Semiauto Portuguese AR-10 on a Sendra Receiver
Forgotten Weapons
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12m
So, you would like to get an original AR-10 rifle to shoot? Well, the original Armalite AR10 rifles were almost all manufactured by Artillerie-Inrichtingen in the Netherlands, and they were virtually all machine guns. They were made circa 1960-1961, and only a few contracts were made -Cuba, Guatelmala, Suban, and most notable, Portugal. The Portuguese really liked the AR10 and were planning to adopt it for their whole military, but international pressure for their activity in Angola led to the Netherlands cutting off arms sales, and Portugal only had enough AR10 rifles for its airborne units.
After many years of hard use, these were ultimately replaced by newer weapons, and the surplus guns were found by American importers. In the 1980s, these came into the US as parts kits, which led to a hunt for compatible lower receivers on which to build them. Several small companies made receivers of varying quality before Jerry Drasen and the Sendra company (note the anagram) invested the money to produce a high quality forged and milled 7075 aluminum AR10 receiver, compatible with both Guatemalan and Portuguese pattern rifles. These became the most common and the best regarded AR10 receivers, and that’s what was used to build this particular rifle. This one also has replacement wood furniture, as the original brown Bakelite was relatively fragile.
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