What Is An AR-10 Rifle?

Originally built for use by the armed forces the AR-10 has a varied and storied history. The 1956 version of the Ar-10 featured a straight line stock design and weighed 6.85 pounds when empty about a pound less than other infantry rifles at the time.

The AR-10 had an aluminum/steel barrel that had not been tried before and that burst when being being tested by the Springfield Armory in 1957 causing it to be rejected by the armed forces.

That same year a rush odor was placed to complete 50 AR-10s for demonstration, but the rush to complete the rifles resulted in mistakes in assembly. There have been other early problems in production of this rifle.

In the end there were 3 variations of this rifle made these variations include Sudanese, Transitional, and Portuguese. In the end the AR-10 were used by different military armies around the world, but less 10,000 of these rifles were made.

While this rifle was not hugely successfully it has been credited with being the predecessor of the AR-15 (civilian rifle) and the M15 (military rifle).

While many of the AR-10s were destroyed or dismantled some were shipped to the US and Canada and other countries for civilian use. These rifles became favorites of collectors who purchased as many of the surplus military AR 10s as possible.

Armalite itself had many financial problems resulting it its being sold many times, eventually in the early 1990s Eagle Arms purchased the Armalite name and began making a new version of the AR-10, known as the AR-10B. This rifle was designed for civilian and law enforcement use and unlike the original AR-10, The AR-10B only comes in a semi-automatic version.

The AR-10B is simply a improved version of the AR-10 although it does come in 4 basic versions, three of which resemble the M16A2s. The new AR-10Bs have a 20 inch barrel and are 40 inches long in total. It is only semi-automatic instead of fully automatic like the original AR 10s. The AR-10B ranges in price from $800.00 to $2000 depending on the variations and any customizing that has been done to meet individual demands.

The AR-10B is simply a improved version of the AR-10 although it does come in 4 basic versions, three of which resemble the M16A2s. The new AR-10Bs have a 20 inch barrel and are 40 inches long in total. It is only semi-automatic instead of fully automatic like the original AR 10s. The AR-10B ranges in price from $800.00 to $2000 depending on the variations and any customizing that has been done to meet individual demands.

The range of the rifle is 1800 feet.

While the AR-10 regardless of which version you talk about is not the most popular rifle to own, there are people who like this rifle both in the original version and the newer AR-10B version and either own or want to own one of these rifles.