“AR-15 derived from the M-16”
BS. The ar has been around since 1947.
I was going to point that out as well, however the AR-15 came out in the late 50's based on the AR-10 prototype. The M-16 is the military designation of the original AR-15 prototype introduced to the armed services rifle trials and lost our to the M1A1 in 1962 only to be adopted in the late 60's (I want to say '66, but can't remember the year) when the M1A1 was routinely outgunned by the AK-47 armed NVA.
> AR 15 ... 1947
No. Very late 50s.
But to your point, it was a consumer item. There were ads in hunting magazines by about 1962.
BS. The ar has been around since 1947.
No, technically the sentence is correct. Eugene Stoner first developed the select fire AR-10 in .308 in the mid 1950s to compete against the M14, but got no major military contracts.
He later shrunk down the AR-10 to the AR-15 chambered in .223 Remington as a select fire weapon in 1959. When the U.S. Air Force first adopted the Armalite AR-15, it was then designated as "Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16."
Only later, after Colt purchased all of the rights to the AR-15, did they come out with a semiautomatic version for civilian use.
So technically the AR-15 as we know it today was derived from the select fire AR-15 that the military designated M16.
Interesting aside, when I went through USAF Basic Training in 1977, our rifle marksmanship training was done using rifles that were marked "COLT AR-15" in fancy engraving, then a smaller stamped "M16" in a different font. They also had no forward assist.
It was Eugene Stoner in the mid/late 50s, who invented the AR.
1947?
Uh, no.