The AR-15 rifle was originally developed by Armalite as an offshoot of the AR-10 rifle designed by Eugene Stoner. How that second-thought rifle became the US standard military rifle - and the longest-serving infantry rifle in US military history - is a winding story. From Armalite's sale fo the design to Colt to sales trips to India and the Philippines to an Air Force general's birthday party, we will follow that story today. We will focus on the Colt Model 601; that company's first export-model AR rifle, and how it changed as it was adopted by the US Air Force and then the US Army.

Many thanks to Movie Armaments Group in Toronto for the opportunity to showcase these early AR15s for you!