ArmaLite AR-18

<p>The ArmaLite AR-18 is a <a href="/facts/Gas-operated_reloading/CnKcFREy">gas-operated</a> <a href="/facts/Rifle/H3mJx7U4">rifle</a> chambered for <a href="/facts/5.56%C3%9745mm_NATO/eT9ENFzY">5.56×45mm NATO</a> <a href="/facts/Ammunition/ajd1wm1I">ammunition</a>. The AR-18 was designed at <a href="/facts/ArmaLite/DJnKEouq">ArmaLite</a> in <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a> by Arthur Miller, <a href="/facts/Eugene_Stoner/Bm0WQz3K">Eugene Stoner</a>, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an alternative to the <a href="/facts/Colt_AR-15/AePfMHKK">Colt AR-15</a> design, a variant of which had just been selected by the <a href="/facts/U.S._military/NHVsU9Id">U.S. military</a> as the <a href="/facts/M16_rifle/kre1Wcpd">M16</a>. A semi-automatic version known as the AR-180 was later produced for the civilian market. While the AR-18 was never adopted as the standard service rifle of any nation, its production license was sold to companies in Japan and the United Kingdom, and it is said to have influenced many later weapons such as the British <a href="/facts/SA80/U8gzGc0z">SA80</a>, the Singaporean <a href="/facts/SAR-80/lI6uswzH">SAR-80</a> and <a href="/facts/SR-88/Wy9ggwsl">SR-88</a>, the Belgian <a href="/facts/FN_F2000/6y0d2rxQ">FN F2000</a>, the Japanese <a href="/facts/Howa_Type_89/a4PN3JW3">Howa Type 89</a> and the German <a href="/facts/Heckler_and_Koch_G36/xbwbEnI4">Heckler and Koch G36</a>.
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ArmaLite AR-18 open-in-new

ArmaLite AR-18