Home AR-15 Colt 601: The AR-15 Becomes a Military Rifle

Colt 601: The AR-15 Becomes a Military Rifle

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The AR-15 rifle was originally developed by Armalite as an offshoot of the AR-10 rifle designed by Eugene Stoner. How that second-thought rifle became the US standard military rifle – and the longest-serving infantry rifle in US military history – is a winding story. From Armalite’s sale fo the design to Colt to sales trips to India and the Philippines to an Air Force general’s birthday party, we will follow that story today. We will focus on the Colt Model 601; that company’s first export-model AR rifle, and how it changed as it was adopted by the US Air Force and then the US Army.

Many thanks to Movie Armaments Group in Toronto for the opportunity to showcase these early AR15s for you! Check them out on Instagram to see many of the guns in their extensive collection:

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Forgotten Weapons
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Tucson, AZ 85704

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49 COMMENTS

  1. the history of this rifle is basically just some guy named bob being like “yo look at this cool thing everyone” and everyone was like damn this looks cool when i shoot watermelons with it lest adopt this as a military rifle

  3. We shot those 601s painted black at AF basic in 2009. I remember wondering where the forward assist was at, how weird the charging handle and the triangular hand guard were. Damn thing jammed on me at least 5 times that day! 😆

  8. I love that glossy olive green furniture, I need to get a set of that. Anyone know where to get it and if it can go on a 1980s-1990 standard A2 pattern AR15? It looks like it would fit, seems similar to A1 Nam Era furniture which fits on my A2. My gun is A PRE-BAN rifle length PWA "Commando" 5.56 made in Millan, Illinois. They named it "5.56 Commando" but it is a standard rifle length A2, no rails, non-removable carry handle.

  9. Now I know why gun nuts on YouTube like to blow up water melons. If they happens to become a sales representative for a fire arm. Blowing up water melon is a great way to sell fire arm.

  10. Stoner's logic about the foward assist does seem sound but as a former infantryman, and I think anyone who has been would agree that that and the brass deflector are 2 of that weapons critical improvements. I can't imagine being issued one without a foward assist. After all ask those dead Marines in Vietnam.

  11. In the Philippines, "armalite" has become the generic term for all rifles that doesn't have a wooden stock, much like how we call all softdrinks as "coke", photos as "kodak", toothpaste as "colgate", and refridgerators as "pridyider (frigid air). This is really great learning that the reason we call all rifles "armalite" was because of an Asian tour of the AR rifle in the 1950s and how Filipinos fell in love with the AR.

  14. Own one of those AR15 Model 614 machine guns bought by US Air Force General Curtis LeMay. My AR15 Model 614 served in US Air Force from 1965 until 1974 when it was transferred to West Virginia State Troopers from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Goldsboro NC.

    1993 West Virginia revamped State Troopers Arsenal transferring my AR15 Model 614 in 1993 when my Class 3 dealer Steve Rakes conducted buyback exchange deal for four AR15 Model 614, six Thompson 1921, six M3 submachine guns, two S&W Model 76, and six M50 Reising machine guns for HK Mp5 submachine guns!

    Bought AR15 Model 614 1994 and tremendously enjoyed it ever since. Originally was disappointed I couldn’t afford M16 A1 at the time but after tracking history through ATF data base needlessly to say I’m over it now…lol.

    Naturally I reconfigured AR15 Model 614 from its original A1 to M4 10.5 barrel shorty built by Tim LaFrance 1995 saving original upper and stock with West Virginia State Trooper ID sticker!

  15. In 1980 I was posted to Belize for a six month that turned into a year in camp we had our L1A1 but if you went in country you got ishued a AR 15 it had a bird cage flash eliminater but no knock forward bolt we were told these were early modle AR 15 made in the UK some of us thought that maybe they were meant for future service in Vietnam as at the time the US was trying to get the UK to join them in an adventure in the dark green but Wilson said no thanks been there done that not a good gig. So they were sent to jungle schools in Brunei and Belize weather our musesing are right or wrong it was a thought but to the point I've looked up Google to see if the UK did produce some AR15 or not but no answers and if they were were they made in Birmingham or Enfield

  30. I'm glad videos like this exist for when self-proclaimed "gun guys" try to lecture me about how "the US military doesn't use the AR-15, son." I guess they think the AR-15 is a semi-auto, civilian version of M16/M4 family of rifles, when in reality the M16/M4 are select-fire US military versions of the AR-15.

  33. Please help me understand why all of the SP1's made after the forward assist add to the M16 have the notches in the bolt carrier even though there is no forward assist on the rifles. Was Colt just lazy with the line and just created one bolt carrier for all of the rifles?

  34. Think how the US hit its allies over the head with a stick until they all accepted the 7.62 cartridge. Then after everyone had set their guns up for the 7.62, the us came back the next day, "so hey uh, about that intermediate cartridge…."

  36. I'd like to point out at 18:30 that bolt catch is known as the "transitional" type. Notice the serations in the middle. The next type which is the current one we still see today they did away with that. That bolt catch is quite rare.

  39. Americans are going to hate this but the AR-15 platform is complete shit. It's unreliable, simplistic to the point of not solving any problems EVER encountered with it and it doesn't change because it's cheap crap done wrong from the get go and very popular in the nation where 85% of all semi and full auto firearms are sold.

  44. If only the army had taken the ar10. We'd likely have 7.62/.308 m4's as standard issue (most likely I would think) and most of our long range rifles and machine guns would all use a standard caliber!

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