For nearly seven decades, the original maker of Eugene Stoner’s famed rifle remains among the best gun manufacturers in the United States.

by Dean Meier

The AR-15 and derivatives might be among the most famous rifles, made so by its genuinely effective design equally admired by precision Service Rifle and action shooters alike – and also in part by prohibitionists that have never handled one. As you might expect, its history is similar to many great designs and it well combines simplicity, function, and utility.

Here’s the complete history of how this rifle and all the designs from ArmaLite came to be.

Starting back in 1924…

Read more in the September 2021 issue.

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