“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” James Madison 1791
Is an AR-15 a hunting rifle, or is it a military weapon? We will answer that question in due time. What is a military weapon? During the Revolutionary War, the best infantry rifle was the Brown Bess, a sturdy wooden, stocked, smooth-bore long arm used by both sides to fire a round ball or shot if needed. At first, they were fitted with flintlocks for a firing mechanism and were called muskets. They did not have rifling. Later as science evolved, the weapons were issued with percussion firing systems to make them more reliable in bad weather, faster to shoot, reload, and with better accuracy. Some units used Kentucky rifles or Pennsylvania rifles with rifling. These fellows were sharpshooters who were much more accurate. Most provided their own
weapons. These weapons were available to all, citizens and military alike.
By 1860 the Civil War saw the advent of many new inventions. Weapons were getting much more refined. You will find here the death of flintlock weapons, as noted.
"The 20th Tenn. was only one regiment that had the misfortune actually to take the field armed with flintlocks. They were engaged at the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky in a drizzling rain that rendered their weapons useless, thereby contributing to the Confederate defeat, which turned into a rout. Units armed with them replaced them as soon as possible with more modern weapons." 1
Samuel Colt designed the Colt Walker Revolver according to Captain Samuel Walker's specifications. This was a heavy .44 caliber pistol that held six shots, round balls powered by black powder, and percussion caps. The Colt Walker became the most powerful pistol ever made to this point, and it could shoot six times without reloading. In a world of single-shot weapons, this was a game changer, and it was available to all who could afford it. Many new pistol designs would follow. Some for the military and some for the populace.
In 1860, Christopher Spencer designed the Spencer Rifle. The rifle had a falling block action and could fire seven bullets in rapid succession. This was another leap forward in modern warfare. The Henry Repeating rifle came to the scene in 1862. With its reliable .44 caliber rimfire metallic cartridge, the Henry produced rapid and highly accurate fire. Reports of the successful use of Henry rifles in the Civil War were numerous. The incredible firepower unleashed by the Henry is evident in Major William Ludlow's account of the Battle of Allatoona Pass. "What saved us that day was the fact that we had a number of Henry rifles," wrote Major Ludlow. "This company of 16 shooters sprang to the parapet and poured out such a multiplied, rapid and deadly fire, that no men could stand in front of it and no serious effort was made thereafter to take the fort by assault." 2
These rifles were made available to civilians as well as the military. Similar advancements in weaponry were invented and used up to and including the present day. Of necessity, weapons were designed and upgraded from WW1,11, Korea, Vietnam, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The weapons of war and hunting bear little resemblance to those used in the colonies. The common thread is that they all send a projectile downrange through a tube to hit a target at some distance.
The first assault rifle was the German Sturmgewehr 44 (STG44), literally, Storm Rifle or assault rifle. Experts say the Germans had the best machine guns in WW11. I personally have fired the Browning .30 cal and .50 cal US machine guns, and if the Germans had better weapons, namely the MG 34, MG 42, and the MP 40, I am impressed. Most of Hitler's troops were using the K98 bolt action rifle, and they needed a full auto weapon to compete with the Garand, semi-auto, M2 carbine single fire, and full auto and the Russian PPSH-41. Fortunately for the Allies, the Sturmgewhr came late in the war and was not a factor.
What is the difference between a battle rifle and an assault rifle? For a good explanation of this subject, I refer you to this Web site, "Beginner Gunner." See the link below for an
excellent one-page presentation with illustrations.3 As you will see from the article in Beginner Gunner, a military service rifle like a KAR 98k or an M1 Garand uses an intermediate-powered round. Assault rifles use a smaller round with more rounds in a magazine, are more maneuverable, and can fire fully automatic with excellent accuracy. Examples are the AK47 and the M16 or M4.
The AR-10 was presented to the military during the Vietnam War. This rifle used a modified .30 caliber bullet, the .7.62 NATO Cartridge, with most of the power of the .30-06. The High Brass generals looked at the rifle as an abomination, a plastic gun that was ugly and would insult the fine history of military firearms made in America. The brass wanted to keep their military pals who made the rifles in business, so that factored in as well. Trials were run with a smaller version of the AR-10, the M-16. After the trials, several test shooters remarked that the M-16 was the most accurate rifle they had ever shot.
General Curtis LeMay ordered some of the first rifles to be chambered in 5.56 for the Air Force. This was a smaller version of the AR-10 and became known as the M-16. These first M-16s were not intended to be a battle rifle that could withstand constant firing for long periods. They were a weapon that could be used by drivers, cooks, and headquarters personnel that were more powerful than a pistol. The civilian version of this rile was the AR-15. AR stands for Armalite Rifle, the name of the company that pioneered the design by Eugene Stoner. Armalite sold its rights to Colt.
To answer the question first posed in this blog. Is the AR-15 a hunting rifle? Let's clear up one thing first. AR-15 is a reference to a type of rifle. This designation is the same as calling a vehicle a car, an animal with four legs and a mane, a horse, or a fizzy liquid, a soft drink. We can be more specific and call the rifle a Colt, an appaloosa a horse, or a Coke a fizzy drink. The AR-15 designation is a generic name for this type of weapon.
Some companies produce weapons that are made to military specifications (mil-spec) that will fire in single shot or full auto mode. These weapons are not available to the general public except in some instances.4 Many companies manufacture boutique rifles that look like battle rifles and claim to be mil-spec but fail to hold up under battle conditions. Some of these rifles are made with mostly in-house manufactured parts and are quite good. Some rifles are made up of parts purchased from companies around the world. This class of rifles is sold to citizens and serves well for civilians. The design is accurate, configurable, and legal for civilian use in most states. They make good hunting and target rifles. The AR-15 is so popular that it is the most popular rifle of all time, owned by millions of Americans.
James Madison proposed the Second Amendment to the Constitution due to the fear of the Colonists that the new government could revert to the edits of King George 111 before the Revolution. The driving force behind the Second Amendment was that citizens could band together as a militia and protect their families and country with arms and that this "right of the people shall not be infringed."
You will note that the Second Amendment does not limit the type of arms a citizen can own. The Amendment is not about hunting. It is about keeping the government in check. They did not have automatic weapons then, but we do now. As a matter of fact, our government has weapons that are so radically more powerful and different that the Founders could never envision these weapons of war possible. What do we, the people, have to counter a tyrannical government gone amuck with power? We have millions of armed citizens who are willing to defend their families and their country from evil intruders from without or within. The general population owns AR-15-style weapons, hunting rifles, shotguns, and pistols. This has kept the barbarians from our shores since the beginning. You decide. Do we need AR-15s, or do we leave our welfare to our government?
1 CivilWarTalk, Just how prevalent were flintlocks during the Civil War? https://civilwartalk.com/threads/just-how-prevalent-were-flintlocks-during-the-civil-war.186713/
2 Henry Made in America Or Not Made At All, Henry History, https://www.henryusa.com/about-us/henry-history/
3 R Dally, What Are The Differences Between A Battle Rifle And An Assault Rifle?, Beginner Gunner Practice Makes Perfect, February 21, 2020, https://www.beginnergunner.com/the-differences-between-a-battle-rifle-and-an-assault-rifle/
4 It is possible to purchase weapons that are capable of firing in fully automatic mode. You must go through a licensed gun dealer, purchase a $200.00 tax stamp, and be fully vetted by the FBI and the ATF.
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