Today we had the opportunity to speak with L. James “Jim” Sullivan, one of the original designers of the AR-15 rifle. He started working as a draftsman for Eugene Stoner at Armalite, and wound up being largely responsible for converting the AR-10 down to .223 caliber. His later work would include the Ultimax LMG, Ruger Mini-14, and many other firearms.
Recently, Jim has gone back to the AR-15, designing 60- and 100-round quad-stack magazines for Surefire. He has also designed a number of modifications to the rifle to improve its controllability and ability to handle a continuous high rate of fire.
Hopefully these modifications will be brought to market by Surefire, but if not they will become available to any other manufacturer interested in licensing them from Mr. Sullivan.
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Double og tripple ooog
This is some incredible stuff, I hope viewers stumbling across this video can appreciate the gravity of this man and the fact you got to talk with him and get some on-the-ground knowledge of the AR15 project. I find it humorous that Stoner didn't think a scaled-down AR10 was best, I think especially back then there was some concerns about an intermediate cartridge, especially the .223 in particular -concerns that are still held today.
I'm so glad we have Gun Jesus doing God's work, doing these videos and interviews while we still can, archiving a treasure trove of knowledge for future generations to tap into. As always, great video!
-Mr. 2nd
what you cut out the part where he explains his changes to the AR? why
He ruined my love for the M-16…:P
Looks like his BCG via Surefire will be a thing.
http://soldiersystems.net/2016/05/25/sofic-suppressed-optimized-bolt-carrier-group-long-stroke-from-surefire/
Is there any way to get jim to sign a lower? Lol
Can you go back to posting these on YT please, the video quality on that site is just god aweful, no 1080p, not even 720p…
Man I love this channel. A bit nerdy, but you guys are the gun community. Today everyone is focused on what they look like, how cool they are, being flashy and just buy a gun for an accessory to play pretend. You guys keep it 100 and focus on the firearms them selves and the history of them and function and actual uses. That's how the gun community use to be. Now its full of wanna be military and wanna be gangsters who want to play pretend and show off on instagram and facebook and give 2 shits about the firearms them selves.
Keep on keepin on guys. Keep the REAL gun community alive.
Where was this interview? I didn't realize he lived in Arizona.
I found my appreciation of firearms design improved by further studying and practicing geometric tolerancing, capabilities,kinematics and dynamics. To enhance ones appreciation of firearms, I recommend becoming skilled in machine shop practice, draughtsmanship, and a degree or two in mechanical engineering….. But then if you enjoy "forgotten firearms" you probably know all of this and I apologise for patronising.
WOW! Amazing video. Absolutely amazing. Cannot wait to see the full version. Off to watch it, now!
Fascinating stuff. I'm still more of an AK74 guy, but very cool to see. Unfortunate that they're continuing to stick with the direct impingement though.
You should have set a man sized target at 100 and 200 and did appropriate bursts offhand at 100 and prone at 200. I don't know what an appropriate burst would be. But I also can't tell what you're getting out of the modifications.
I've fired a couple smoothe MGs and a bunch of really hard to control MGs and I understand the difference. I've fired a number of full auto guns that I think are worthless on full auto. Most notable examples are assault rifles.
amazing the guy is still working on it. I´m not too fond of fullauto. though lowering the rpm really makes it better. high rate is just a waste of good ammo.
I'm guessing the much lower Cyclic rate has more to do with the stability of automatic fire than any other improvements he made.
I just watched the full 17 minute video. that's the best 17 minutes i've spent in a long time. Thank you. Question though, do any of the improvements made by Sullivan make the semi-auto m4 any better to fire? I mean, i'd like to have a full auto version, but… Happy Thanksgiving!
that is freaking AMAZING.. thank you for speaking to him..truly a great engineer.
I tried the full30 video but the audio was out of whack. I only have right channel speaker output and I got nothing.
Thank you for continuing to put these reminder / trailer videos up on YT for the other channel. The other channe's email notification system doesn't seem to show up in my e-mail.
rear sights will get you killed on the streets
Err, compare with hk416, which one is better performance wise? I know H&K is charging a bullshit amount onto the 416.
Audio is a little quiet
I saw the video and I want to know how this will change the civilian AR-15 market, if any? Was there any mention by Jim if they had plans to license the technology for semi auto rifles?
Thumbs up!
Well, I know what im going to be watching during my lunch break.
What is the relationship between Arms West and Surefire? Looking forward to these improvements.
Oh damnation! Claps hands in joy! 🙂
Quad stack magazines would enable them to be shorter for a given capacity but also significantly fatter. For a more limited capacity (e.g. 30 rounds, which is more or less standard these days), would the extra shortness be an advantage, or is the fatness only
liveable with because it enables you to carry a 100 round mag that doesn't go on forever?
My guess is that depending on where the fatness begins, you may or may not retain compatibility between various manufacturers' magazine wells, so for 30 or less rounds a three or four abreast magazine may not bring anything extra to the table.
You lucky sum' bitch…
I envy you… i ENVY YOUUU