The extra mass at the back of the carrier interacts with the sear and helps to reduce felt recoil during full-auto fire. To allow the auto sear to provide full-auto function, the M16's bolt carrier must be fabricated different from an AR-15's "commercial" bolt carrier group. It rests above the safety lever and behind the hammer and trigger, allowing the M16 parts kit to provide all three modes of fire. The M16's safety lever is fabricated with extra channels and shoulders to provide safe, semi-, and full-auto function. The M16 disconnector has an extra "tail" behind its spring notch to work with the safety lever. The M16 trigger has a small notch cut into the far end to accommodate the M16's disconnector. The M16 hammer has an extra hook at the top which is caught by the auto sear. The AR-15's lower parts kit is not capable of providing these two functions and can only afford semiautomatic fire - one round per trigger squeeze. The M16's lower parts kit uses a different trigger, disconnector, hammer, and safety selector lever in tandem with an auto sear to provide three-round-burst and fully automatic fire. Let's review how the magic happening inside the lower receiver separates the semiautomatic AR from the fully automatic M16. There are three main parts which are different between these two rifles. Let's see how the M16 is different from the AR-15 and we'll also cover the M4 carbine.Ĭheck out our guide on building a mil-spec AR-15. These are where the similarities between these two rifles end. The M16 and AR-15 use the same polymer buttstock, forged buffer tube, and forged aluminum (7075-T6) in their lowers. Materials used in the lower receiver are almost identical here. Both use the same stainless steel firing pins and gas tubes, and many AR-15s use the M16's front sight post/gas block combo shown above. Almost all AR-15 barrels are made from 4150 (CMV) steel used in the M16's barrel. The mil-spec AR and M16 use forged 7075-T6 receivers. Almost all their parts are directly interchangeable. These two rifles are nearly identical in materials and construction. The M4 carbine was later introduced, further blurring the lines between Stoner's semi- and fully automatic black rifles. 308-caliber AR-10, the smaller AR-15 was favored by military brass for its maneuverability, ammo capacity, and surprising wounding ability.Ĭolt re-designated the AR-15 the M16A1 and provided it for service in Vietnam in 1964. The M16 was made by Colt to be little more than a fully automatic AR-15 but today, there are loads of configurations available for both rifles. The rifle saw trials as part of a competition to replace the military's 7.62mm rifles. Based on the. Colt took the design and made some improvements to bolster accuracy and reliability. Facing financial difficulty, ArmaLite sold the AR-15 to Colt in 1959. This select-fire, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed rifle was designed to provide infantrymen with a new and lightweight rifle, one that could be carried more easily than the large 7.62mm NATO rifles then in use by the military. The AR-15 was designed in 1956 by Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite, an American small arms company based in California. So, what are the differences? Let's break down these sibling weapon platforms. These fully automatic rifles look identical to the typical AR-15. If you're a gun owner getting into the AR platform, you've already seen references to the M4 and M16, two military-issued rifles currently in service.
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