Armalite AR-18

The AR-18 rifle had been developed by the Armalite company (USA) by the George Sullivan, Arthur Millerand Charles Dorchester in the early 1960s. This rifle was designed for the international military market as a replacement for the AR-15 project, which had been sold to the Colt in 1959 by the Armalite's parent company, Fairchild Aircraft and Engine Corp. The AR-18 was designed as a competitor to the AR-15, which could be made at much less expenses and on simplified machinery, with the view to sell the manufacturing licenses for AR-18 to the third world countries. The AR-18 was a really successful design from a technical standpoint, but it come out too late to compete with both officially accepted and adopted AR-15/M16 rifle of American origin and already widespread AK-47 rifle of the Soviet origin. The Armalite company by itself made very few specimens of this rifle.The manufacturing license was consequently sold to the British company Sterling Armaments Co and to the Japanese company Howa Machinery co, but all three companies produced hardly over 20 000 rifles total, and the production of the AR-18 was ceased circa 1979 for some 20 years. It was originally available in the military AR-18 (selective fire) and AR-18S (selective fire, with short barrel) versions,and in AR-180 semi-automatic only version. But in the year 2001 the Armalite company resurrected the AR-180 design, in somewhat modified form. New rifle,intended mostly for the civilian and law enforcement markets, featured the same AR-18 layout and action, but discarded the stamped steel lower receiver and replaced it with the plastic lower, with AR-15-compatible magazine housing and AR-15-type trigger unit, which allowed for wider spare parts availability. The original folding buttstock and flash suppressor are replaced with the plastic fixed buttstock of the same shape and the muzzle recoil compensator, to comply with the current US firearms laws. The price of AR-180B is slightly lower than of the similar basic AR-15 type rifle, and the available user reports aboutAR-180B are generally quite positive.

Original AR-18 assault rifle, made by the Sterling Armaments of UK

The most interesting point about the AR-18 is that, while being a commercial failure, it served as a platform for some further development, which took place in various countries. First, the AR-18 design obviously served as a starting point for the ill-fated British SA80/ L85 bull-pup assault rifle, which can be loosely described as a bullpup-ed and weakened AR-18. Second, the AR-18 served as a starting point for the Singapore SAR-80 assault rifle, designed by the Chartered Industries of Singapore with the help of the George Sullivan (who designed the AR-18 itself). And third, the relatively new German Heckler - Koch G-36 assault rifle bears a lot of similarity internally to the AR-18.

Schematic view of the AR-18 (from the original Armalite patent, issued in 1968)

The AR-18 is a gas operated, magazine fed, air cooling selective fire rifle.The gas action features a short piston stroke, rotating bolt locking mechanism.The gas chamber and piston are located above the barrel, and the piston has the cupped head and its own return spring. The square-shaped bolt carrier is mounted inside the receiver on two guide rods, with each rod carrying its own return spring. Both rods are linked by the special end plates so the whole bolt / bolt carrier / return springs / guide rods assembly can be removed from the rifle as a single unit, which greatly simplifies the field maintenance. The rotating bolt is somewhat similar in construction to the AR-15 bolt, and is rotated by the bolt pin, which is engaged in the curved cam track, cut in the bolt carrier. The charging handle is fixed to the right side of the bolt carrier and reciprocates when gun is fired.

The "reincarnated" AR-180B of recent manufacture. Semi-automatic only and with plastic lower receiver with integral pistol grip

The receiver is made from stamped sheet steel and consists of two parts - upper and lower. Both halves of the receiver are hinged one to another at the front of the receiver. The upper and lower parts are interlocked by the rear ends of the bolt carrier guide rods. AR-18 is field stripped by pressing the guide rods forward by the special lever at the rear of the receiver, then by the folding the lower receiver down and forward.

The controls consist of the trigger, safety - fire mode selector at the left side of the receiver (similar to one found on AR-15 / M16 type rifles), and the bolt stop. The available fire modes are single shots and full auto, or only single shots in AR-180 and AR-180B.

The forearm, the pistol grip and the buttstock are made from black plastic. The buttstock folds to the side to save the space,if required, and AR-15 can be fired with butt folded. The sling attachment points are located on the barrel, just ahead of the forearm, and at the butt of the pistol grip, so the sling position is not affected by the position of the foldable buttstock.

The sights consist of the hooded front post and the"L"-shaped flip-up diopter rear, also protected from sides by large"dog ears". Each AR-18 also was fitted with the scope mount at the top of the receiver by standard.

Caliber: 5.56x45 mm (.223 Remington M193)
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 940 mm (738 mm with folded stock)
Barrel length: 464 mm
Weight: 3.09 kg with empty 20 rounds magazine
Magazine capacity: 20, 30 or 40 rounds

Armalite AR10

The AR-10 rifle, designed by the Eugene Stoner at the Armalite division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp, seen no significant success at the time it had been introduced, but it still had some historical significance since the AR-10 served as a basis for the further development of the much more successful AR-15/ M16 series rifles. Basically, earliest AR-15 prototypes were no more than a scaled-down AR-10. The AR-10 was intended for the US Army trials for a new battle rifle, to replace the venerable M1 Garand. AR-10, with the first prototype built in 1955, came too late for these trials,and was too unconventional for conservative minds in the US Army, and consequently lost the trials to the T44 rifle, which was adopted in the 1957 as the M14. The AR-10 was ready for mass production by the 1960, but very few were made in USA. A manufacturing license had been sold to the Dutch company Artillerie Inrichtingen. Only Sudan and the Portugal apparently bought some AR-10 rifles for their military, and the production of the AR-10 had been ceased in the early or mid-1960s, with only about 10 000 military AR-10 being ever made.

  The original AR-10 of the late 1950s. Note the three-prong flash hider and a bayonet lug under the barrel

Some two or three decades later, the reorganized Armalite company brought the modified AR-10 rifle back to civilian and police markets. Unlike the original AR-10, the new AR-10B is a semi-automatic only rifle, and it is available in four basic versions. The AR-10B itself is more or less a copy of the original AR-10, with the similar brown plastic furniture and short buttstock, and with the trigger-like charging handle under the carrying handle. The other three models look more like the scaled up M16A2 derivatives, with the same A2-style furniture, sights, and M16-type charging handles. The AR-10A2 has all the A2 furniture and options, while the AR-10A4 has the "flat-top" style receiver with the Picatinny rail instead of the carrying handle. The AR-10(T) is a target grade rifle, with match barrel and trigger and A4-type flat-top receiver.

AR-10A2 is, basically, an upscale AR-15A2 rifle, chambered for the .308Winchester (7.62x51mm) cartridge. Note that the charging handle is above the buttstock, as on AR-15 / M16 rifles. The furniture is similar to the M16A2 rifle, except for the muzzle brake

The AR-10B rifle, a modern "civilian" re-creation of the AR-10. Note the lack of the bayonet lug and the M16A2-type rear sight and pistol grip

The original AR-10, partially field-stripped. The similarity to the latter AR-15/ M16 rifles is obvious

  AR-10(T) - a target grade version of the "new" AR-10, with Picatinny-type rail instead of the carrying handle, and the match barrel

Caliber: 7,62mm NATO (7.62x51mm)
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Length : 1016 mm
Barrel Length: 508 mm
Weight: 4.31 kg empty, without magazine and sling
Magazine: 20 rounds
Rate of fire: 700 rounds per minute (original military version)

Gewehr 43 - A Video

German ordnance began looking for a military selfloading rifle to augment the K98k as early as the 1930s, although the pressures of war initially made that development a second priority. By 1941, though, two competing designs from the Walther and Mauser companies had been developed to the point of mass production, as the Gewehr 41(W) and Gewehr 41(M) rifles. These both shared a gas-trap operating system to comply with an HWa requirement that no gas ports be drilled into the barrels. When it came to locking systems, the two designs differed greatly, with the Walther being the more successful of the two. Thousands of examples of both designs were put into field testing, mostly in the East, and it because clear that the gas trap system was not suitable for combat. The Walther company responded with a new version of their design which used a much more modern short stroke gas piston, basically copied from the Soviet SVT-40 rifle.

Video Review on the AA-12 Fully Automatic Shotgun

Review on the AA12 Automatic Shotgun

M1 Garand .30 Cal. Rifle video review

The M1 Garand .30 Cal Rifle. Called the "Rifleman's Rifle", the M1 Garand was legendary on the battlefield to the point that Patton called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised."

K98 Mauser German WWII Rifle video review

The K98 Mauser 8mm Rifle used by the German Wehrmacht throughout WWII. Issued to troops in 1935 to 1945, this bolt action rifle is a legend.

SAR-21 assault rifle

The SAR-21 is the latest development of the Singapore's Chartered Industries company, now known as the Singapore Technologies Kinetics division. This rifle was first displayed on public in 1999, at the DSEi '99 defense exhibition. At the present time the SAR-21 is adopted by the Singapore Armed Forces as the standard assault rifle, and gradually replaces the aging M16S1 (Singapore-made M16A1 rifle), and CIS previous SAR-80 and SR-88 rifles. It is also offered for export military and law enforcement sales. At the present time it's hard to judge this rifle, but the available reports are quite favorable, stating that the gun is comfortable to carry and fire, accurate,reliable and has low recoil. While SAR-21 is much shorter than the M16 rifle with the barrel of the same length, the SAR-21 has the disadvantage of the right-side only extraction, with no provisions to change it to the left side(unlike most other modern bullpup rifles, like the SteyrAUG, GIAT FAMAS or the IMITavor).

The SAR-21 represents some kind of mainstream in the turn-of-the-centuries small arms technology. It is of bullpup layout, and utilizes the most conventional gas operated, rotating bolt locked action, with detachable box magazine feeding.

The gas system of the SAR-21 is located above the barrel. The long stroke piston is rigidly attached to the bolt carrier. Rotating bolt has 2 lugs and locks into the barrel extension. The return spring is partially housed inside the hollow gas piston rod and behind it. The charging handle is located above the gun housing, under the scope / carrying handle unit,and folds forward when not in use. The charging handle does not reciprocate when gun is fired. On the SAR-21 P (Picatinny rail) and SAR-21 RIS (Rail Interface System) versions of the basic design the charging handle is moved to the left side of the gun, leaving the place at the top for the sights / accessory rail.

SAR-21 RIS (Rail Interface System), with reflex-type ("red dot") sight and a detachable vertical foregrip.

The housing of the SAR-21 is made from tough, high impact resistant polymer, and consists of barrel section with the barrel / gas system, forearm and sights,upper receiver with the pistol grip and magazine housing, and the lower receiver with the buttplate and the hammer unit inside. All major parts are held together by the push-pins and can be separated for dis-assembly without any special tools.The upper receiver also incorporates a special safety system, which protects the shooters' face in the event of the cartridge case rupture or explosion.

The safety switch is located at the front of the enlarged trigger guard and is of the cross-bolt, push-button type. SAR-21 can provide 2 modes of fire, single shots and full automatic fire.

The SAR-21 is fed using proprietary 30-rounds box magazines, made from the translucent plastic.

SAR-21 field stripped into major sub assemblies

The standard sighting equipment includes an integral 1.5X magnification telescope sight, with the emergency backup open sights formed at the top of the telescope housing. The SAR-21 P and SAR-21 RIS have no integral sights, instead these rifles featured a NATO-standard Picatinny type scope rail at the top of the gun, that can be fitted with wide variety of day and night sighting devices. Another interesting feature of SAR-21is that it incorporates a laser aiming module (LAM, also sometimes referred as a laser pointer) as a standard feature. The LAM is mounted below the barrel, inside the forearm, and can emit either visible or infrared beams. The LAM switch is built into the forearm of the rifle.

The standard SAR-21can be fitted with the 40mm under barrel grenade launchers, either US-made M203 or Singapore-made CIS40GL. The SAR-21 can sport a wide variety of add-on tactical accessories, including vertical "assault" foregrip, tactical lights etc.

Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 805 mm
Barrel length: 508 mm
Weight: 3.82 kg without magazine and accessories, 4.44 kg loaded with magazine and 30 rounds of ammunition
Magazine capacity: 30 rounds
Rate of fire: 450-650 rounds per minute
Effective range: about 500 meters