An AR-15 style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the ArmaLite AR-15 design.

ArmaLite sold the patent and trademarks to Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1959. After
Colt's patents expired in 1977, Colt retained the trademark and is the exclusive owner of "AR-15"
designation.[1] The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act restricted the Colt
AR-15 and derivatives from 1994 to 2004, although it did not affect rifles with fewer features.[2][3]
After the term modern sporting rifles was coined in 2009 by the US National Shooting Sports
Foundation, a firearms industry trade association, it was quickly adopted by the trade association
and some manufacturers.[4][5] An expanded marketplace emerged with many manufacturers
producing their own version of the AR-15 design for commercial sale.
In the 2010s, AR-15 style rifles became one of the "most beloved and most vilified rifles" in the
United States, according to The New York Times.[6] The rifle has been promoted as "America's
rifle" by the National Rifle Association. Steadily increasing popularity in part is due to "the amount
of attention through politics and media that is devoted to banning or restricting AR pattern rifles".
[7][8][9][10]
 The rifles are controversial in part due to their use in mass shootings.

Contents

 1Terminology
 2Modularity
 3Comparison to military versions
 4Production and sales
 5Hunting
 6Cartridge variations
 7Use in crime and mass shootings
 8Partial list of models
 9Examples of AR-15 style rifles and carbines
 10See also
 11References
 12Bibliography

Terminology[edit]

1973 Colt AR-15 SP1 rifle with 'slab side' lower receiver (lacking raised boss around magazine release
button) and original Colt 20-round box magazine

In 1956, ArmaLite designed a lightweight selective fire rifle for military use and designated it

the ArmaLite Rifle model 15, or AR-15.[11][12] Due to financial problems and limitations in terms of
manpower and production capacity, ArmaLite sold the design and the AR-15 trademark along
with the ArmaLite AR-10 to Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1959.[13] In 1964, Colt began selling
its own version with an improved semi-automatic design known as the Colt AR-15.[14] After Colt's
patents expired in 1977, an active marketplace emerged for other manufacturers to produce and
sell their own semi-automatic AR-15 style rifles.[1] Some versions of the AR-15 were classified as
"assault weapons" and banned under the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use
Protection Act in 1994. This act expired in 2004.[2][15]
In 2009, the term "modern sporting rifle" was coined by the National Shooting Sports
Foundation for its survey that year as a marketing term used by the firearms industry to
describe modular semi-automatic rifles including AR-15s.[16][4][17][18] Today, nearly every major
firearm manufacturer produces its own generic AR-15 style rifle.[19][17] As Colt continues to own
and use the AR-15 trademark for its line of AR-15 variants, other manufacturers must use their
own model numbers and names to market their AR-15 style rifles for commercial sale.[20]

Modularity[edit]
While most earlier breech-loading rifles had a single receiver housing both the trigger and
reloading mechanism, an innovative feature of the AR-15 was modular construction to simplify
substitution of parts and avoid need for arsenal facilities for most repairs of malfunctioning
military rifles.[21] A distinctive two-part receiver is used by both military and sporting AR-15 style
rifles. As civilian ownership of AR-15 style rifles became sufficient to create a market for
improvements, numerous manufacturers began producing one or more "improved" modules,
assemblies, or parts with features not found on factory rifles; and individuals with average
mechanical aptitude can often substitute these pieces for original equipment. Due to the vast
assortment of aftermarket parts and accessories available, AR-15 style rifles have also been
referred to as "the Swiss Army knife of rifles,"[22] "Barbie Dolls for Guys,"[23][24] or "LEGOs" (sic) for
adults.[25][26][27] These more or less interchangeable modules are a defining characteristic of AR-15
style rifles.[28]

A stripped lower receiver, one that is lacking the additional parts included in a completed lower receiver, is
the only part of an AR-15 style rifle that needs to be transferred through a federally licensed firearms dealer
under United States federal law.[29]

The lower receiver is the serial-numbered part legally defined as the firearm under United States
law. However, this definition is currently questionable due to a 2019 court ruling that the AR-15
lower receiver does not match the legal definition in 27 CFR § 479.11.[30] A completed lower
receiver is visually distinguished by the trigger guard ahead of the detachable pistol grip, and
behind the magazine well capable of holding detachable magazines. The lower receiver holds
the trigger assembly including the hammer, and is the attachment point for the buttstock. The
lower receiver is attached to the upper receiver by two removable pins. Disassembly for cleaning
or repair of malfunctions often requires the removal of these pins. Removal of the rear take-down
pin allows the receiver to be opened by rotation around the forward pivot pin as a hinge.[21]
The upper receiver contains the bolt carrier assembly and is attached to
the barrel assembly. Sights will be attached to the upper receiver or the barrel assembly. A
handguard usually encloses the barrel and a gas-operated reloading device using burnt powder
gas vented from a hole (or port) in the barrel near the forward end of the handguard. The
handguard is attached to the upper receiver and may also be attached to the barrel.[21]
The initial design included a tube to vent burnt powder gas back into the bolt