Summary: The Most Versatile Firearm

The Most Versatile Firearm in the World: The AR-15

Trevor Burgart

8th Period

American Literature

February 6, 2017

Bam bam bam! Oh the awesome sounds of a firearm. Understanding firearms is a very good thing to know, that way if the need arises, you can defend yourself, and know how to take care of your firearm. It will also help you build your own rifle, in this case an AR-15, so you know the ins and outs of firearms. Firearms can either be mechanically simple or complicated, but if you know some of the basic operating principles and the parts that all work together, it will be a lot easier to understand.

Firearms today use cartridges, and cartridges are made up of various parts that all work together to make sure that the

These parts all work together to make sure the firing pin firmly strikes the primer on the cartridge and sends the bullet out of the barrel towards the intended target. First is the trigger, which on the AR-15 has the sear directly attached to it. The trigger extends into the lower receiver and the sear sits horizontally, they are one piece. The front part of the sear sits in a groove in the bottom part of the hammer. When the trigger is pulled, it pulls the sear down which pulls it out of the groove in the base of the hammer. The hammer spring then launches the hammer, rotating it towards the rear of the bolt carrier, where the firing pin is. “When the trigger is pulled, the front edge of the trigger moves downward, disengaging the hammer, allowing the hammer spring to drive the hammer forward into the firing pin. This action causes the firing pin to move slightly forward impacting the primer of the cartridge, thus causing the powder charge to ignite.” (Conway, Gary) According to AR15BARRELS.COM, “Primer flash ignites powder charge, instantly creating great pressure within the cartridge case.” That pressure helps force the bolt backwards. As the bolt carrier group flies backwards, it pushes the hammer back, and the hook that is on the hammer

The upper, much like the lower, is all low tolerance high quality machined pieces of art. The upper receiver houses the bolt carrier group, the charging handle, the dust cover, the forward assist, the barrel, gas block, gas tube, handguard, sights, and optics. The bolt carrier houses the bolt, the bolt is what has the extractor and ejector attached to it. The extractor grabs the rim of the cartridge and pulls the casing out of the chamber after firing, when the bolt carrier group gets all the way back, the ejector is actuated and pops out quickly to eject the casing from the receiver. All the bolt carrier does is house the bolt. The charging handle is used to pull the bolt carrier group back, and the forward assist does the opposite, if the bolt carrier group doesn’t go into battery (fully go forward) then the forward assist needs to be pushed to force it forward. Another one of the most important components of any firearm is the barrel, at the back of the barrel is the chamber, which is where the cartridge is at prior to firing. “It’s really a straightforward mechanical operation. The best and brightest firearms designers have achieved it for the past 120 years with a variety of ingenious solutions.” (Hopkins, Cameron) When fired, the bullet actually is pushed by the gases, forcing it through the barrel. When the bullet gets past the gas port, some of the