Ar 351 5: Fill & Download for Free

“Sporting purpose?” Sporting purpose?That’s such a naive question. ALL rifles have their roots as “weapons of war” as far back as the early Chinese hand-held black powder cannons.As others will tell you, the Second Amendment has nothing to do with “sporting purposes” or deer hunting. But it does have everything to do with an armed population that can rally to the military defense of the nation, state or region.When firearms first developed on the European continent they were always in the hands of the government’s soldiers, typically some King’s army. Most people were too poor to afford to own one (they took weeks or months to make by craftsmen), but in most kingdoms the average peasant was simply prohibited from owning them anyhow. Only the King’s men could be so equipped.That early muskets were found suitable for taking game animals was a nice bonus. Kings and royalty would have gun makers craft them elaborately decorated “hunting” guns or “waterfowl pieces” (shotguns) to impress their royal companions with.Remington 700 BDL bolt-action rifle. Capacity, 5 shots. Various cartridges include .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .30–06 Springfield, .270, .25–06, up to .45–70.Here’s a “regular” bolt action hunting rifle. It’s mechanism is fairly simple really. But if you examine the design of most modern bolt-action rifles you’ll find they had their roots in early military bolt action rifles, like the German Mauser rifles of the late 19th and early 20th Century.Semi-Automatic riflesThe use of semi-automatic rifles for hunting actually pre-dates their acceptance and use by military forces. The U.S. Army was the first army of any nation to adopt a semi-auto combat rifle for general issuance to soldiers, in the mid 1930s.Winchester Model of 1907 Self-Loading RifleThe Winchester 1907, above, is a magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifle that fires an intermediate powered cartridge (.351 Winchester). In essence, it’s no different than the “fearsome” AR-15 which can be described in the same way. Except the Winchester fires a more powerful round than the AR-15. And civilians used it mostly for hunting, although it also made a dandy defensive rifle if the need arose.The AR-15An AR-15 in its original configuration, circa 1963.Contrary to what the gun-fearing propaganda puppet-masters in the media might tell you, the “AR” in the rifle’s designation does not stand for “Assault Rifle.” Rather it comes from the company that initially designed the rifle — the ArmaLite Corporation.The AR-15 was modified and accepted by the U.S. Army in 1964 as the M16 rifle and has gone through a number of modifications over the decades to become today’s M4 carbine and M16A4 rifle.What it shoots.223/5.56mm AR-15 cartridge (L) compared to a .30–06 Springfield cartridge (R).The AR-15 fires a small .223 caliber (5.56mm) 55–62 grain (3.5–4.0 gram) bullet at high velocity (3200 ft/sec). It’s effective range is about 500 meters.By comparison, the .30–06 cartridge, used in WW-II and by hundreds of thousands of hunters since 1950, fires a 150 grain (9.7g) bullet at 2800 ft/sec and has an effective range of over 1000 meters.Thus, the AR-15 is classified as an “intermediate” powered cartridge. In some states, it is considered too low powered with which to hunt large deer.But that doesn’t mean you can’t hunt with an AR-15. This is because the design of the AR-15 is remarkably modular. Components, including barrels, can be changed out by the end user without the need of a gunsmith in most cases.Showing the modularity of the AR-15/M-16 family of rifles. The rifle has two halves. The lower receiver with the grip, trigger, stock and the upper receiver with the barrel, hand-guard and sights.This means one can own an AR-15 in .223/5.56mm and use it as a “militia” rifle, small game rifle (up to Wolf sized critters) quite handily. A few dollars for a new barrel and upper receiver and a few moments work, and you can convert your rifle to any of at least half a dozen different more powerful cartridges.Sporting UsesTexas is being overrun! — By a wild pig problem. Literally, Texans cannot shoot them fast enough to keep their populations in check. Plus, these pigs destroy huge amounts of crops and will even attack some livestock — and humans who are foolhardy enough to get too close. Changing the barrel to a .30 caliber cartridge gives hunters and game management personnel a fast-shooting rifle that’s light, accurate and powerful enough to take multiple pigs quickly. And the ability to rapid-fire is necessary for hunting large packs of pigs because they scatter upon hearing the first shot, and the boars will charge a human hunter to protect his flock. These are tough animals that weigh 200 pounds or more, can hit you like an NFL linebacker and are equipped with razor-sharp tusks that can slice your leg open from calf to your hip in one pass.The AR-15 is also used in sporting competitions, such as long-range rifle matches, the popular 3-gun matches (using rifle, pistol and shotgun), as well as “run & gun” rifle matches. Some decry these as “not sporting” because many of the targets are generally shaped like human silhouettes (others are round steel plates). But these matches comport with the 2nd Amendment’s purpose by letting citizens practice with their “militia” rifles to serve as a well regulated militia. They become skilled enough with their firearms to engage multiple targets rapidly and effectively.If anyone tells you the AR-15 is an “assault weapon” they are either lying to you or ignorant of facts. There is little difference between the AR-15 and that Winchester 1907 rifle mentioned above. They work on the same principle, fire cartridges that are lower powered than most “sporting” rifles and are not some fearsome “weapon of war.” No nation issues the AR-15 to its troops, only it’s automatic cousin, the M16. Any time you hear the term “assault weapon” recognize it is purely a propaganda term invented by the political left to make you afraid.Thank you for reading.

I’ll provide more than a single example for you, beginning with the first commercially successful semi-automatic rifle on the American market:The Remington Model 8. This rifle was used by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in 1934 when he and his posse cut down Bonnie and Clyde. It was chambered for a rather large cartridge, the .351 Remington. Interestingly, the gun’s frame-mounted safety looks eerily similar to that found on the AK-47.The United States Army adopted the renowned M1 Garand in 1936. It was called “the greatest battle instrument ever devised” by General George S. Patton. Chambered for the .30–06, the gun had an 8-round magazine which was loaded via the top of the receiver with a “clip,” which ejected with a distinctive ping after the last round was fired and the bolt locked open.Also semi-automatic, the M1 Carbine was another gun used extensively during WWII and also in Korea.The gun had a detachable magazine and was chambered for a rather small .30 caliber round about the length of a .357 Magnum cartridge. It wasn’t particularly powerful. I always thought of it as rather puny, but it must’ve had something going for it. I’ve heard tales from relatives who fought in WWII with it that told me they weren’t very enthusiastic about the gun’s capabilities. One story a great-uncle told was the .30 Carbine’s failure to kill a roe deer in Germany. It took a full magazine to dispatch the animal, which was about the size of a German Shepherd.Ruger introduced the Mini-14 in the early 1970s. It was marketed as being a scaled-down M-14 semi-automatic.Initially, it was offered in .223 Rem., although it was later marketed as the “Mini-30” and chambered for the 7.62x39mm, the same ammo used in the AK-47. It was the first American semi-auto rifle that offered a wide range of magazine capacities.It’s hard to believe today, but at one time, the Mini-14 outsold Colt’s AR-15 by a margin of more than 10-to-1.I happened to own the stainless, folding stock version pictured above. However, mine wore a Weaver K4 scope. It wasn’t a very comfortable gun to shoot, especially in very cold weather. That metal stock against the cheek with temperatures in the teens isn’t something one enjoys. (I have the very same complaint about my Uzi, which is why she wears the original Israeli white maple wood stock during cold weather.)All the Mini-14s I ever had experience with were very reliable, but not all of them were very accurate. In fact, the gun’s lack of accuracy is an enduring reputation the gun bears to this day.Although this gun only enjoyed moderate commercial success, it was a great hunting rifle.This is the Remington Model 7400. Until recently, only 4–5 round, flush-fitting magazines were available for it. It was chambered for a number of different rounds, but the most popular was .30–06.During the 7400’s modest heyday, most shooters and hunters viewed it with a rather jaundiced eye. All the gun rags of the day seemed to sneer a little at anything that wasn’t a turnbolt. Both semi-autos and lever actions were looked down upon because they reportedly were incapable of delivering decent accuracy because their bolts didn’t lock up as solidly as the bolts on the Model 700, the Winchester Model 70, Brownings, Savages, or the many sporterized military rifles like the 1903 Springfield and the 98 Mauser.This list is far from exhaustive. There have been dozens of semi-automatic centerfire rifles which have been made around the world, and have been widely available for more than a century.For people whose lives are spent endlessly fretting over the dangerous and lethal potential of guns like the AK-47 and AR-15, every rifle I’ve pictured here, with the exception of the M1 Carbine and the Mini-14, are far, far more deadly than the semi-automatic “assault rifles” so despised by the Left and the media.

Okay so this will be a long post, for those who are interested in a bit of history behind firearms to understand the similarity between the AR-15 and other semi-automatic or ‘self loading’ rifles.((Images are from Google, Bing or other websites found via searches, I do not own them))Lets go back and give a brief-ish overview of rifle history.Before ‘rifles’, guns were smooth bore. But in 1498, the idea of spiraled grooves in a barrel was invented and the ‘rifled bore’ was born. Rifle bore muskets or rifle muskets were rare from a military standpoint because they were expensive and slow to reload; do to having to tap the lead ball down the barrel with rod and hammer rather than just shove it down with a pushrod. But the range they could reach was much further than regular muskets which were useful at just 50 yards in direct fire and around 200 yards in volley fire. Bullets in muskets were big to compensate for being slow to try to inflict as much damage as possible. Muskets ranged from .45 caliber to .70 caliber. Also, larger bores were easier to make and easier to make straight; a slight curve in a barrel would make it useless.For centuries the rifle was the hunters weapon and the smooth bore musket was the weapon of soldiers and those people who could not afford the more costly rifles.Then in 1799 (or 1780 by some accounts) a gentleman by the name of Bartholomaus Girandoni developed a .46 caliber rifle that was powered by compressed air and used a manually operated 20, 22 or 24 round magazine depending on what year or model. The rifle was pointed up to feed the lead bullets into the feed slot and a spring loaded arm would be pushed with a finger to load one of the bullets from the magazine into the chamber, then the hammer, which served as a way of setting a spring valve, was pulled back and the gun could be aimed and fired. The rifle was adopted by the Austrian military and served in a special unit that specifically used the Girandoni rifles. They were issued with a small air compressor, one air tank on the rifle and two spares (filled before battle), and at least five 20 shot magazines ready filled with bullets. These guns were so effective and had the advantage of being nearly silent as well as leaving no smoke, that the French would put to death anyone discovered to use them. They were popular for a time in some countries while others distained them as the weapons of assassins. Air rifles of any type were illegal in France before the Girandoni was even invented. But the fast repeating Girandoni was hated as a tool of war and seen as immoral and barbaric by the French and I think the British as well. Interestingly, it is in Austria and Germany where we find evidence of air rifles being used for sport as early as the 15th century but very little is known. But that's another story. Girandoni rifles would be used on the Lewis & Clark expedition. With records showing that displays of rapid firepower being met with awe and respect by all who saw them.The next big change was in 1849 Claude-Etienne Minié invented the ‘Minie’ ball’, a long conical bullet that would immediately replace the lead ball in rifled guns.The Minie’ name was quickly distorted from “minni-ay” and the bullet was known as the minni or mini-ball. The mini ball being conical had a better aerodynamic profile and better ballistic balance. The grooves would dig into rifling with less effort than the regular lead ball and made loading easier. This was best fit to breech loading rifles. The idea of breech loading had been around since the beginning of the cannon, even before the hand cannon or hand gun were invented. But manufacturing and materials lacked the ability to make the breech seal reliable and strong. Some very expensive breach loading guns and rifles date back to the late 1400’s But again, they were the property of the wealthy and the military had no need for such expensive ‘frivolities’. But with the invention of the mini-ball, the breech loader was so much better for retaining the shape of the bullet, since you didn’t have to ram it down the barrel with a rod and hammer, that the need for breech loaders was essentially necessary.But this was still a slow firing weapon. Fast as it was compared to previous available weapons, it was not immediately seen by militaries as needed except for small teams of sharpshooters.An aside; the use of sharpshooters goes back at least to the American Revolutionary War, when the British had to create sharpshooter teams to deal with the civilian rifleman, because the military did not use rifles yet and the civilian rifles could shoot with reasonable accuracy more than 5 times as far as the military muskets could. Weird to imagine that the military had inferior weapons to the civilians. The British response however, was a breech loading rifle that could be loaded very quickly. And the men using them were well trained. It was a very effective reply, but obviously not a war changer.From the first uses of the musket, the idea of repeating firepower was sought. But they were either small productions of a few examples, single one-of-a-kind weapons or commercial failures due to different things.One other development was closing in on making serious changes to firearms. The cartridge. The idea of paper ‘cartridges’ goes back to the 14th century with a pre-measured powder load being wrapped in thin paper and loaded before the bullet. The first fully contained cartridge was developed by Swiss gunsmith Jean Samuel Pauly and Francois Prelat in Paris in 1808. The big development was the invention of Mercury Fulminate by Pauly. Their cartridge was fired using a needle that punched a disc of mercury fulminate in the middle of the cartridge.In 1836 French gunsmith Casimir Lefaucheux invented the pinfire cartridge.And a cutaway.Then in 1857 the first ‘modern’ metallic cartridge was developed for the first Smith & Wesson revolver. It was the .22 Short rimfire. Which was a development of the earlier Flobert BB cap. A 22 caliber ball in a very short rimfire case with only priming compound but no powder. This led to larger rimfire cartridges as well as the ‘Volcanic’ cartridge which was a failure but helped point the way for successful cartridge design.However, also in 1849 was the first significant repeating rifle idea invented by Walter Hunt, called the Volitional Repeater. (using the Volcanic cartridge)The design was sold to George Arrowsmith who was unable to finance the endeavor and sold the design when it became known as the Jennings Magazine Rifle or Jennings Repeating Rifle.From this design sprang many competitors. Using rimfire cartridges and later centerfire cartridges.The 7 shot Spencer carbineThe 16 shot Henry rifleAnd others. Of note, generally speaking, single shot cartridge rifles fired more powerful cartridges than the shorter carbine versions of those rifles. A carbine version of a rifle was usually chambered for a shorter cartridge than the full size rifle. These were known as carbine cartridges. Today we call them ‘intermediate’ cartridges as they are more powerful than handgun cartridges but less powerful than rifle cartridges. Keep this in mind for later.But the problem was still slow reloads and slow firepower. Faster firepower was still in the efforts of many. After the civil war, the lever-action became extremely popular amongst the citizens of America. While the military went back to single-shot, breech loaded rifles. we get another leap in firearms design technology. 1884 Paul Vieille invented smokeless powder and the world of firearms changed again. Cleaner burning and more powerful, smokeless powder pushed firearms development again. While the first patents for box magazines was by Roland White in 1855. But it was James Paris Lee that managed to get his 1879 design used by the Austrians in 1882. This led to many other developments in rifles and magazines in the late 19th century. Also of note at this time was the development of self-loading handguns. Starting from Salvador Dormus in Austria with an 8mm blowback handgun. But it was not the only handgun in development at the time and within a few years the market was flooded with designs. The handguns of the time could not handle very powerful cartridges and as such, the designs did not quickly influence rifles. However, the idea of self-loading rifles was not lost on gun designers.Also of note, the idea of self-loading was first called ‘Automatic’. A term we still use. As a sales note the idea that you didn’t need to work a lever or bolt to load the next cartridge manually meant that it was automatically reloaded. Thus, automatic. The idea of ‘fully automatic’ was a separate idea.In 1884 Hiram Maxim developed the ‘Maxim Machine Gun’. Now, according to http://Brittanica.com“Machine gun, automatic weapon of small calibre that is capable of sustained rapid fire. Most machine guns are belt-fed weapons that fire from 500 to 1,000 rounds per minute and will continue to fire as long as the trigger is held back or until the supply of ammunition is exhausted.”Because of the machine gun, the idea of “automatic” was confused and people started using ‘semi-automatic’ to mean a self-loading firearm. As only machine guns were ‘fully automatic’.The first successful semi-automatic rifles were designed by Ferdinand Mannlicher who is known for his excellent bolt-action rifles but marketed the Model 85 in 1885 followed by several other models (91, 93 and 95). These used fixed box magazines reloaded through the open breech. In 1902 John Browning developed the first semi-automatic shotgun, a tube-magazine shotgun that was manufactured until 1999. The Savage Model 99 used a very modern design for the magazine but was lever-action. Winchester offers the model 1903 and 1905 semiautomatic rifles during this time as well. And the semi-automatic sporting rifle comes into its own. Rejected by the military who is afraid that nervous soldiers will waste ammunition, semi-automatic rifles remain a civilian firearm. Interestingly the Winchester 1905 uses 5 or 10 round detachable box magazines and has a split upper and lower.The Winchester Model 1907 improves further on this design. Offering magazines in 5, 10 and 15 round capacities and utilizing what is considered an ‘intermediate’ cartridge or carbine cartridge, the .351 Winchester Self Loading or “351-WSL”. This cartridge delivers about the same power as the more modern 7.92x39mm cartridge used in the AK-47 carbine ‘assault rifle’. The French, who were short on firearms for aviation use early in the war, order 500 then 2500 more and approximately 1.5 million cartridges for them. These civilian weapons are modified (whether by the French gunsmiths or by Winchester I do not know) to make them into light machine rifles with a fully automatic firing at a rate of 600–700 rounds per minute. The machine gun versions are called Model 1907/17. They prove reliable but no significant records are known for how much they were used. The British also purchase 120 of them and there is some evidence that the Russians purchased 500 of them.Another gun similar to this is the Remington Model 8. Fed from 5 round fixed magazines with longer detachable magazines being offered in police models.The French Model 1917 Automatic Rifle is a semiautomatic rifle with fixed magazine used in late WW1.In 1918 the Ribeyrolles 1918 Automatic Carbine is produced.In many ways this should probably get the credit for first “assault rifle”. I use quotation marks as the term assault rifle is coined later and these early versions are called (in my opinion, correctly) Machine Carbines. The Ribeyrolles fires what may be the first modern purpose designed intermediate cartridge. They took the .351-WSL and necked it down to the standard 8mm bullet used by the French. The carbine fires from a 25 round box magazine. The main difference between this and modern assault rifles is that as far as I know, this was not select fire, meaning, you couldn’t choose semi-automatic or full-automatic. It always fired full-automatic as a machine gun.Other attempts towards this type of firepower was the Browning Automatic Rifle, taking the idea of automatic fire, but using full-rifle cartridges instead of carbine/intermediate cartridges, the BAR proved reliable, heavy and awkward, but undeniably powerful. Fed from a 20 round box magazine and using a locked breech, the gun was a heavy hitter.Despite these firearms proving valuable during WW1, most militaries fail to adopt a semi-automatic rifle before WW2 begins two decades later. Leaving semi-automatic weapons to be the tools of sportsman. The US adopts the M1 Garand with a fixed box magazine despite the availability of detachable magazines. The M1 Garand is even tested with 20 round box magazines from the BAR which would have allowed for use by both weapons. This testing takes several years and yet the military settles on the fixed box magazine. Meanwhile sportsmen are using newer versions of the Winchester model 1907. Now offered with 5, 10 and even 15 round magazines.WW2 shows the world that they should have listened. Smaller carbine size cartridges in detachable box magazines are really good for fighting at less than 500 yards. Study of the battle field mid-war shows that most engagements are at less than 300 yards. With the most common being at 50 -150 yards. Everyone starts making carbines for warfare. The US is slow to see the value and makes an underpowered carbine, (great for less than 150 yards but not useful beyond that) with the M1 Carbine.Intended to only replace handguns, it doesn’t use a very potent cartridge. While ideas for using a .22 or .25 caliber bullet are raised, the need for fast use is cited to stick with .30 caliber. The narrow cartridge has some advantages though, the original magazine holds 15 rounds in a pretty small package. The very light carbine proves handy in close combat situations and is quickly the preferred weapon for many front line soldiers. The 30 round magazine is quickly added to provide additional firepower for those using the weapon on front lines.While the little carbine is handy and a favored weapon, the Americans are not leading anybody in the idea. In fact, the idea of using the weapon for front line combat is figured out by the soldiers themselves with the brass being more or less surprised by the results. Fielded in 1942 by the US and quickly pouring to allies. The little carbine is met, also in 1942, by the German Maschinenkarabiner-42 or in English, Machine Carbine model 42. (Remember I mentioned the machine carbine before?). A select-fire version was produced called the M2 Carbine. The select fire version proves popular, though most reports say it was used more often on semi-automatic than fully-automatic.The Germans add two pivotal elements, select-fire and a more powerful cartridge. While the American M1 Carbine fires the “.30M1” cartridge or 7.62x33mm with a 110grain projectile with 1,990fps muzzle velocity and 957ft-lb energy, the German Machine Carbine 42 fires an 8mm Kurz or ‘short’. The 8x33mm has a fatter case and firing a heavier 123 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,250fps and 1,391ft-lb energy. The carbines can be fired semi-automatic for accurate fire and fully-automatic for suppressive fire. At first Hitler is not interested in ‘machine carbines’ and wants them to work on submachine-guns or in German parlance, machine-pistols. The men developing it rename it as ‘Machine pistol’ to keep Hitler from noticing. A year later they show him their result and apparently he is happy with the result despite them going against his wishes. He reportedly coins the term “Storm rifle” for propaganda purposes. The idea of the term “storm” is a carryover from the WW1 special forces called Sturmtruppen, who aced as shock troops to break up defenses and other special operations. In WW1 the Sturmtruppen used machine-pistols and light machine rifles. So the term seems to fit well. At the time, American parlance for a sudden attack was not called “storming” as in older times, but was instead called ‘assaulting’. In the days of yore, you might read of soldiers “storming a fortress”. But in the 1940s American military you “assaulted the fortification”. So when we heard about ‘Sturmgewehr’ it was translated ‘assault rifle’ not ‘storm-rifle’.Meanwhile German parlance still called them ‘machine-carbines’ but the NAME of the Sturmgewehr-44 was Sturmgewehr Model 44.There is more to this story, the Russians used “pistol-machine-carbines” (submachineguns) in masse with some success against the Germans. Finding them effective at up to 200 meters. Though most effective within 100 meters. The French and British also found these carbines to be effective.Post WW2, everyone had some German machine-carbines and most countries began to develop arms based on them. The Russians developed the SKS-45A rugged and reliable semi-automatic carbine with a fixed 10 round magazine. The Russians in true Russian fashion produced millions of them; 2.7 million. Even though they served for only a few years before being replaced with the AK-47.After the SKS was no longer a military weapon the carbines were sold all over the world including the US where they are still very common. The cartridge developed for the SKS was the 7.62x39mm. The cartridge is still one of the most used ‘intermediate’ cartridges used today.Meanwhile the USA was thinking about this and talking with what was now NATO and while the British and French wanted to use an intermediate cartridge in carbine length weapons, the USA wanted to use their new full power 30 caliber, the 7.62x51mm or .308 caliber. And in full length weapons.The Spanish developed an awesome cartridge called the 7.92 CETMEFor use in their new CETME Battle-carbine.The British developed the amazing EM-2 rifleChambered in the excellent .280 British (Center, American .30–06 left and .308 right)The .280 British was on the powerful end of the ‘intermediate’ spectrum. Being closer to rifle power than most.But the US was powerful and stubborn and strongarmed everyone into taking the .308.It is important to note that the US was still using rifle-grips when everyone else had switched to pistol-grips for better control and ease of use.After WW2, the M1 Carbine is sold to the civilian market and proves immensely popular. In it’s day, it was the most popular carbine among younger people. Surplus M1 Garand rifles are also popular for its long range and hard hitting cartridge. The M1 Garand is popular for hunting medium to large game and for long range competition shooting. While the M1 Carbine is popular for home defense, competition shooting and hunting small to medium game.Meanwhile, a little company known as Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corporation was getting into firearms. Their intent was to develop modern sporting firearms made with modern, high tech materials and processes. Their ultimate goal was to garner a big lucrative military contract. But, they knew the military liked wood and steel and wouldn’t want aluminum firearms. So they had a plan, make great civilian firearms then once proven, try to sell militarized versions to the military. However, since Fairchild was already making military aircraft and other things, the military immediately wanted them to offer firearms.Their first firearms were bolt action rifles, starting with the AR-1 Parasniper rifleand a survival rifle for the military the AR-5 chambered in .22 Hornet.In 1955 trials begin for a replacement for the M1.Offerings include the T44 from Springfield Armory A lighter version of the M14.And the T48, based on the FN-FAL rifle.The T48 offers a pistol grip which makes shooting easier by giving the trigger hand a more natural position.Armalite offers the AR-10, a radical design departure that allows for very lightweight construction with aluminum and plastic.The military adopted the T44 as the M14.But then asks Armalite to develop a smaller version to be chambered in a smaller cartridge for testing the idea of a smaller caliber rifle and carbine.Thus the AR-15 was created. At this point there was no intent for select fire yet. So totally semi-automatic / self loading. And not a machine gun.Up until now, Armalite has only really sold the AR-5 and a very few AR-17 shotgunsAn aluminum semi-automatic shotgun for sporting.In 1959 Armalite sells the design rights for the AR-10 and AR-15 to Colt.In 1961 Eugene Stoner leaves Armalite to go to Colt to keep working on the AR-15 development.The US air force, being receptive to the aluminum and plastic standardizes a select-fire version of the AR-15 as the M-16 and orders 85,000.The US army also orders 85,000.In 1989 Eagle Arms offers semi-automatic only AR-15 rifles to the public.Now, here are some random semiautomatic rifles for comparison.For one, the Ruger 10/22 1964-present.And some custom stocks for the 10/22PS-90The AR-57 uses the top feed magazine from a P90.9mm Calico Liberty Carbine has 50 and 100 round spiral magazines..22 LR Calico Carbine with 100 round magazine.9mm Kel-Tec Sub-2000Barrett “Big-Fifty” .50 BMG semi-auto rifle.Kel-Tec SU-16 carbine.FN-FALFN-49Kel Tec RFBRemington Model 7400Marlin Model 60Banelli ArgoHi-Point .45 Carbine and Pistol. They can use the same magazines.Classic AR-15California Legal AR-15Ares SCRIWI TavorRobinson XCR Competition rifle.IMI Hardar IICustom 1911 Carbine.Ruger PC carbineThompson Semi AutomaticRemington 552 .22LR.So the question was, “Why do people suggest that an AR 15 and semi-automatic 223 hunting rifle is the same?”Looking through the list here…What’s the difference?