Surefire Optimized Bolt Carrier Assembly

By Tom Beckstrand

Jim Sullivan is 85 years old and still drives like a bat out of hell. For those unfamiliar with the name, Jim Sullivan designed the AR-­15 60 years ago.

Eugene Stoner is most commonly credited for the AR-­15 but that isn’t entirely accurate. Stoner designed the AR-­10 (he was a .30-­caliber man) with Sullivan as his assistant. Sullivan’s input on the AR-­10 is why the cam pin is shaped the way it is and why the gas system sits on top of the barrel instead of on the side. The AR-­15 was left almost entirely to Jim Sullivan and the project helped set him on the path of miniaturizing popular rifle designs. (His first was the AR-­15 and his second was Ruger’s Mini-­14.)

I recently had the opportunity to make the drive from Prescott, Arizona, to Gunsite with Sullivan at the wheel, availing me the opportunity to ask the man all the questions that I’ve accumulated over the years. Most of those questions were centered around his opinion of what’s become of his creation.

Sullivan never anticipated the rifle becoming so …Read the Rest

Source:: Guns and Ammo