Book Review:
Living with the AR-15
(The Complete Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Rifle for Civilians)
I must say, I thoroughly enjoy reading the Boatman books on firearms-related subjects. The father-son team of Robert and Morgan Boatman are both experienced firearms enthusiasts and accomplished writers who produce very informative works on their favorite subject matter. As an added bonus, their writing style is both direct and, quite often, humorously entertaining. While recently reviewing Robert’s book on the versatility and indispensability of the AR-15, I found him to be in top form. The book entitled: Living with the AR-15 (The Complete Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Rifle for Civilians) is a concise advocacy piece on why all free citizens of the Republic ought to have an AR, or two, or three… in their battery.
Without question the book is a rip roaring read covering everything from the origins of the AR-15 platform, its subsequent maturation into a robust and reliable weapon, and on to its unique modular design - all written with a decidedly Conservative bent. Sprinkled liberally (small “l”, not capital “L”) throughout the text are interesting asides where the author discusses many of the historical, military, social, and political issues which have impacted the AR platform over the years. He addresses these in rather direct, un-PC fashion, and this makes for a most interesting read of what would otherwise be dry, technical type information. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being critical of Boatman’s position on things political or social. As a staunch, freedom loving Conservative myself, with more than a passing knowledge of history, I share most of his positions.
To begin Boatman traces the origins of the revolutionary AR design back to late WWII, and work by the Germans and the Russians to field lightweight “assault rifles” chambered for relatively lighter, intermediate powered cartridges. This as opposed to fielding larger, heavier battle rifles with their correspondingly larger, more powerful cartridges. From that point onward, the arms designers’ Holy Grail was to give the infantry soldier a rifle embodying the optimum balance between firepower, lethality, and portability, for use in shorter range engagements hypothesized as being the norm in future combat. A bit later on in the post-war period Eugene Stoner, here in the U.S., began work on his AR design which would attempt to satisfy these basic criteria.
To read the full "Living with the AR-15" review, click the following link:
http://www.armsvault.com/gunreviews_0010_boatman_livingwithar15.html
This review can also be found on AR-15 Rifle Vault: http://www.ar-15rifles.net/
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