ArmaLite AR-10
Official wording
Armalite, AR-10 series rifles, cal. 7.62mm, as originally manufactured byArmalite, Costa Mesa, CA and Artillerie-Inrichtingen, the Netherlands and Colt Industries, Hartford, CA.
What this entry requires
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1956–1962.
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
United StatesBasis: no citation - Manufacturer
- ArmaLite; Artillerie-Inrichtingen (Netherlands); ColtBasis: the ATF wording
- Type
- RifleBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- Select-fire / autoBasis: no citation
- Caliber
- 7.62×51mm NATOBasis: the ATF wording
- Made
- c. 1956–1962production; ATF states no dateBasis: estimate ¹
- Service
- Commercial
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 81 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “ArmaLite AR-10” ↗, years (estimate: partly supports it): 'When introduced in 1956, the AR-10...'; ArmaLite sold its AR-10 rights to Colt in 1959; infobox production 1956–present. Start sourced; the 1962 end of original ArmaLite/AI/Colt production is our estimate.
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- None
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “AR10 Armalite vue d'ensemble noBG.png” by Le-boulanger, CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “ArmaLite AR-10”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle designed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite. When introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative combination of a straight-line barrel/stock design with phenolic composite, a new patent-filed gas-operated bolt and carrier system and forged alloy parts resulting in a small arm significantly easier to control in automatic fire and over 1 lb (0.45 kg) lighter than other infantry rifles of the day. Over its production life, the original AR-10 was built in relatively small numbers, with fewer than 10,000 rifles assembled. However, the ArmaLite AR-10 became the sole ancestor for the AR-15 Styled Rifle platform.