-1975), Portuguese Colonial War (1961-1974), Angola's War of Independence (1961-1974), Mozambique's War of Independence (1964-1974), Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972) and the Portuguese conflict ( 1975-1976).

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