According to the NSSF, there are around 20 million AR-type rifles in the US. https://www.businessinsider.com/us-20-million-ar-15-style-rifles-in-circulation-2022-5 In comparison, we currently have around 16.1 million F-series trucks on the street. https://fordauthority.com/2021/04/there-are-currently-16-1-million-ford-f-series-pickups-on-u-s-roads/ When was the last time you saw an Ford truck on the road? So often you don't notice, right? There you go.
Caetano v Massachusetts, 2016, established "hundreds of thousands sold" as the hurdle rate for "in common use". A later federal court decision in New York, Maloney v Singas, set an even lower number for "in common use" at 64,890. So, yes, in common use.
Heller notes that the firearms need not even be used for those traditionally laws purposes, but merely chosen for those purposes.
Don't forget how many MI Carbines the US Government-through the Department of Civilian Marksmanship and later the CMP-sold to US citizens. I assert you cannot claim that the AR 15 is legally distinguishable from the MI carbine at a rational level
the MI Garand does with its 30-06 round the MI Carbine does have a wood stock but its 110 grain bullet that travels just under 2000 FPS does not have the range of the 556
The MI Garand was/is sold by the Civilian Marksmanship Program too. JFK had one, so even the Garand is "in common use" and a battle rifle in WW2/Korea. So much for scary "weapon of war" nonsense. AR-10s are closer to the MI Garand than scary AR-15s.....but AR-10s are black and scary too, like me.
The official range of a 5.56 launched from an M-16 is 440 meters. That same bullet launched from an M4 is 660 meters. In Afghanistan, we issued M14's to "designated snipers" (not school trained) to engage Taliban attackers "command detonating" IED's at ranges in excess of 800 meters. M1A is the civilian (semi-auto only) version of the M14. My M1 stock is plastic. M1A fires 308 ammunition (civilian designation) or 7.62 NATO/7.62x51 (military designation).
you are saying the M4 has a longer effective range than the M16 despite the fact that the M4 has a shorter barrel?
A quick dive into the Web shows that the M-4 does group better than the M-16 and can be accurate out to 600m, but that's using M193 or M855 in the M16 and Mk 262 77 grain match bullets in the M4. Not an apples to apples comparison. I had no problem hitting IPSC sized steel out to 500 yards with 62g OTM with a 12.5" barrel, but I don't think I'd have the same results with M193. I would have been booted from the comp if I'd used M855
well I have the semi versions of both and when I shot the national service rifle matches, I used the 20" barreled version of what is essentially an accurarized M16 (Rock River National Match with a DCM legal Timney service rifle trigger-turner sling and a Krieger barrel.
Yes. That amazed me when I heard it too. But I know its true. I was working with Picatinny Arsenal on a weapon networking program at the time and one of the PhD's that worked for the Small Arms Research and Development Center told me that in passing.
is this with the same ammunition ( bullet weight). I know the guy who won the national service rifle championship (Ben Cleland) a couple years ago and IIRC he was using a highly accurized M16 rifle that the USA Marksmanship Unit gunsmiths built. 20" barrel IIRC> here is an addition-but here the rifle was allowed to have a scope-the standard service rifle matches cannot https://www.dvidshub.net/news/32551...h-first-ever-perfect-score-with-service-rifle
I never paid much attention to all the competitive shooting stuff. I have an experience in Iraq, just west of Ba'aquba which taught me all I needed to know about accuracy. The bad guy was about 200 meters away. I aimed center mass and hit him in the hand. He dropped his AK and ran into a doorway. I never saw him again. That was all the accuracy I needed.
that makes sense-I grew up competing in all sorts of shooting events. Including military service rifle-shot expert at 12 with a DCM Garand. I just always believed the M16 with the longer barrel-(especially the 1X7 vs the old nam era 1x12) and the SS109 62 grain bullet was more accurate than an M4 with the shorter barrel
well when I shot service rifle with the AR 15 (M16 clone) we didn't have the 78 grain bullets that you often load with a sled for slow fire at the 600 range. we were using 62 grain lake city stuff-I cannot recall if it was listed as SS109 or the 885 stuff-just that it had a 62 grain bullet. that was at least 30 years ago
SS 109 was a Navy thing... right? That was the boat that JFK Commanded and was sunk. He saved one guy by swimming "with a strap between his teeth". That whole story of the SS 109 is about real heroism. Yup... the old "SS 109"! Oh, wait... that was the "PT 109".... nevermind...
Biden's administration is talking about shutting down public access to M855. Stock up. By the way, in my world, "IIRC" means "Independent Infra-Red Countermeasures".... mainly on rotary wing aircraft. I love acronyms which mean one thing to one community and something entirely different to another. Things like "FFAR" (Folding Fin Aerial Rocket) and FARR (Forward Area Rearming and Refueling). I spent a lot of time working with small arms after I retired from the Army. But while in uniform, I was a Field Artilleryman. I Commanded an M110A2 (8") Battery. With a CEP (Circular Error Probable) of 90 meters, if impact was within 90 meters. accuracy was "good enough".
