Aberdeen Proving Grounds 1960 AR-15 Test
Linked above is a PDF report from February, 1960, about some early AR-15 testing. I’ve had it for a while but don’t believe that I’ve discussed or posted it in the past. There’s a large amount of technical data, to include precise gas port diameter and location, distance the bolt travels before unlocking, precise travel of the front sight post per notch moved, and so on.
It also includes multiple 10 shot group accuracy testing, 6000 round endurance testing, extreme heat and cold testing, dust testing (though limited in scope), mud testing – which appears to be far more involved than the “mud testing” we see on YouTube from time to time, as they introduced mud to the FCG, causing failures of the trigger to return forward on its own – something I have encountered while trying this as well – rain testing, and cook-off testing.
Broken parts were encountered, and as described in the appendices, they included extractors, extractor springs, and firing pins, but also rather nonessential parts such as a trigger that broke in the -65F testing but was not replaced because the weapon still functioned, handguards that came unriveted, cracked stocks, sling swivels that came apart, etc.
It should be noted that these weapons were functioning at a cyclic rate of between 746 and 796 rounds per minute. Many variants of the platform available today operate at much higher rates of fire, to their eventual detriment.
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