The Original Retro AR-10: Armalite's AR10B
Forgotten Weapons
•
12m
In 1994, a man named Mark Westrom, owner of Eagle Arms, purchased the husk of the Armalite corporation, and acquired its trademarks. Westrom wanted to create a new commercial .308 AR pattern rifle, and did so under the Armalite AR-10 name. He developed an AR-10 which borrowed some elements from the AR-15, and introduced it in 1996 with pretty reasonable success. In addition to versions with Picatinny rails and AR-15 style charging handles, he also had a retro version with the top-mounted charging handle so iconic form the original AR-10s.
One substantial change to the pattern was the use of modified M14 magazines in the new Armalite AR-10B rifles. This was done because of the Assault Weapon Ban that had gone into effect in 1994, which prohibited manufacture of magazines holding more than 10 rounds. There were no cheap .308 AR magazines available at that time (no MagPul yet…), and modifying ubiquitous M14 magazines was the best option available - so that’s what was done.
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Swiss 1897 Schmidt-Rubin Kadettengewe...
The Swiss replaced their Vetterli rifles in the late 1880s with the new Schmidt-Rubin pattern, and this eventually trickled down to the cadet corps. These youth programs had been using short single-shot 1870 Vetterli carbines, but as those became obsolete and in need of replacement, the 1897 Kade...
-
Swiss Reibel M31 Tank & Fortress Mach...
The Reibel Modele M31 was the variation of the French Chatellerault M24/29 light machine gun made for use in vehicles and fortifications. In accordance with that role, it lacked a buttstock or sights (these were integrated into the vehicle or fortress mounts), was fitted with a very heavy barrel ...
-
South African Galils: The R4, R5, R6,...
When South Africa decided to replace the R1 rifle (a metric FAL), they chose to adopt the Israeli Galil. Both nations had similar environmental issues with blowing sand (in northwestern South Africa particularly), and Israel was one of the few nations willing to trade arms with South Africa in th...
