Walk into almost any gun shop these days and you’ll likely find that a large percentage of the customers are looking for a type of rifle that was developed by the military and has been widely used since the Vietnam war. Known as the AR-16 by the military and as the AR-15 in the civilian world, this so-called “black rifle” has finally emerged as one of the all-time favorites among hunters and gun lovers.

Many hunters and fishermen do not accept “newfangled” pieces of outdoor gear that aid the sportsman in their quest to accomplish their mission afield. Some fishermen fought to have the sonars outlawed years ago. They felt that this convenience would give an unfair advantage to the fisherman and fish stocks would be depleted. Likewise the hunters who chose to use semi-automatic rifles or shotguns faced opposition to the extent that some states still do not allow these types of guns for hunting.

While I enjoy the more conventional bolt action, single or double barrel guns with beautifully crafted wooden stocks, I do have to agree with the shooting sports fraternity that prefer the AR-15 type of guns and the fact that these guns are here to stay until something better comes along.

Recent decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court have strengthened gun owners’ position as far as the true meaning of the Second Amendment to the Constitution is concerned. A good number of citizens who are concerned with home or personal protection have chosen to purchase and be trained in the use of the AR-15 type of weapon.

For the novice gun aficionados that don’t know what the AR-15 based rifles are or their history, I’ll give my version of how these guns developed from a military rifle into the darling of many shooting sportsmen. As the bumper stickers state, “The Second Amendment doesn’t say anything about hunting ducks.” The “AR” nomenclature for the rifle stands for ArmaLite Rifle, the company that developed the gun as designed by Eugene Stoner. In its earliest days the AR-15 was developed shooting the well-known 7.62 mm NATO cartridge we more commonly call the .308 Winchester cartridge. It came into really widespread use as a combat rifle re-designed somewhat to shoot the .223 Remington (or the very similar 5.56 mm NATO) cartridge.

The military designation as an AR-16 was for the selected fire (Either fully-automatic or semi-automatic at the discretion of the shooter) version of the AR-15 rifle and it went through some tough times in Vietnam. There were problems with the way the rifle functioned under rough conditions and many GI’s on the front lines longed for their old M-14’s and the proven .308 cartridge. Some even began using battle proven “battlefield requisitioned” AK-47 Viet Cong rifles because they were felt to be more effective select-fire battle rifles that our own Army was supplying as the AR-16 with its lesser powered .223 ammunition

. Let’s set the record straight on the term “assault rifle.” By the book, an assault rifle is one that is capable of fully automatic fire (as in a “machine gun,” it fires rapidly and continuously as long as the trigger is held back). However, many of the well known gun writers have long used the term “assault rifle” to describe any black rifle that looks like a military rifle even though it is a semi-automatic only rifle (fires one time each time the trigger is pulled). After the long time and frequent use by the press of the term “assault rifle” for any so-called “black rifle,” the general public still accepts that term as gospel.

A true AR-16 is an assault rifle because it fires either fully automatically or as a semi-automatic rifle. The AR-16 can legally be owned if the owner has the necessary paperwork (license) to own one. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic weapon and is not technically an “assault rifle.” After filling out the proper paperwork (background check) the average citizen can own an AR-15 with no problems. There’s a lot of complicated paperwork involved in being able to own a fully automatic weapon such as the AR-16.

By updating a basic AR-15 basic receiver the most appealing item to hunters must be the fact that by upgrading the basic gun, the AR-15 becomes a true “big game” rifle. You can now add entire new upper assemblies to upgrade the basic cartridge the gun shoots to cartridges that are capable of taking any game animal found on the North American continent. From the basic .223 cartridge with a full metal jacket bullet that was designed more to wound an enemy rather than kill, the AR-15 has come a long way. With the proper tweaking the AR-15 is now a favorite for competition shooters and people looking for self-defense weapons.

Many of the buyers of guns that I’ve talked with in recent months are not buying guns (handguns or long guns) for sporting purposes. They’re buying guns for self-defense. One can only hope that these new gun owners will take advantage of the gun safety schools that are available these days - many of which are free. Other manufacturers now produce additional “gadgets” to upgrade the AR-15 platform to extraordinarily complicated levels. Years ago there was a hydraulically operated barrel for a Remington 11-87 shotgun that launched a hunting arrow as well as after market black powder barrels that attached to the Remington shotguns. Now we have a crossbow that attaches to the AR-15 platform from the PSE Company. One can’t help but wonder what’s next.