<P> As a result, the Army was forced to reconsider a 1957 request by General Willard G. Wyman, commander of the U.S. Continental Army Command (CONARC) to develop a . 223 caliber (5.56 mm) select - fire rifle weighing 6 lb (2.7 kg) when loaded with a 20 - round magazine . The 5.56 mm round had to penetrate a standard U.S. M1 helmet at 500 yards (460 meters) and retain a velocity in excess of the speed of sound, while matching or exceeding the wounding ability of the . 30 Carbine cartridge . This request ultimately resulted in the development of a scaled - down version of the ArmaLite AR - 10, called ArmaLite AR - 15 rifle . </P> <P> In 1958, ArmaLite submitted ten AR - 15 and one hundred 25 - round magazines for CONARC testing . The tests found that a 5 - to 7 - man team armed with AR - 15s has the same firepower as 11 - man team armed with M14s . That soldiers armed with AR - 15s could carry three times more ammunition as those armed with M14s (649 rounds vs 220 rounds). And, that the AR - 15 was three times more reliable than the M14 rifle . However, General Maxwell Taylor, then Army Chief of Staff, "vetoed" the AR - 15 in favor of the M14 . In 1959, ArmaLite now frustrated with the lack of results and suffering ongoing financial difficulties, sold its rights to the AR - 10 and AR - 15 to Colt . </P> <P> After acquiring the AR - 15, Colt promptly redesigned the rifle to facilitate mass production . Based on the final ArmaLite design, most notably, the charging handle was re-located from under the carrying handle, like the earlier AR - 10 to the rear of the receiver, like the later M16 rifle . Colt then renamed and rebranded the rifle "Colt ArmaLite AR - 15 Model 01" After a far East tour, Colt made its first sale of Colt ArmaLite AR - 15 rifles to Malaya on September 30, 1959 . Colt manufactured their first batch of 300 Colt ArmaLite AR - 15 rifles in December 1959 . Colt would go on to market the Colt ArmaLite AR - 15 rifle to military services around the world . </P> <P> In July 1960, General Curtis LeMay, then Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, was impressed by a demonstration of the AR - 15 and ordered 8500 rifles . In the meantime, the Army would continue testing the AR - 15, finding that the intermediate cartridge . 223 (5.56 mm) rifle is much easier to shoot than the standard 7.62 mm NATO M14 rifle . In 1961 marksmanship testing, the U.S. Army found that 43% of AR - 15 shooters achieved Expert, while only 22% of M - 14 rifle shooters did so . Also, a lower recoil impulse, allows for more controllable automatic weapons fire . </P>

When was the ar 15 first sold in the us