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AR-15–style rifle

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"AR-15" redirects here. For other uses, see AR-15 (disambiguation).
AR-15 style rifles come in many sizes and have many options, depending on the manufacturer. The part shown bottom center is the lower receiver without the receiver extension, rear takedown pin, and buttstock.

An AR-15 style rifle is a semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. After Colt's patents expired in 1977,[1] an expanded marketplace emerged with many manufacturers producing their own version of the AR-15 design for commercial sale. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban restricted the Colt AR-15 and derivatives from 1994-2004, although it did not affect rifles with fewer feaures.[2][3] They are referred to as modern sporting rifles by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade association, and by some manufacturers.[4]

Since 2010, AR-15 style rifles have become one of the "most beloved and most vilified rifles" in the United States, according to the New York Times.[5] It has been promoted as "America's rifle" by the National Rifle Association. It has also been the weapon used in many of the largest mass shootings in the US.[5] There are an estimated 10-12 million in circulation in the United States.[5]

Terminology

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, a lightweight assault rifle was designed for military use by ArmaLite and designated the ArmaLite Rifle-15, or AR-15.[6] Due to financial problems, ArmaLite sold the design and the AR-15 trademark to Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1959.[7] In 1964, Colt began selling its own version with an improved semi-automatic design known as the Colt AR-15.[8] After Colt's patents expired in 1977, an active marketplace emerged for other manufacturers to produce and sell their own AR-15 style rifles.[1]

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.[9][10][11][12] Today, nearly every major firearm manufacturer produces its own generic AR-15 style rifle.[13][11] 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.[14]

Modules

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.[15] 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. These more or less interchangeable modules are a defining characteristic of AR-15 style modern sporting rifles.[16]

The lower receiver is the serial-numbered part legally defined as the firearm under United States law. The 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 removal of these pins. Removal of one pin allows the receiver to be opened by rotation around the other pin as a hinge.[15]

The upper receiver contains the bolt carrier assembly, and is attached to the barrel assembly. Sights will be attached to the upper receiver or to 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.[15]

The initial design included a tube to vent burnt powder gas back into the bolt carrier assembly where it expands in a variable volume chamber forcing the bolt open to eject the spent cartridge case. A buffer spring in the buttstock then pushes the bolt closed picking up a new cartridge from the magazine. This direct gas impingement (DGI) system has the disadvantage of venting unburned smokeless powder residue into the receiver where it may ultimately accumulate in quantities causing malfunctions. A more recent alternative design has a metal operating rod pushing against the bolt carrier from a gas piston under the handguard near the barrel port. This piston keeps the receiver cleaner by exhausting under the handguard.[17] While both the DGI and piston systems produce semi-automatic fire, an alternative unported barrel assembly includes a sliding handguard connected to a rod moving the bolt by a pump action and eliminating semi-automatic fire.[18]

Differences from military rifles

Military versions of the AR-15 included these features typical of military rifles of the late 20th century to assist soldiers firing many bullets in a short period of time as might be required in situations encountering large numbers of enemy combatants:

  • Automatic fire: The rifle continues to fire as long as the trigger is depressed until the magazine is empty.
  • Semi-automatic fire: The rifle fires one cartridge each time the trigger is depressed until the magazine is empty.
  • High-capacity magazine: Within size and weight limitations consistent with firearm handling, the magazine holds as many cartridges as will reliably load.
  • Detachable magazines: Firing delay required to reload the magazine may be avoided by removing the empty magazine and inserting a pre-loaded magazine.[15]

There is debate about whether such rapid-fire features are appropriate for situations encountered by police and civilian users. The automatic fire option has been eliminated from all AR-15 style sporting rifles. Some AR-15-style sporting rifles are fitted with reduced-capacity magazines, and some have features limiting use of detachable magazines.[19][20] A few versions are incapable of semi-automatic fire.[18][21]

Sales

A custom built AR-15 style rifle with an ACOG sight.

The first version produced for commercial sale by Colt was the AR-15 Sporter, in .223 Remington, with a 20 inch barrel and issued with 5-round magazines.[8] Initial sales of the Colt AR-15 were slow, primarily due to its fixed sights and carry handle that made mounting a scope difficult and awkward to use.[22]

In the 1990s, sales of AR-15 style rifles increased dramatically.[22] Partly as a result of the introduction of the flat top upper receiver allowing scopes and sighting devices to be easily mounted and new features such as free floating hand guards that increased accuracy.[22] While only a handful of companies were manufacturing these rifles in 1994, by the 21st century the number of AR-15 style rifles had more than doubled.[23] From 2000 to 2015, the number of manufacturers of AR-15 style variants and knock-offs increased from 29 to about 500.[24]

Variations and modularity

Today, AR-15 style rifles are available in a wide range of configurations and calibers from a large number of manufacturers. These configurations range from standard full-sizes rifles with 20 inch barrels, to short carbine-length models with 16 inch barrels, adjustable length stocks and optical sights, to long range target models with 24 inch barrels, bipods and high-powered scopes. These rifles may also have short-stroke gas piston system, forgoing the direct gas system standard in the original AR-15 design. These calibers include the 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.7×28mm, 6.8mm Remington SPC,.300 Blackout, 9×19mm Parabellum and .458 SOCOM to name a few.[25][26]

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",[27] "Barbie Dolls for Guys"[28][29][30] or "LEGOs" for adults.[31][32][33]

Cartridge variations

Since the upper and lower receivers may be swapped between rifles, forensic firearm examination of bullets and spent cartridges may reveal distinguishing marks from the barrel and upper receiver group without identifying the lower receiver for which legal records may be available.[34] An individual may use several upper receiver groups with the same lower receiver. These upper receiver groups may have differing barrel lengths and sights, and may fire different cartridges. A hunter with a single lower receiver might have one upper receiver with a .223 Remington barrel and telescopic sight for varmint hunting in open country and another upper receiver with a .458 SOCOM barrel and iron sights for big-game hunting in brushy woodland. The dimensions of upper and lower receivers originally designed for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge impose an overall length limit and diameter limits when adapting modules for other cartridges. The same magazine in the lower receiver group may hold differing numbers of different cartridges.[17]

Use in mass shootings

Following the use of a Colt AR-15 rifle in the Port Arthur massacre, the worst single-person shooting incident in Australian history, the country enacted the National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996, restricting the private ownership of "high capacity" semi-automatic rifles (Category D[35]) in that country.[36][37][38]

AR-15 variants have been used in mass shootings in the United States,[5] including the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, 2012 Aurora shooting, 2015 San Bernardino attack,[5] the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting,[39] the 2017 Las Vegas shooting,[39] and the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.[40] The 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, in which a SIG MCX rifle was one of the weapons used by the perpetrator, is considered a mass shooting involving an AR-15 style rifle in the context of reporting on mass shootings involving AR-15 style rifles by major news organizations including newspapers The New York Times,[41] The Washington Post,[42] the Los Angeles Times,[43] and USA Today,[39] Time[44][45] The Atlantic[46] and Fortune[47] magazines, CNN,[48] NBC News,[49] and CBS News[50] However, AR-15 style rifles are used in a low percentage firearms homicides in the U.S. overall,[51] which are dominated by handguns rather than rifles.[52][53]

Religion

The AR-15 style rifle has been identified by Hyung Jin Moon with the "rod of iron" in Revelation 2:27, and has been used in his splinter group's version of the Unification Church mass wedding ceremony.[54][55]

List of models

Barrett REC7
Ruger SR-556
SIG Sauer SIG516
Smith & Wesson M&P15

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jeff Zimba. The Evolution of the Black Rifle: 20 Years of Upgrades, Options, and Accessories.
  2. ^ Plumer, Brad (2012-12-17). "Everything you need to know about the assault weapons ban, in one post". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  3. ^ "Guns Like The AR-15 Were Never Fully Banned". FiveThirtyEight. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  4. ^ "Modern Sporting Rifle Facts". National Shooting Sports Foundation. 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e Feuer, Alan (13 June 2016). "AR-15 Rifles Are Beloved, Reviled and a Common Element in Mass Shootings". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  6. ^ "ArmaLite History: 1955-1959". Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  7. ^ Bartocci, Christopher R. (July 16, 2012). "AR-15/M16: The Rifle That Was Never Supposed to Be". Gun Digest. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Bob Hutton & Bob Forker (October 1964). "A Beautiful Marriage: .223 Remington and Colt's AR-15 'Sporter'". Guns & Ammo.
  9. ^ "Modern Sporting Rifle Owners Are Most Active Shooters, Says NSSF/Responsive Management Survey". National Shooting Sports Foundation. 2010-04-19. Archived from the original on 2010-04-25. Retrieved 2018-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Peters, Justin (2016-06-14). "Omar Mateen Had a "Modern Sporting Rifle"". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  11. ^ a b "DPMS Founder and President Retires". The Outdoor Wire Digital Network. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2013. Luth's quest to introduce the hunting market to the AR platform was recognized in January 2009 when he was named to the Outdoor Life's OL-25, and later chosen by online voters as the OL-25 "Reader's Choice" recipient. The recent campaign by the NSSF to educate hunters everywhere about the "modern sporting rifle" can be directly attributed to Luth's push to make AR rifles acceptable firearms in the field, the woods and on the range.
  12. ^ "Modern Sporting Rifle - AR-15 platform-based rifles". NSSF. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  13. ^ Richardson, Reed (July 12, 2016). "American Rifle: A Biography of the AR-15". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved March 28, 2017. Fueled by this "Obama effect" — his reelection in 2012 coincided with the best month for gun sales in decades — every mainline gun manufacturer now sells an AR-15 model.
  14. ^ "AR-15 - Trademark Details". JUSTIA Trademarks. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  15. ^ a b c d Colt (January 1980). M16A1 RIFLE. Hartford, Connecticut: Colt's Manufacturing Company.
  16. ^ "Modern Sporting Rifle". National Shooting Sports Foundation. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  17. ^ a b Popenker, Maxim. "Ar-15-type rifles". Modern Firearms. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  18. ^ a b Horman, B. GIl. "Review: Troy 223 National Sporting Pump-Action Rifle". American Rifleman. Retrieved 27 February 2018. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "AR-15 COMPMAG". COMPMAG. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  20. ^ LaPedis, Ron. "How to make your AR great again – in California". PoliceOne. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  21. ^ "ComGraf Pump Action Rifle". TREND EDITOR. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  22. ^ a b c Mann, Richard A. (30 April 2014). GunDigest Shooter's Guide to the AR-15. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-1-4402-3847-5.
  23. ^ Sweeney, Patrick (30 August 2016). Gunsmithing the AR-15, the Bench Manual. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media, Inc. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-1-4402-4660-9.
  24. ^ O’Dea, Meghan (June 13, 2016). "What Makes the AR-15 So Appealing to Mass Shooters?". Fortune. Retrieved February 15, 2018. While Colt alone makes the official AR-15, variants and knock-offs are made by a huge number of gun manufactures, including Bushmaster, Les Baer, Remington, Smith & Wesson (swhc, +0.00%), and Sturm & Ruger (rgr, -2.04%), just to name a few. TacticalRetailer claims that from 2000 to 2015 the AR manufacturing sector expanded from 29 AR makers to about 500, "a stunning 1,700% increase."
  25. ^ U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition Failures and Solutions, GK Roberts, NDIA Dallas, TX, May 21, 2008 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ Evolution of an AR | Gear | Guns & Ammo Archived September 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Archives.gunsandammo.com (August 29, 2011). Retrieved on 2011-09-27.
  27. ^ Patrick Sweeney ARS Across the Board Archived 2011-08-19 at the Wayback Machine. GUNS&AMMO November 2010
  28. ^ "Chicago Tribune: Why Assault Rifle Sales are Booming - The Truth About Guns". June 17, 2015.
  29. ^ Levings, Darryl (February 2, 2013). "AR-15 rifle more loved — and hated — than ever - Amid the rising call for the rifle to be banned, sales of the "Barbie doll for guys" have soared". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  30. ^ Kyle, Chris (2014). American Gun. William Morrow Paperbacks. p. 252. ISBN 0062242725.
  31. ^ Stokes, Jon. "The AR-15 Is More Than a Gun. It's a Gadget". WIRED. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  32. ^ "Fifteen of the Best Cheap AR Accessories". The Shooter's Log. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  33. ^ "Lego Kits for Adults". AR Blog. 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  34. ^ Davis, Ann L. "How can a bullet be traced to a particular gun?". Scientific American. Retrieved 27 February 2018. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ Oakes, Dan (2013-01-23). "Assault guns made here". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  36. ^ "Firearms in Australia: a guide to electronic resources". aph.gov.au. Commonwealth of Australia. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  37. ^ "How Australia Passed Gun Control: The Port Arthur Massacre and Beyond". Foreign Affairs. October 13, 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  38. ^ Wahlquist, Calla (14 March 2016). "It took one massacre: how Australia embraced gun control after Port Arthur". The Guardian.
  39. ^ a b c "Why the AR-15 keeps appearing at America's deadliest mass shootings". USA Today. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  40. ^ Shapiro, Emily (February 14, 2018). "At least 17 dead in 'horrific' Florida school shooting, suspect had 'countless magazines'". ABC News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  41. ^ Oppel Jr., Richard A. (February 15, 2018). "In Florida, an AR-15 Is Easier to Buy Than a Handgun". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2018. Among the six deadliest mass shootings in the last six years, the only one not carried out with an AR-15 style rifle was the Orlando nightclub attack two years ago that left 49 dead. The gunman, Omar Mateen, had a Sig Sauer MCX semiautomatic rifle, which shares features with the AR-15, though it functions via a different semiautomatic design — and is just as deadly. All of these military-style semiautomatic weapons have something else in common. They have been heavily marketed as home-defense and marksmanship weapons, and their sales have been a major driver of profits for gun manufacturers over the past two decades.
  42. ^ Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (June 14, 2016). "The gun the Orlando shooter used was a SIG Sauer MCX, not an AR-15. That doesn't change much". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 23, 2018. On Monday night, officials clarified that the rifle Omar Mateen used in the shooting was not an AR-15, but a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. While aesthetically similar to and just as lethal as an AR-15, the MCX is internally a different beast, thus all but removing it from the AR-15 family of rifles. Yet while the weapon is different, the MCX and the AR-15 share the same design purpose: providing a highly portable, customizable, easy to operate and accurate rifle for the individual who possesses it. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  43. ^ Pearce, Matt (February 14, 2018). "Mass shootings are getting deadlier. And the latest ones all have something new in common: The AR-15". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 23, 2018. The nation's mass-shooting problem seems to be getting worse. And the latest, most serious shootings all seem to have one new thing in common: the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle...in all of the latest incidents — Newtown, Conn., in 2012; San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015; Orlando, Fla., in 2016; Las Vegas, 2017; Sutherland Springs, Texas, 2017 — the attackers primarily used AR-15 semiautomatic rifles.
  44. ^ Jenkins, Aric (February 15, 2018). "Many Mass Shootings in America Have 1 Thing in Common: AR-15 Rifles". Time. Retrieved March 1, 2018. Six of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. over the past decade have used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle...Up until that point, the country's deadliest mass shooting had occurred just a year prior at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where the perpetrator used an SIG MCX semi-automatic rifle — highly similar to AR-15s in aesthetic and purpose — to kill 49 people. Comparable weapons were also used at Sandy Hook Elementary School (27 dead) and a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church (25 dead).
  45. ^ Drabold, Will; Fitzpatrick, Alex (February 20, 2018). "The Florida School Shooter Used An AR-15 Rifle. Here's What to Know About the Gun". Time. Retrieved March 1, 2018. AR-15-style rifles have been used in recent mass shootings at in Aurora, Colo.; Santa Monica and San Bernardino, Calif.; Orlando, Florida and now Parkland.
  46. ^ Fallows, James (November 7, 2017). "Why the AR-15 Is So Lethal "The little bullet pays off in wound ballistics."". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 15, 2018. Americans who know nothing else about firearms are all too familiar with the name AR-15. It's the semi-automatic weapon that murderers have used in many of the most notorious and highest-casualty gun killings of recent years: Aurora, Colorado. Newtown, Connecticut. Orlando, Florida. San Bernardino, California. Now, with modified versions, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sutherland Springs, Texas.
  47. ^ O’Dea, Meghan (June 13, 2016). "What Makes the AR-15 So Appealing to Mass Shooters?". Fortune. Retrieved February 15, 2018. What do James Holmes, Adam Lanza, and Omar Mateen have in common? Besides being the perpetrators of three of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, they all share a preference for the AR-15 assault rifle. The AR-15 assault rifle was used at the Aurora, Colo. shooting, the Newtown, Conn. shooting, and now the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla. that killed 50 and is officially the deadliest such massacre in U.S. history...While Colt alone makes the official AR-15, variants and knock-offs are made by a huge number of gun manufactures, including Bushmaster, Les Baer, Remington, Smith & Wesson (swhc, +0.00%), and Sturm & Ruger (rgr, -2.04%), just to name a few. TacticalRetailer claims that from 2000 to 2015 the AR manufacturing sector expanded from 29 AR makers to about 500, "a stunning 1,700% increase."
  48. ^ Smith, Aaron (June 21, 2016). "Why the AR-15 is the mass shooter's go-to weapon". CNN. Retrieved February 15, 2018. The AR-15, the type of rifle used in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, is the weapon of choice for mass killers. Omar Mateen used a Sig Sauer AR-15 rifle, and also a Glock handgun, in his murder of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday, according to the FBI. He shot more than 100 people, including survivors, before he was gunned down by police. UPDATE: After this story was published, officials specified that the guns used in the Orlando shooting were a Sig Sauer MCX assault-style rifle, which uses standard AR-15 magazines and ammunition, and a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol. The AR-15, which has been used by the U.S. military in every war since Vietnam, has also served as a murder weapon in some of the most horrific mass shootings. AR-15s were used to kill and maim crowds of innocent people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut; a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; and a workplace party in San Bernardino, California.
  49. ^ Siemaszko, Corky (June 15, 2016). "AR-15 Style Rifle Used in Orlando Massacre Has Bloody Pedigree". NBC News. Retrieved February 23, 2018. It was used to slaughter first graders at Sandy Hook, murder Batman fans at Colorado movie theater, kill county workers at a holiday party in San Bernardino. Now a descendant of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle — a Sig Sauer MCX — has the dubious distinction of being the weapon of choice for a homosexual-hating gunman named Omar Mateen who is being blamed for the worst single-day mass shooting in U.S. history.
  50. ^ Picchi, Aimee (June 15, 2016). "America's rifle: The marketing of assault-style weapons". CBS MoneyWatch. CBS News. Retrieved February 23, 2018. America has grown accustomed to military-style semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15. It's not hard to see why: These firearms have been heavily marketed to gun owners. But at the same time, they're often the weapons of choice for mass murderers. In an all-too familiar pattern, Omar Mateen, the gunman in the Orlando nightclub massacre, used one of these weapons, Sig Sauer's MCX (a version of the AR-15 rifle), in his deadly attack on Sunday. The AR-15 has grown so popular that the pro-gun lobby National Rifle Association has termed it "America's rifle." The AR-15 and its variants have been used in a number of mass shootings, ranging from the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school tragedy to the San Bernardino, California, attack in December.
  51. ^ "In Many U.S. States, 18 Is Old Enough to Buy a Semiautomatic". CBS News. The Associated Press. February 16, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018. On average, more than 13,000 people are killed each year in the United States by guns, and most of those incidents involve handguns while a tiny fraction involve an AR-style firearm. Still, the AR plays an oversized role in many of the most high-profile shootings...
  52. ^ Balko, Radley (2013-07-09). Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610392129.
  53. ^ "Expanded Homicide Data Table 4". FBI. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  54. ^ "AR-15s Are Biblical 'Rod Of Iron' At Pennsylvania Church". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  55. ^ "Guns and religion mix as Pa. church blesses couples toting AR-15s - Philly". Philly.com. Retrieved 2018-03-01.

Bibliography

  • Stevens, R. Blake and Edward C. Ezell. The Black Rifle M16 Retrospective. Enhanced second printing. Cobourg, Ontario, Canada: Collector Grade Publications Incorporated, 1994. ISBN 0-88935-115-5.
  • Bartocci, Christopher R. Black Rifle II The M16 Into the 21st Century. Cobourg, Ontario, Canada: Collector Grade Publications Incorporated, 2004. ISBN 0-88935-348-4.
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