[303tom]

What is a AR ?

[NativH]

Armalite, just the company name IIRC?

[trip286]

AR itself is the abbreviation (official or unofficial, IDK) for Armalite. It's used generically nowadays to refer to pretty much any of the "Black Rifles" and is misconstrued as "Assault Rifle", mostly by mainstream media and the anti gun crowd, to make them seem scary and evil.

They are based off the Eugene Stoner design, the ancestor of the M16 and it's variants.

What many antigunners fail to realize when they call them "Assault Rifles" is that once upon a time, Assault Rifles were fired using black powder and caps or flints.

[rockhouse]

It actually stands for Armalite Rifle. All of Armalite rifles were named AR followed by a number that together represented the model number. There AR-15 is the civilian version of the m-16. He AR is commonly thought to mean assault rifle but not so. Other manufacturers have there own model numbers but all these weapons are referred to as either ARs (if Armalite) or AR style rifles (by other manufacturers). An example is stag's ST-15 which has identical specs to an AR-15, Armalite just owns that model male as the originators.

[therewolf]

AFAIK, it generally refers to AR-15 style rifles,

and their variants.

The same way "AK" is generally referring to an AK47...

[303tom]

Damn I guess I am just getting old, that is the same answer I get everywhere else. I always thought that a AR was a Automatic Rifle no matter who built it weather it was Colt, Browning, Winchester, or Kalashnikov. O well I guess I am going to have to get used to this black rifle thingie, thanks guys !

[therewolf]

ARs are only "black rifles".

AKs, OTOH, are "evil black rifles"...

[robocop10mm]

AR's, once the right arm of the (American) free world and now the favorite of LEO's everywhere.

AK's, once the embodiment of all that was (evil) communist dominance, now the favorite of gang bangers everywhere.

AR-anything except 15- Armalite. Eugene Stoner design driven company that has built everything from Assault Rifles, Semi-auto "black rifles". to battle rifles (AR-10), to Survival rifles (AR-7), to shotguns (AR-17) and now handguns (AR-24). Armalite sold the rights to the name AR-15 to Colt many years ago. The only AR-15's currently made are Colt.

[Oohrah]

AR may be one of my duty weapons, but AK guards my home doors!

[Shihan]

Originally Posted by 303tom

What is a AR ?

It's what a Pirate says.