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original Armalite AR-10 promotional video

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Replied by crux on topic Re:original Armalite AR-10 promotional video

Well, the stoner patent should have expired in the 80s (how Eagle Arms got into the AR-10/15 business back then), So it's a question of how much money it would take to entice an NFA weapon manufacturer to revisit the design and build from scratch. Since very few could actually qualify to buy them (dealer / manufacturer's license for class III) and of those few would likely be interested, it would probably only come about as a labor of love to recreate this curiosity by an existing manufacturer, for their own amusement.

Seeings how an NFA M-60 is running more than $30,000 last I knew, I'd suspect a custom build of one of these would run well more than that. Still, there's just something amusing about the idea of someone at the old Armalite devision saying, "Hey, let's make one of these new battle rifles into a belt fed gun". Ah, Engineers run amok. The story of how this thing came about in the first place as a design would be interesting I think. Was it something that was asked for in the competition (doubt it), or was it something someone said "Let's spend some R&D and show the Army what else you could do with this general design, maybe it will give us a better chance of winning" or who knows. I certainly think you'd be hard pressed to do this with the M14 design :)
14 years 11 months ago #1475

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Replied by BUILDING MY SASS on topic Re:original Armalite AR-10 promotional video

Thanks, I knew I could count on you for all the TECH stuff, you are good at that (really). It would still be alot of fun to shoot that darn thing.
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14 years 11 months ago #1478

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Replied by Hank in Arkansas on topic Re:original Armalite AR-10 promotional video

From what I've read, the Armalite division of Fairchild knew the Army was looking to replace both the M1 Garand and the BAR (then the squad auto weapon), plus the M1 carbine and the M3 "grease gun". I imagine they knew that the work on the M14 was going in two directions: an infantry rifle, and a SAW (M14E2, later the M14A1). The Ordnance Dept even considered an M15, which was to be a heavy barreled full auto version SAW, but dropped the idea. The M14A1 SAW never was too successful, never fulfilling the role as well as the old BAR. Just like the BAR, it didn't lend itself to modification to belt feed, only box mags. Stoner simply took advantage of his rifle's versatility and morphed it into a belt fed SAW. To the best of my knowlege, none ever actually reached production, even in the Netherlands. Frank Iannamico's book "The Last Steel Warrior: US M14 Rifle" is a fasinating account of the history of the M14. Unfortunately, it has virtually nothing in it on the AR10, but quite a bit about the AR15/M16.
14 years 11 months ago #1483

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Replied by crux on topic Re:original Armalite AR-10 promotional video

Thanks Hank, good info.
14 years 11 months ago #1484

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