"WORLD'S FINEST BATTLE RIFLE" ARMALITE MODEL 10 BAYONET SCOPE GUN REFERENCE BOOK

Description

Even before Eugene Stoner joined ArmaLite as chief engineer in late 1954, he had already, independently developed a prototype rifle that would forever change the course of US small arms history. His M-8, soon to be dubbed the ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 X-01, featured a rotating, front-locking bolt and straight-line stock (both derived from the Johnson LMG used by the US Marine Corps in WW2), raised sights, and a revolutionary new take on the direct gas impingement system. Further improved by Stoner and the rest of the ArmaLite team with high tech plastic furniture, a forged aluminum receiver, "throw away" aluminum "waffle mags", and chambering for the new, powerful 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, the resulting model was lightweight, accurate, controllable even in full auto, and a prime candidate to be adopted by the US Army under their Lightweight Rifle Program. After the ill-fated testing of the ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 by Springfield Armory in January 1957, in which the rifle suffered a catastrophic barrel failure after firing 5,564 rounds under extremely adverse conditions, ArmaLite pivoted and signed a manufacturing agreement with the Dutch state owned arsenal Artillerie-Inrichtingen (A-I) in July of that same year. The contract gave ArmaLite the mass production partner necessary for commercial success, while preserving the US market for themselves, and gave A-I the entire domain of Europe. Small sales of the ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 were made to Cuba, Guatemala, and Italy, and sizable orders were fulfilled to Sudan and Portugal, the latter making the most extensive use of the rifle in combat during their "Guerra do Ultramar" (overseas wars) to preserve their colonies in Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea. Two battalions of Portuguese paratroopers were issued the rifle, and held the ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 in such high regard that when the plastic furniture began to deteriorate after hard use in harsh climates, they fashioned their own "jungle furniture" out of walnut and aluminum. In early 1961, the Dutch government restricted arms shipments to Portugal, and by July of that same year, the decision was made at A-I to halt all further ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 research and production. But a scaled down .223/5.56 version of the ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 was ordered by the US Air Force in the early 1960s as the ArmaLite Rifle Model 15, which proved so successful that it was eventually adopted by the US Army as the "sweet sixteen" later in the decade, and served the US military from the 1960s through the early 2000s. The development history of the ArmaLite Rifle Model 10 has been of great interest to collectors for decades, leading Joseph Putnam Evans to write an authoritative reference book on the subject in 2016. This "WORLD'S FINEST BATTLE RIFLE" ARMALITE MODEL 10 BAYONET SCOPE GUN REFERENCE BOOK is in near mint, unread condition, with only some light scattered storage wear evident (most pictured). Otherwise, the book is in near mint shape, with no other damage. Most interestingly, it boasts an elegantly illustrated dust jacket over hardcovers, and sports 371 pages full of descriptive text, period pictures, and color photographs of Eugene Stoner's early, independent prototypes, the M-5, M-6, M-7, and M-8, ArmaLite's early, pre-Stoner designs such as the "Para-Sniper, the ArmaLite floating survival rifle, tons of development history on the early Model 10s culminating in the disastrous testing at Springfield Armory, further revisions and modifications before and during Dutch production, all of the changes between the Cuban, Sudanese, and Portuguese contracts, wonderful details on the rifle's use in combat, especially by Portuguese paratroopers in Angola and Mozambique, great information on slings, bayonets, sights, barrels, handguards, pistol grips, selectors, markings, sniper scopes, belt fed versions, "parts kits" offered in the US during the 1980s, and modern incarnations, and a plethora of other invaluable information. A beautiful example of a "WORLD'S FINEST BATTLE RIFLE" ARMALITE MODEL 10 BAYONET SCOPE GUN REFERENCE BOOK. Now celebrating over 20 years on eBay. Bid with confidence and please view our other great military, aviation, and sporting classics, including a German WW2 MWC LUFTWAFFE PILOT B-UHR AUTOMATIC WRIST WATCH in MINT, unworn, new in the box condition, sporting a crisp 60 minute/12 hour (outer/inner) white numbers black dial, and featuring the classic big "onion" crown and sweeping seconds hand with hacking function.
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