I have a thing about the AR-16. I remember reading about it when I was a great deal younger. It is a 308 rifle built using a sheet metal receiver, some what like an AR-180. In fact it is the AR-180 father. Here is a quick picture of the only two know to exist anymore.
Both of them are in Reed Knights collection. I have just learn about another series of weapons that were made in prototype form and never massed produced. The AR-100. This is a .223 rifle based upon the AR-16 rifle. Never heard of it in any of the books or publications.
If anyone has any information concerning this series of rifles please contact me. I would love to get pictures of them.
Back in 1987 Dolf helped sell three AR16’s. X-100, X,101, and EXP#1. The price was $8500 for all three. There were also 2 AR10’s and 16 AR18’s on the flyer. No photos. Interested, contact me and I’ll send you a copy of the ad.
I would love to see that
That would be an interesting rifle. Harry
I agree Harry
Something is off with the photo depictions of the ArmaLite AR-100 series. They look like a pre-Photoshop creation. The photocopied AR-100 brochure floating around ARFCOM has references to SS109 compatibility and implies that the AR-104 was an alternative to the already adopted Minimi. This would date the brochure to the late 1970s or 1980s. Given that ArmaLite was effectively a shadow of its former self by this date, one wonder if it wasn’t merely a paper proposal being shopped around in hopes of ginning up a source of funding.
The two separate sheets were photo shopped together and a small section of the photograph was missing. If I could find the rifles I would take new pictures.
I have an original AR100 brochure. Looking at the pictures of the versions of those guns there is little doubt that they are not drawings, but pictures of actual weapons.
Have to wonder where they are today. It’s been suggested that they are .308 guns. I always took them to be 5.56.
I also have a copy of the flyer where the 3 AR16’s were being offered. Reed Knight having 2 Where is the third one?
Pete
They look a great deal like the AR-16 which was a 308 rifle however, these rifles are 5.56
Are there any plan drawings of any of these rifles? Also I think I read somewhere about the AR16 prototyped as DI rifle, would love to know more about that.
No plans that I’ve been able to find
The AR-16’s forefather, the AR-12, was originally set up with a DI gas system. There are photos showing the bolt carrier’s face where the hole for the gas tube was welded shut.
an AR18 style bcg with a DI system seems like a neat idea. I’d imagine the bigger carrier would handle heat from sustained fire better than the AR one.
I finally found a dead tree publication reference to the AR-100 series. The Elitool-owned ArmaLite claimed that they were going to produce it. However, this was shortly before they were shuttered.
“Arms and Defence in Southeast Asia” (1989)