The ArmaLite AR-10 Rifle: The Saga of the First Modern Combat Rifle by Sam Pikula

Author:Sam Pikula [Pikula, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: General Fiction
Published: 2017-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER V

THE PORTUGUESE AND LIGHT MACHINE GUN AR-10

The development of the AR-10 could be compared to the growth of a Homo sapien. The “humpback” Hollywood versions were the AR-10 in its infancy, the Sudanese model was the rifles childhood, the adolescent years of neither child nor adult was the Transitional, and with the Portuguese variant the AR-10 was at last all grown up. The Portuguese model is the rifle that really should have been tested by the US Army at Springfield Armory-what a controversy its success would have caused! In the Portuguese model the dream of a reliable, robust, and simple AR-10 was found. However success came at a price-the rifle no longer weighed the svelte 6.85 pounds the Hollywood AR-10 did but 10.11 pounds. Regrettably though, much is unknown about this model. Exact dates, firm numbers, and hard data on the Portuguese variant are somewhat vague. This period in the AR-10’s history as we shall see in the next chapter was turbulent if not traumatic.

SIDEM in 1960 had managed to secure an order from the Portuguese for the AR-10. The Portuguese model is sometimes given a misnomer as the “NATO” or “Tropical” model. The most common figure for Portuguese models, listed in many authoritative books, holds the number produced at around 1200. This number is incorrect. So far is known, A.I. never skipped any numbers in the serial number range. A.I. started with serial number 000001 so there was no inflated numerical order or deception. When they switched serial number locations from the lower receiver on the Sudanese/Transitional models, to the upper receiver on the Portuguese, they maintained numerical continuity. The Transitionals serial numbers ended around 6000 (however there is hard evidence to indicate that a number of Transitionals were upgraded into the Portuguese version before they left the factory). Portuguese AR-10’s can be found with serial numbers from the high 4000’s, into the 9000 range, and all numbers in between. Several knowledgeable sources in Holland have stated to the author they believe that just under 10,000 of all AR-10’s were produced. This would seem to correspond with the serial numbers of the rifles extant. This also coincides with the number of AR-10’s that one finds world wide-while not scientific there just seems to be more Portuguese models around than the other two. The best estimate is that 4-5000 Portuguese models were produced.

The specific production dates for the Portuguese model are not known but most likely they were manufactured from late 1960 to early 1961. Most sources cite 1959-this is incorrect.

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