The single most popular rifle in North America is hands down the AR15 platform. Originally built as an Air Force PDF, its light weight and small rounds made the average infanteer able to carry more ammo.
In its day, the AR15 was considered a Space Age gun. It was the first rifle to use a lot plastic parts and it made a departure from steel to aluminum for its receiver. Like most things America did, it was developed from their own experiences in WW2. Early designs lacked a forward assist (something that the designer fought to keep out of the rifle) and lacked a brass deflector. That meant that weak people who “rode the action” while cocking the weapon would get a first round stoppage – the later addition of the forward assist fixed this. The brass deflector was a later addition to help left handed shooters.
Certainly the AR was a platform that was evolving.
The AR carbine (colloquially known as the M4) was designed for rear echelon troops but it found favour with SOG teams. The problem was, when the rifle was shortened, the chamber unlocked while the pressure was too high. This is a problem today as evidenced by the breakage rate, hard extractions and premature part wear reported by USSCOM.
But the AR Carbine found ways to overcome this as well. Pig tail gas tubes helped to slow down the unlock time by increasing the distance gas needed to travel to the bolt. Gas piston systems helped wear by keeping the weapon cooler and cleaner.
The great thing about the AR15 is its modularity which allows it to overcome any mechanical problem. It just needs some thought and innovation.
The AR15 also boasts as being a major driving force for the economy. Any gun manufacturer that wants into the US market has to admit that producing an AR clone is the way to go. Even Sig (who make superior battle rifles to the AR design) have finally come out with their own AR15. Small businesses have grown to world names because of the AR15. Troy Industries, Magpul.... the list goes on.
But warfighting is evolving and I wonder if the AR15 in its current form is the right rifle to lead the western armies into the future.
New doctrine says that the dominant hand does not leave the rifle to conduct manipulations. That means to conduct a stoppage drill or to manipulate the cocking handle, the support hand (the hand farthest away) has to move back to do these manipulations. I can’t speak for everyone but I have smacked my own lips while rapidly conducting a “tap, rack and go” because of the rear placement of the cocking handle.
Most modern operations are mechanized and it makes sense for a folding stock to be used. Most AR15s do not have this ability as their buffer is located in the rear. In fact I would go so far to say that the handful of “ARs” that have placed the recoil spring above the bolt are not really ARs at all.
I think that someone needs to make an evolutionary leap.... or a look back in time to firearm designs that had the cocking handle up by the support hand on the forestock. Weapons like the FAL, G3, MP5, ACR and SCAR make more sense to me.
I have no interest in entering the AR15 market. It is too competitive for a little guy like me to get involved but I think for the AR to overcome its inertia and become a top weapon platform again, it needs to find someone to re-engineer this flaw. Move the cocking handle to the side or forend. I am certain that in time, this lucrative market will bring about this next evolution and the AR15 will last well into the 22nd century like the Garand/M14 lived into the 21st.
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