Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
CAR-15
The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 or CAR-15 is a family of M16 rifle–based firearms marketed by Colt in the 1960s and early 1970s. However, the term "CAR-15" is most commonly associated with the Colt Commando (AKA: XM177); these select-fire carbines have ultrashort 10.5-inch (270 mm) and 11.5-inch (290 mm) barrels with over-sized flash suppressors.
The CAR-15 name was an attempt to re-associate the AR-15 name with Colt, since the “AR” designation stood for “Armalite Rifle", the original manufacturer of the ArmaLite AR-15. Colt later abandoned the CAR-15 concept, but continued to make carbine variations, using the "M16" brand for select-fire models and the "Colt AR-15" brand for semi-automatic models. However, in present usage, "CAR-15" is the generic name for all carbine-length variants made before the M4 carbine.
After Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company purchase of the rights and intellectual property to the AR-10 and AR-15 rifles from Armalite in late 1959, Colt embarked on a research and development program to create variations of the AR platform that evolved into the CAR-15 family of firearms. The focus of the CAR-15 R&D was to develop five different variants of the existing AR-15 in addition to a 40mm grenade launcher. The five firearms developed were a submachine gun (SMG), a carbine, a heavy barrel magazine-fed squad automatic weapon (SAW), a belt-fed machine gun, and a compact survival rifle. Only the SMG generated any interest with the U.S. Army and "Aside from limited purchases of 100-150 M-1 heavy assault rifles for trials during the upcoming SAWS program, the military was cool to most of Colt's CAR-15 Military Weapons System, and only a handful of carbines, M-2 belt-fed assault rifles and survival rifles were ever produced. However, the short-barreled submachine gun and the 40mm grenade launcher attachment did undergo considerable further development."
The CAR-15 program started in earnest in 1964 with samples of the SMG Model 607 being submitted to the U.S. Army for evaluation. Starting in May 1965, Colt attempted to market the M16 rifle and its variants developed under the CAR-15 program to commercial markets and markets outside the United States as a modular weapon system. By using various upper assemblies, buttstocks, and pistol grips, the weapon could be configured as an assault rifle, a carbine, a submachine gun, an open-bolt squad automatic weapon, a belt-fed light machine gun, or a survival rifle. There was a second belt-fed machine gun developed under the CAR-15 program called the CMG-1, CMG-2, and CMG-3 in 7.62 NATO that was not based on the existing AR-15/M16 design. However, the U.S. military only made significant purchases of the existing M16 rifle and the SMG model, later called the Commando versions, so Colt abandoned the CAR-15 family concept. The "CAR-15 Rifle" was already identified by most users as the M16 rifle, and "CAR-15" was similarly associated with the short-barreled Colt Submachine Gun and Commando models. Because of that, the term "CAR-15" has been used to describe any M16-based carbine, even if the particular weapon is not officially named this.
Beginning in 1961 under ARPA's Project Agile, Colt provided approximately 1,000 AR-15s for evaluation to the U.S. Government in southeast Asia. Colt was eventually awarded their first contract to supply the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force with the M16 in November, 1963. The Model 603 CAR-15 Rifle, adopted initially by the United States Army as the XM16E1 and then later as the M16A1, and the Model 604 CAR-15 Rifle, adopted by the United States Air Force as the M16, formed the core of the CAR-15 family. However, the United States military had already committed to purchases before Colt created the concept of the CAR-15 weapons system. The principal difference between the Model 603 and Model 604 is that the former has a forward assist, allowing a user to manually close a stuck bolt.
The CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1 was a heavy-barreled version of the standard CAR-15 with a bipod attachment, intended for use as a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). It was designed to feed from the same detachable box magazine used for the M16. Approximately 100-150 were produced by Colt for evaluation by the U.S. Army during the SAWS program in 1965. Colt continued attempts to market the HBAR M16A1 as the Model 621 through the late 1970s without success and only a few dozen were manufactured. Colt did eventually produce a heavy barrel civilian market semi-automatic AR-15 beginning in the late 1980s based on the M16A2 called the AR-15 HBAR that was a commercial success.
The CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M2 was a belt-fed conversion of the standard CAR-15, with a heavy barrel and bipod attachment. It was made in prototype form only and saw no sales. The CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M2 was not related to the CMG-1, CMG-2, or CMG-3 belt fed machine guns.
The Model 605 CAR-15 Carbine was a shortened version of Colt's M16E1/M16A1 for situations where longer weapons could be unwieldy, such as inside armored vehicles, ships/boats, or helicopters. There were only a very small number of known prototypes of the carbine made sometime after the 1963 award of the first contract to Colt for the delivery of the M16 and M16E1. The first prototype was essentially an M16E1/M16A1 rifle with 5 inches of the barrel removed resulting is a barrel 15 inches (381 mm) in length, so that it ended just forward of the front sight base. Because of the shorter barrel and no space to attach a bayonet, the bayonet mounting lugs removed. Due to the shortened barrel with the gas port intersecting the barrel bore near the muzzle, the gas port diameter was opened up to match the internal diameter of the gas tube at 0.110 inches.
Hub AI
CAR-15 AI simulator
(@CAR-15_simulator)
CAR-15
The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 or CAR-15 is a family of M16 rifle–based firearms marketed by Colt in the 1960s and early 1970s. However, the term "CAR-15" is most commonly associated with the Colt Commando (AKA: XM177); these select-fire carbines have ultrashort 10.5-inch (270 mm) and 11.5-inch (290 mm) barrels with over-sized flash suppressors.
The CAR-15 name was an attempt to re-associate the AR-15 name with Colt, since the “AR” designation stood for “Armalite Rifle", the original manufacturer of the ArmaLite AR-15. Colt later abandoned the CAR-15 concept, but continued to make carbine variations, using the "M16" brand for select-fire models and the "Colt AR-15" brand for semi-automatic models. However, in present usage, "CAR-15" is the generic name for all carbine-length variants made before the M4 carbine.
After Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company purchase of the rights and intellectual property to the AR-10 and AR-15 rifles from Armalite in late 1959, Colt embarked on a research and development program to create variations of the AR platform that evolved into the CAR-15 family of firearms. The focus of the CAR-15 R&D was to develop five different variants of the existing AR-15 in addition to a 40mm grenade launcher. The five firearms developed were a submachine gun (SMG), a carbine, a heavy barrel magazine-fed squad automatic weapon (SAW), a belt-fed machine gun, and a compact survival rifle. Only the SMG generated any interest with the U.S. Army and "Aside from limited purchases of 100-150 M-1 heavy assault rifles for trials during the upcoming SAWS program, the military was cool to most of Colt's CAR-15 Military Weapons System, and only a handful of carbines, M-2 belt-fed assault rifles and survival rifles were ever produced. However, the short-barreled submachine gun and the 40mm grenade launcher attachment did undergo considerable further development."
The CAR-15 program started in earnest in 1964 with samples of the SMG Model 607 being submitted to the U.S. Army for evaluation. Starting in May 1965, Colt attempted to market the M16 rifle and its variants developed under the CAR-15 program to commercial markets and markets outside the United States as a modular weapon system. By using various upper assemblies, buttstocks, and pistol grips, the weapon could be configured as an assault rifle, a carbine, a submachine gun, an open-bolt squad automatic weapon, a belt-fed light machine gun, or a survival rifle. There was a second belt-fed machine gun developed under the CAR-15 program called the CMG-1, CMG-2, and CMG-3 in 7.62 NATO that was not based on the existing AR-15/M16 design. However, the U.S. military only made significant purchases of the existing M16 rifle and the SMG model, later called the Commando versions, so Colt abandoned the CAR-15 family concept. The "CAR-15 Rifle" was already identified by most users as the M16 rifle, and "CAR-15" was similarly associated with the short-barreled Colt Submachine Gun and Commando models. Because of that, the term "CAR-15" has been used to describe any M16-based carbine, even if the particular weapon is not officially named this.
Beginning in 1961 under ARPA's Project Agile, Colt provided approximately 1,000 AR-15s for evaluation to the U.S. Government in southeast Asia. Colt was eventually awarded their first contract to supply the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force with the M16 in November, 1963. The Model 603 CAR-15 Rifle, adopted initially by the United States Army as the XM16E1 and then later as the M16A1, and the Model 604 CAR-15 Rifle, adopted by the United States Air Force as the M16, formed the core of the CAR-15 family. However, the United States military had already committed to purchases before Colt created the concept of the CAR-15 weapons system. The principal difference between the Model 603 and Model 604 is that the former has a forward assist, allowing a user to manually close a stuck bolt.
The CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1 was a heavy-barreled version of the standard CAR-15 with a bipod attachment, intended for use as a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). It was designed to feed from the same detachable box magazine used for the M16. Approximately 100-150 were produced by Colt for evaluation by the U.S. Army during the SAWS program in 1965. Colt continued attempts to market the HBAR M16A1 as the Model 621 through the late 1970s without success and only a few dozen were manufactured. Colt did eventually produce a heavy barrel civilian market semi-automatic AR-15 beginning in the late 1980s based on the M16A2 called the AR-15 HBAR that was a commercial success.
The CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M2 was a belt-fed conversion of the standard CAR-15, with a heavy barrel and bipod attachment. It was made in prototype form only and saw no sales. The CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M2 was not related to the CMG-1, CMG-2, or CMG-3 belt fed machine guns.
The Model 605 CAR-15 Carbine was a shortened version of Colt's M16E1/M16A1 for situations where longer weapons could be unwieldy, such as inside armored vehicles, ships/boats, or helicopters. There were only a very small number of known prototypes of the carbine made sometime after the 1963 award of the first contract to Colt for the delivery of the M16 and M16E1. The first prototype was essentially an M16E1/M16A1 rifle with 5 inches of the barrel removed resulting is a barrel 15 inches (381 mm) in length, so that it ended just forward of the front sight base. Because of the shorter barrel and no space to attach a bayonet, the bayonet mounting lugs removed. Due to the shortened barrel with the gas port intersecting the barrel bore near the muzzle, the gas port diameter was opened up to match the internal diameter of the gas tube at 0.110 inches.