The AR-15/M16/M4 series rifle is undoubtedly the most popular rifle in the United State for all military, law enforcement and commercial markets.  It is the most versatile platform of a rifle on the face of the planet.  Another rifle has crept up into that popularity; one that was on the scrap heap of the U.S. Army for nearly 40 years.  That would be the one that started it all, the AR-10.  “Tomorrow’s Rifle Today” in the late 1950s has turned out to be today’s rifle today.  The rifle that Ordnance Corp would dismiss in the late 1950s would have its day in the late 1990s and in the new millennium would serve as the primary sniper rifle for the U.S. Special Operations Command as well as the U.S. Army, replacing M24 bolt action rifles.  But where did all this begin?

In 1953, George Sullivan gained interest from Richard Boutelle of Fairchild Engine and Aircraft for his idea of developing a small arms design firm.  Boutelle, a gun enthusiast himself, invested capital to start up this new company on 1 October 1954.  The money came from the research and development budget of Fairchild.  This company would have an impact on the history and direction of the modern battle rifle in the U.S. beyond Sullivan’s and Boutelle’s expectations.  ArmaLite Corporation was born.  The Fairchild winged Pegasus would have a circle and cross hairs superimposed as the symbol of the new corporation.  ArmaLite was envisioned to be a “think tank,” not a small arms manufacturer.  The new designs were to be made but manufactured by a dedicated manufacturing facility.

Much success in life is timing, being in the right place at the right time.  Even more so, having an individual that knows how to spot talent and grab it.  While working on a prototype rifle, George Sullivan was test firing his design at the Topanga Canyon Shooting Range outside of Los Angeles where he saw and met a young man who was doing the exact same thing.  That young man was Eugene Morrison Stoner.

Shown is a Portuguese soldier with is A.I. AR-10. The Portuguese Army was well satisfied with the performance of the AR-10 and would have procured more if A.I. would not have cut off production.

Stoner was born in Gasport, Indiana on November 11, 1922.  His family would later move to California.  In 1939, Stoner worked for Vega Aircraft and with the U.S. entering World War II Stoner would serve in the Marine Corps as an Ordnance Specialist.  At the time of his chance meeting with Sullivan, Stoner was making dental plates and in his spare time he would design advanced rifles.  Sullivan was very impressed with the rifle Stoner was testing, later known as the M5 (it evolved into the AR-3), and hired him as the Chief Design Engineer at ArmaLite.  The AR-3 was granted U.S. Patent Number 2,951,424.

Stoner was a genius; well ahead of his time particularly in the firearms industry at that time.  In fact, radical would be the proper word.  In a world of tradition that required steel and wood, young Stoner would take his experience in the state-of-the-art aircraft industry and apply that technology to firearms development.  Using aircraft grade aluminum and synthetic materials in place of the traditional wood and steel, Stoner would create the lightest battle rifle in the world.  But was the world, particularly the U.S. Ordnance Corps, ready for it?

Stoner’s new concept, the AR-10 would deviate from tradition.  First, the AR-10 would be completely inline in construction.  Meaning the barrel, bolt, bolt carrier and recoil spring and buffer were directly in line with the shooters shoulder.  This reduces traditional muzzle rise and felt recoil compared to the traditional M1/M14 rifles.  This also makes the rifle firing in fully automatic that much more controllable.  Due to no drop in the stock, the sights had to be raised so the shooter could see through them; hence the carrying handle (third prototype) was born which would become an icon for Stoner designed weapons.

The first prototype rifle had the needed raised front and rear sight and was chambered for the 7.62x63mm (30-06 Springfield) cartridge.  The cartridges were fed from a standard BAR magazine.  The stock was a tubular stock with a butt plate added to the rear.  This rifle used the same direct gas system used in Stoners AR-3 rifle which we will discuss in more detail.

Shown is the bolt carrier group of serial number 1004 after firing 409 rounds. This picture is to depict the carbon fouling on the bolt carrier group.

The second prototype added a telescope sight, which was raised up to allow the shooter’s eye to align.  Stoner added a more conventional stock to the rifle.  The pistol grip was made from the same material as the stock and hand guards.  There were no iron sights on this model.  This model also differed in that it was chambered for the 7.62x51mm cartridge that was soon to be adopted as the standard cartridge for the U.S. military.

The third prototype was far more close to the finalized AR-10.  Many new features were added and also the gas system was altered.  The first thing you notice is the carrying handle on the upper receiver containing the rear sight as well as the raised front sight that is attached to a muzzle compensator.  The bolt was designed after the Mel Johnson designed multi lug bolt.  There are seven lugs as well as the extractor.

This rifle used a unique new gas system.  Although previously used on the Swedish AG42B and the French MAS44 and MAS49/56, the new part of the system was to be a gas cut off once enough gas was used to operate the action.  This reduced recoil as well as increased the service life of the moving parts of the rifle.

When the rifle would fire, the bullet travelled down the barrel until it passed the gas port.  Gas was tapped from the barrel into the gas port and pressurized a long gas tube on the left side of the barrel.  The gas tube entered the side of the bolt carrier group.  There a piston chamber was created between the back of an internal chamber in the bolt carrier and bolt.  The gas created an internal pressure, pushing the bolt carrier to the rear.  The cam pin is rotated by the cam path in the receiver unlocking the bolt as it moves rearward.  This also acted as the cut off for the gas once the bolt begins its rearward travel venting off the unused gas.  As the bolt carrier moves rearward the fired cartridge case is extracted and ejected from the rifle once the mouth of the case clears the ejection port.  Now the spring loaded buffer returns the bolt carrier group forward with the bottom two lugs stripping off the top cartridge from the magazine, feeding and chambering the round.  Then final movement locks the bolt into the barrel extension.

Perhaps the most disastrous moment in the history of the AR-10 and if any moment defined the failure in the U.S. trial was the catastrophic barrel failure of serial number 1002. This was caused by Sullivan’s decision to use his aluminum barrels with a SS rifle sleeve. Stoner was adamantly opposed to this course of action and he was right.

This gas system eliminated several heavy parts of the traditional piston mechanism including a heavy operating rod.  Recoil was drastically eliminated due to not having the mass of an operating rod and piston slamming into the shooters shoulder.  This decrease in weight of the carrier group increased accuracy as well.  To further lessen recoil in this inline construction rifle, a muzzle compensator was added.  This made recoil with the larger 7.62x51mm caliber round smooth and easy.

The 4th prototype took on more of what we see today in the design of the AR-10/AR-15.  The rifle has two receivers, an upper and lower held on by a front pivot pin and a rear takedown pin.  The receivers were manufactured from state-of-the-art 7075 T6 aircraft aluminum forgings.  The stock and pistol grip were manufactured from foam-filled phenolic resin, which was lightweight, very strong and impervious to the elements, unlike traditional wood.  The rifle was fed from an aluminum 20-round magazine.  For strength, reinforcing ridges were pressed into the sides of the magazine giving it the “waffle” appearance.  These magazines were intended on being disposable in combat.  Due to the light weight of the magazine, soldiers would be able to carry more ammunition in preloaded magazines compared to previous rifles.

Another outstanding feature of the design and one that would certainly decrease weight was the design of a barrel extension for the multi-lug bolt to lock into.  Unlike previous designs, a large chunk of metal surrounds the chamber to contain the pressures of the chamber and afford a location for the bolt to lock into.  The AR-10 barrel extension screwed onto the rear of the chamber and focused the pressure into a small area.  U.S. Patent Number 3,027,672 was granted for the barrel extension on April 3, 1962.

The rifle was very user friendly.  With the shooting hand, the thumb actuated the selector lever and trigger finger actuated the trigger and magazine release button.  The left hand actuated the bolt catch and cocking handle located inside the carrying handle on top of the rifle.  The left hand also loaded and unloaded the magazine.

Close up view of the muzzle compensator found on the early Hollywood rifles. The end is held on by a snap ring that could be removed with the tip of a bayonet.

The rifle appeared futuristic and broke with traditions of what a military rifle was supposed to look and feel like.  Too new for some and those were often the influential people making the decisions on procurement.  Many new designs were tried to make use of new materials such as the use of aluminum barrels.  That came to no avail but shows the type of research and development going on at ArmaLite.

In late 1955, the U.S. Army got their first look at the new AR-10.  It was demonstrated to high ranking officials at the Infantry School at Fort Benning and Headquarters, Continental Army Command at Fort Monroe.  It was ArmaLite’s hope to delay the selection of the new rifle to replace the M1.  The T44 (M14) and the T48 (FAL) had been tested for quite some time and the decision was close.  Using the 4th prototype as the base, 50 rifles were handmade.  The barrels were a controversial issue within the walls of the ArmaLite shop.  Stoner had highly recommended and fought to have standard military grade steel barrels used.  Sullivan however over-ruled his recommendations and they used aluminum barrels swaged around 416 SS rifled liners.

At the 2012 SHOT Show, ArmaLite introduced their new and long anticipated AR-10A family of rifles.  This is an AR-10 that uses the standard magazine rather than the proprietary M14 based magazine that the ArmaLite AR-10B rifles have used since their introduction in 1995.

To trace the history a little, the ArmaLite AR-10B series was introduced to the commercial market in 1995, which was one year after the infliction of the 1994 assault weapon ban that prohibited production of magazines that held more than 10 rounds for commercial purposes.  Former U.S. Army Ordnance officer and President of ArmaLite Mark Westrom had a dilemma on his hands while in development of his AR-10.  He could use the standard AR-10 magazine that was developed in the 1950s, which there were few available, and the new Knight’s Armament Company SR25 magazine, of which there were even fewer in production prior to the institution of the ban.  Another option was the FAL magazine.  The FAL magazine would not work due to a different bullet feed; the feed lips were in the receiver, thus the FAL magazine was not a good candidate.  However, there were tens of thousands of surplus M14 magazines out there.  Westrom wanted his customers to have a legal 20-round magazine and there was only one way to do it: convert his AR-10 magazine well to take the M14 magazine.  The magazine would need a major modification to work as well.  The follower would not actuate the AR-style bolt catch so a patented spring loaded plunger was added to the rear of the follower.  The catch was cut into the left side of the magazine.  The entire bolt catch option was made possible by the groove in the back of the magazine well.  That gave the space for the spring loaded plunger to activate when the last two rounds are in the magazine.  When the bolt carrier group moved to the rear after firing the last round the plunger lifts upward on the bolt catch locking the bolt to the rear.  Due to no stop-notch on the modified AR-10 magazine to prevent it from over-traveling the mag catch, Westrom added a stop rib in the upper receiver that prevents mag catch over-travel.  Westrom offered a magazine conversion service to his customers who would send in their M14 magazines and ArmaLite would convert them to work in their rifle and ship them back.  This worked out very well.

In 2004, the “Assault Weapon Ban” sunset permitted new production of high capacity magazines.  In the intervening years other AR-10-type rifles came to market.  Over the last 5 years alone, many new rifles have come on deck including DPMS, Remington, LWRCI and SIG to name a few of the newly produced 7.62mm rifles similar to that of the AR10-type rifles that took the standard AR-10 magazine.  Then Magpul introduced their PMag L20 magazine that is an original AR-10/SR-25 magazine.  They took over the market with all of these companies.  To date most all of the AR-10-type rifles are shipped with this magazine.

The success of the ArmaLite AR-10B-series is undeniable.  However, there was a part of the market who liked the idea of multiple sources for magazines.  Some of them are diehard Magpul fans as well.  With all the additional companies now offering the AR-10-type design, ArmaLite may very well have lost customers to companies that had the non-proprietary standard magazine.  The modified M14 magazine is a very strong, durable and reliable magazine.  With the ban’s demise, ArmaLite went into production of their own magazine, making it even better than the converted M14 magazine.  There were no functional issues here.  The standard magazine is no more or less reliable than the M14.  In fact, the M14 magazine was steel compared to aluminum.  But the customers have spoken.

The new addition to the AR-10 lineup is the AR-10A. The difference is instead of using the M14 based magazine the new rifle uses the standard AR-10 magazine making it compatible with several other manufacturers’ magazines including original 1950s vintage AR-10 magazines, Magpul, Knight’s Armament Company SR25 magazines and C-Products magazine.

Westrom decided to offer an additional family of weapons to his lineup; the AR-10A to separate it from the AR-10B, which takes the modified M14 magazine.  This required a new magazine well and a modified upper receiver.  The upper receiver had to have the magazine stop notches removed.  With the redesign of the magazine well the rifle would accept the 1950s original magazines, KAC SR-25 magazines, C-Product magazines and perhaps more importantly the new Magpul PMag L20 magazine.

The rest of the rifle remains the same.  The only new parts would be the upper receiver itself, bolt catch and the magazine catch.  For this article a prototype rifle was provided.  It was based on the AR-10A4.  The rifle has a fixed GI stock, flat top upper receiver, ArmaLite full length quad rail system (non free floating) and a 20-inch barrel with A2-style compensator.  There were a few gadgets added to the rifle including an ambidextrous selector lever, KAC front and rear back up sights and a Norgon ambidextrous magazine catch.  On the original rifles, the Norgon ambi-catch did not work.  If you depressed in from the left you would have to pull the magazine out.  It was not compatible with the M14 magazine. However, now with the standard magazine it works perfectly.  There is only one exception; it will not work with the 1950s magazines.  The geometry of the catch is not compatible with the original magazines though it works perfectly with all others.  The optic chosen was a Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 3.5-10x40mm M3 with illuminated reticle mounted on an A.R.M.S., Inc. high throw lever mount.

The original 1950s ‘waffle’ magazine (left) compared to the modified M14 magazine (right), which Westrom used in his AR-10 series introduced in 1995. The M14 magazine is durable and reliable but proprietary to ArmaLite rifles.

Fit and finish is what you would expect from ArmaLite.  Receivers were tight and flawless finish.  The rifle has the two stage match trigger in it and some Tangodown grip panels/rail protectors were added.  When at the range a Harris bipod was used mounted to an A.R.M.S., Inc. throw lever mount.  KAC magazines as well as C-Products and PMags were taken to the range to test for compatibility.

The ammunition for this test was provided by Silver State Armory (SSA).  SSA is known for manufacturing some of the highest quality duty and match ammunition in the industry at competitive pricing.  Silver State Armory just moved to a state-of-the-art facility in Packwood, WA where they have a 100 meter underground range and the facility meets United States Department of Defense requirements to manufacture military contract ammunition.  They manufacture their own brass.  All SSA ammunition is loaded with custom blends of powder geared towards the specific loading.  They offer several loadings in 5.56mm, 7.62mm NATO, 6.8SPC and .499 LWRC.  They are also one of the only ammunition manufacturers in the United States to manufacture armor piercing rifle ammunition in 5.56mm, 7.62mm NATO and 6.8SPC.

The right side of the AR-10A shows the forward bolt assist, fired cartridge case deflector, magazine release button boss, ambidextrous selector lever, Magpul PMag 20LR magazine and KAC rear back up iron sight. The scope is the standard U.S. military issue Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 3.5-10x40mm M3 Illuminate Reticle scope.

There were 400 rounds of Silver State Armory 7.62x51mm 147gr FMJ ammunition fired from a variety of PMag L20, KAC, C-Products and original 1950s waffle magazines.  There were no misfires or malfunctions encountered during testing.  The rifle’s bolt carrier group was lubricated with G96 CLP before firing but the weapon would not be cleaned through the entire test.  Accuracy testing was conducted with Silver State Armory 168 and 175 grain OTM ammunition as well as Hornady Superformance 175 grain OTM ammunition.  There were an additional 200 rounds fired in combination of these match loads.  The rifle averaged between 1 to 1.75 inches at 100 yards.  By margin the best target was 1 inch and that was with the Silver State Armory 168 grain Sierra open tip match ammunition.  This is a very respectable group for a semiautomatic rifle.  Even the ball ammunition was shot sub 2 MOA.

It is this author’s prediction that the AR10-A will take over ArmaLite’s production in the future.  As the new model gains more visibility its popularity will explode.  The AR-10A will be offered in all models.  I would expect more models to be introduced at the SHOT Show in 2013.  The AR-10A is not replacing the existing AR-10B family.  It is an additional family of rifles to the ArmaLite line-up.  It would also be probable if another ban was to commence the original AR-10B family with the modified M14 magazines would resurface dominantly so customers would still be able to have 20-round magazines.  Although it appears clearly the M14 magazine is a stronger and more durable magazine than the original magazine, the standard magazine is more common and offered by several companies.  Keep in mind the original magazines were made out of aluminum and meant to be disposable – not to be used over and over again like the steel M14 magazines.  Whichever way you go, you will not go wrong with any ArmaLite AR-10 family of weapons.

Close up of the markings on the AR-10A rifle. Notice the Norgon ambidextrous magazine catch installed by the author and the heavy texture on the bolt catch making it easy to actuate and grip.