The Armalite AR-18.

ArmaLite, originally the ArmaLite Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, is one of the most influential corporations in the history of 20th century small arms. Established October 1, 1954, ArmaLite is responsible for many of the infantry weapons in service worldwide today, including the M16 and M4 assault rifles. Image File history File links AR-18. ... Image File history File links AR-18. ... The AR-18 is an assault rifle chambered for 5. ... 1944 Fairchild Argus III Fairchild was an aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York, Hagerstown, Maryland and San Antonio, Texas. ... The term small arms describes any weapon that a person can easily transport and fire. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, bicycles, or other means. ... M16 (more formally United States Rifle, Caliber 5. ... The M4 Carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 made by ArmaLite. ...

ArmaLite is currently located in Geneseo, Illinois. Geneseo is a city located in Henry County, Illinois. ...

History

ArmaLite's first success came shortly after it was founded with the introduction of the AR-5, a survival rifle chambered for the .22 Hornet cartridge. The AR-5 was adopted by the U.S. Air Force as the MA-1 Survival Rifle. This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... The . ... Seal of the Air Force. ... ArmaLite, originally the ArmaLite Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, is one of the most influential corporations in the history of 20th century small arms. ...

A civilian survival weapon, the AR-7, was chambered in .22 Long Rifle. The semi-automatic AR-7 was noteworthy in that it could be disassembled, and the components stored in the buttstock. Primarily made of alloys, the AR-7 would float, whether assembled or stored, due to the design of the buttstock, which was filled with plastic foam. The AR-7 and derivative models have been produced by several companies since introduction in the late 1950s, currently by Henry Repeating Arms, of Brooklyn, NY, and the rifle is still popular today. The ArmaLite AR-7, designed by Eugene Stoner, is the civilian-commercial version of a rifle adopted by the US Air Force as a pilot and aircrew survival weapon. ... The . ... Henry is the king of the levergun world. ...

In 1954 Eugene Stoner became Chief Engineer at ArmaLite. Stoner was a Marine in World War II and an expert with small arms. His design for the AR-10 assault rifle was entered into the U.S. Army trials in 1955 as a possible replacement to the venerable yet outdated M1 Garand. It met stiff competition as it was pitted against the Springfield Armory T-44, an updated M1 Garand design that became the M14, and the T-48, a version of the famous Belgian FN FAL rifle. The AR-10 lost the trials to the T-44, largely due to the AR-10's unorthodox appearance and configuration. The T-48/FAL also lost, leading to the belief that Army Ordnance had selected the T-44 ahead of time. Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mikhail Kalashnikov (holding an M16A2) and Eugene Stoner, designer of M16 (holding an AK-47) Eugene Morrison Stoner (November 22, 1922 – April 24, 1997) is the man most associated with the design of the AR-15, which was adopted by the military as the M16. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The AR-10 is classed as an automatic rifle which fires 7. ... The AK-47 is the worlds most common assault rifle. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The M1 Garand (more formally the United States Rifle, Caliber . ... This is an article about the US Government Arsenal. ... The M14 rifle (more formally the United States Rifle, Caliber 7. ... The Fusil Automatique Leger, or Light Automatic Rifle (LAR). ...

The famous AR-15 rifle was developed as a subcaliber version of the AR-10 and intended as a replacement for the .30-caliber M1 Carbine, then used by officers, aircrews, vehicle crews and others for whom the full-power rifle was not appropriate. Both designs were licensed to Colt in early 1959. (For more information on the AR-15 see the M16 article.) The AR-15 is a lightweight, air-cooled, magazine-fed, autoloading, centerfire rifle. ... The M1 Carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber . ... Rampant Colt - The original logo of Colts Firearms Colts Manufacturing Company was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1847 by Samuel Colt in order to produce revolvers, which Colt held the patent on, during the Mexican-American War. ... M16 (more formally United States Rifle, Caliber 5. ...

With both the AR-10 and AR-15 designs sold to Colt, ArmaLite was left without a viable product. So, in 1963, development began on the AR-18 assault rifle, an "improved" AR-15 with a new gas system that did not violate the Colt held patents. The AR-18 is an excellent rifle, but it did not gain any military support. It is most famous for being adopted by the IRA in Ireland, who dubbed the rifle "The Widowmaker". The AR-18 mechanism did serve as the basis for the current British small arms family, the SA80, which came from the XL65 which is essentially an AR-18 in bullpup configuration. Other designs, such as the Singapore SAR-80 and German G36, are based upon the AR-18. The AR-18 is an assault rifle chambered for 5. ... The IRA (Irish Republican Army) is a name used to describe several paramilitary movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries. ... SA80 (Small Arms for the 1980s) is a family of related arms that include the British Armed Forcess standard combat rifle. ... The L64 was a British assault rifle developed in the 1970s. ... The Steyr AUG is one of the most successful bullpup rifles Bullpup is a firearm configuration in which the action (or mechanism) and magazine are located behind the trigger. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The G36 (company designation, Bundeswehr designation Gewehr G36) is an assault rifle designed in the early 1990s and manufactured in Germany by Heckler & Koch. ...

ArmaLite has changed hands a number of times throughout its history and most recently was reorganized in 1995. Today, ArmaLite produces a number of AR-15 and AR-10 based rifles, as well as .50 BMG rifles (the AR-50) .50 BMG rounds and 20MM Vulcan round, with a golf ball and a stick of RAM posed to provide scale. ... The ArmaLite AR-50 is an innovative, single shot bolt action rifle bearing a unique octagonal receiver bedded into an aluminum stock. ...

Armalite recently joined Springfield, Inc. in opposing Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed assault weapons ban for Illinois. In 1974, the Springfield Armory brand name was purchased by Robert Reese, who formed a new company to manufacture M1A rifles. ... Milorad Blagojevich, commonly known as Rod R. Blagojevich (pronounced IPA:  , born December 10, 1956) is an American politician from the state of Illinois. ... The Federal Assault Weapons Ban, or AWB, is a provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law of the United States that includes a prohibition on the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons manufactured after the date of the bans enactment. ...

Armalite has also announced that they are introducing a handgun line including the AR-24 and AR-26

See also

• List of modern armament manufacturers
• Armalite and ballot box strategy

The following list of modern armament manufacturers presents major companies producing modern weapons and munitions. ... The armalite and the ballot box strategy was pursued by the Irish Republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, a strategy where elections in Northern Ireland and the Republic were contested by Sinn Féin, while the IRA continued to pursue a paramilitary struggle against the British army, the...

References

• McElrath, Daniel T.. "Golden Days At ArmaLite", American Rifleman, National Rifle Association of America, December 10, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-10-20. (in English) 

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official site
• Armalite history