Colt AR-15 and AR-16 rifle manual collection

1959

Colt AR-15 .223. Automatic Military Rifle, Contractor's Operation Manual, 6 x 9 in., 23 pgs.

Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., Inc.

This business name (...Inc.) was used starting in 1957 to 1959

Full display with all pages

1959

Colt AR-15 Military Rifle, .223, 4 x 8.5 in., tri-fold, 6 pgs.

Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., Inc.

This business name (...Inc.) was used starting in 1957 to 1959

Full display of all six pages

Where it all began...

1961

Guerrilla Warfare and Special Forces Operations

5.5 x 11.25", 257 pages

Headquarters, Dept. of Army

1961 Guerrilla Warfare and Special Forces Operations

Application by Colt to the BATF for civilian sale of the AR-15 was made on Oct. 23, 1963. It was approved on Dec. 10, 1963, and sales of the civilian "Model R6000 Colt AR-15 SP1 Sporter Rifle" began on Jan 2, 1964 (Note: No forward assist).

Factory publicity photos: The Colt 1964 AR-15 Sporter Rifle, Caliber .223. with no forward assist. Also, a Colt carbine prototype with a collapsible wire-stock and no forward assist which was fitted with a screw attachment on the forearm for mounting inside a Bradley Troop Carrier.

The manual below was published at that time with the early 'COLT' company name on the front and: Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., INC, on the back.

1964 More...

Second Version

Colt AR-15 Sporter Rifle, Caliber .223, Operation and Maintenance manual,

6 x 9 in., 15 pages, no date, 'Archery Equipment' red banner

Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., Inc

1964 Colt AR-15 sporter rifle .223 second version backside

Note: Diagram dated 5-13-1964 and the Sporter was introduced in the 1964 Colt catalog

1964

Colt AR-15, Military caliber 5.56mm, Brochure Bulletin D-1 in German

8.5 x 11in., 8 pgs. on medium weight paper. Form 5464-6409

Colt Industries / Colt's Firearms Division

1964 Colt AR-15, 5.56mm, brochure in German

All eight pages display

1970

Colt Military Arms Division

Light Machine Gun 5.56mm CMG-2

8.5 x 11 in., spiral bound 100+ pgs proposal to the U.S. Air Force

Historical photos of the Colt factory

Colt Industries / Colt's Military Arms Division

Extensive images and discussion

1974

Colt M-16, Military caliber 5.56mm, Brochure Bulletin D-4 in English

8.5 x 11 in., 8 pgs on medium weight paper,

Form 91816 A9-74

Colt Industries/Firearms Division

All eight pages display

c. 1974

Colt M-16, Military, caliber 5.56mm, Brochure in French

8.5 x 11 in., 8 pages on medium weight polished paper, published in Paris, France. No date or Form #

Colt Industries / Firearms Division

All eight pages display

1969 More...

Third Version

Colt AR-15 Sporter Rifle, Caliber .223, Operation and Maintenance Manual,

6 x 9 in., 15 pages, no date or Form #, 'Archery Equipment' red banner

Colt Industries / Firearms Division

Note: Diagram still dated 5-13-1964

In 1959 Colt's Manufacturing Company changed their name to 'Fairbanks-Whitney' Corporation and in 1964 became Colt Industries with 'Colt' becoming the 'Firearms Division' of Colt Industries

1964 More...

(7 pages) Introduction of the AR-15 Sporter caliber .223 to the civilian marketplace by Colt for the first time

1964 Colt rifles and shotguns catalog introducing the AR-15 civilian issue

Colt AR-15 Sporter rifle R6000

1965: The M-16 Becomes the Primary Military Service Rifle. The first M-16 rifles were issued in March of 1965. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and American troops poured into South Vietnam, armed with 300,000 brand new M-16's bought from Colt. This photo is a Colt publicity image from 1965.

The rifle wasn't without its problems. First, soldiers weren't given cleaning kits. Even today, the AR-15 models are infamous for being much less able to take rugged terrain than its Russian counterpart: the Ak-47.

Colt had erroneously claimed the rifle to be self-cleaning. This meant if the rifle wasn't clean it would keep jamming. Most often, the problem was "failure to extract," i.e. the cartridge would get stuck in the chamber after firing. Report after report came in about soldiers found dead, rifles in pieces in front of them as they desperately tried to put their rifle back together in time to shoot back. In the words of one Marine:

"We left with 72 men in our platoon and came back with 19. Believe it or not, you know what killed most of us? Our own rifle. Practically every one of our dead was found with his (M16) torn down next to him where he had been trying to fix it." (Time Magazine, 1967)

July 1966. Members of the 16th Armor, 173 Airborne Brigade advance down an ox-cart trail near Ben Cat, just north of Saigon. GI holding an M-60 machine gun. U.S. Army photo.

A new M-16 rifle was redesigned and called the M16A1. Included with the rifle was an Army produced comic book, outlining how to clean and take care of the rifle.

1967

M16 Service and Care 'Comic booklet'

U. S. Military issue, Colt M-16A1, Operation and Preventive Maintenance,

5 x 7 1/4",

Produced by Dept. of the Army, under Gen. Westmoreland