A [Very] Brief History of the AR-15

By Robert Farago

Tom McHale writes [via Ammoland.com]:

According to the news media, an AR 15 Rifle is any gun that someone uses in the act of doing something bad. What is an AR-15 really? Technically speaking, AR-15 is a brand name, like Kleenex or Xerox. And, just as with Kleenex and Xerox, the brand name has been hijacked by the general public to describe a whole class of things. Before we dive into the history of the modern AR 15 Rifle, we need to look the “AR” part. AR does not stand for Assault Rifle. Or Automatic Rearming. Or even Apoplectic Ruin. It is a product naming convention from the company that invented it, ArmaLite. In fact, there were a number of rifles with “AR” names, like the AR-1, AR-5, AR-7, AR-10, AR-16 and AR-17. Let’s do a quick review of AR15 Rifle history what got us from conception to where we are today . . .

1954
Eugene Stoner responsible for early development of the AR-15 rifle. ArmaLite was founded as a division of Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corporation. While most people equate the AR 15 Rifle with military variants, the company was actually founded with the goal of developing civilian …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns