AR-15 Rifles
Rainier Arms carries high-quality complete AR15 options from the best manufacturers in the country: Aero Precision, Bravo Company Manufacturing, Cobalt Kinetics, Colt, Daniel Defense, Lewis Machine & Tool, Seekins Precision, Stag Arms, and many more.
These are complete ARs from industry-leading manufacturers, chambered in .223 and 5.56 NATO. Each semi-automatic AR 15 rifle (or carbine, etc.) found on this list is well-built, modular, reliable, and completely customizable.
If you're looking to upgrade your AR-15 rifle, check out our selection of AR 15 parts.
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ARMALITE AR 15 RIFLE - THEN AND NOW
The story of AR15 began in 1956 when ArmaLite Inc started producing selective fire rifle for military use called ArmaLite model 15. Due to financial problems and bad decisions, ArmaLite sold the patent to Colt Manufacturing Company in 1959.
In 1963, the U.S. military chose Colt to manufacture the automatic rifle that soon became the standard gear part of the U.S. Army. The AR 15 became M 16. When Colt's patents for the AR-15 expired in the 1970s, other manufacturers entered the business. They started producing the rifle under different names. The popularity of the AR-15 turned those names into a generic term for all types of AR-15-style rifles.
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A cutaway model of the early Armalite rifle.
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Today, the AR-15 is one of the most customizable weapon platforms on the market. In fact, many people say the best AR 15 is the one you build yourself, even if it's just using a build kit (though we've helped many, many people choose a complete AR 15).
• Want to change up your complete rifle with a different barrel length? That's an easy fix.
• Want to change that stainless steel barrel for one with black nitride? It won't be inexpensive to do so.
• Looking to suppress it and want a silencer-friendly bolt carrier group? Switch it in seconds.
• Want a rifle scope to augment your iron sights - or alternate (BUIS) sights? Too easy.
• Prefer one rifle with many purposes? Start with an AR 15 lower, then add an accessorized upper receiver for each intended task. That gives you a complete rifle for each “mission” without having to buy more than one complete lower.
• Like the way a certain handguard looks, or how it's laid out? Pop it on there.
• Want to try an adjustable gas block? We got you.
It's not just basic rifle parts and individual items, either. Pre-specced AR 15 rifle kit options allow you to adjust your rifle depending on your need. That may be limited to a specific niche item, end-use-focused accessories, or a rifle kit with your preferred rifle furniture. New products from innovative companies are coming out every day. The possibilities for your rifle are nearly endless.
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Wilson Combat AR15: this complete rifle is a fine example of what the original Armalite rifle's descendants look like.
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The AR15 Rifle: Black Rifle Style
• An AR15 rifle is a lightweight, gas-operated, semi-automatic long gun. It is available in rifle, carbine, SBR, AR pistol, or similar forms and is available to the civilian market. Often referred to as America's Rifle (a play on AR) or black rifle, the weapon is one of the most popular rifles in the country. There are millions of these rifles in circulation today.
• The AR15 is not an "assault rifle", which by definion is a select-fire (i.e. capable of burst and/or automatic fire) weapon. Nor does AR stand for Assault Rifle. The AR15, often referred to as a "Modern Sporting Rifle," is a derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR10 and subsequent M16 designs.
• Modern Sporting Rifle is a term used by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to describe modular, semi-auto long guns like the AR15.
• An AR15 lower receiver is considered a firearm by law whether it is a complete AR (i.e. with an upper receiver attached) or not. The upper receiver by itself is not a firearm.
What does AR in AR 15 stand for?
The AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, not Assault Rifle. ArmaLite was the company that first built what we now recognize as the AR platform. Eugene Stoner, may he sit at the right hand of God, was the chief designer.
What is a complete AR15?
A complete AR15 comprises a completed receiver set (complete upper and lower), i.e., with all appropriate "guts" installed. These two halves (colloquially referred to as just "upper" and "lower") are hinged together immediately forward of the magazine well with a Receiver Pivot Pin. They are secured further back (just forward of the buffer tube) with a Takedown Pin. This may be a weapon built entirely by the manufacturer or one assembled from a rifle kit. It might also be a "Frankengun," with parts pieced together from a variety of manufacturers, e.g. a bolt carrier group from Aero Precision, a stainless barrel from Bravo Company Manufacturing, lower parts from Springfield Armory, etc.
What AR-15 does the military use?
It doesn't. The military uses the M16, M4, and other rifles and carbines. Military rifles are typically select fire.
What caliber is the AR 15?
The AR is a very adaptable and utilitarian platform. Although a "typical" AR15 is chambered in .223 Wylde, .223 Remington, or 5.56 NATO, you can get one in virtually any mass-production caliber, including pistol calibers - that at that point you start to get into weapons categorized as AR-9s (9mm "Pistol Caliber Carbine), AR-10s (7.62x39), and others. There are ARs chambered in everything from .22lr to .50 caliber.
