The Eugene Stoner Tapes - Part 1: Designing the AR-15

This video is one of many in a series created from an interview conducted by Edward C. Ezell with Eugene Stoner in 1988 at ARES Inc. in Port Clinton, Ohio. All the footage is courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. All I have done is try to fix the audio and cut some of the waiting time between tapes out. So otherwise, what you are seeing is entirely unadulterated.
Feel free to ask any questions about the various topics of the video in the comments. I will do my best to answer them.

TIMESTAMPS
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0:00 - Credits
1:25 - How Stoner started working on firearms
3:14 - How Stoner started working at ArmaLite
4:30 - The beginnings of the AR-10
8:10 - Designing for the Army's lightweight rifle program
9:47 - Dutch production of the AR-10
11:44 - General Wyman and the origins of .223
15:56 - Scaling down the AR-10 into the AR-15
18:44 - Ordnance Corps' view of the AR-15
21:55 - Comments on the M14
24:53 - ArmaLite's worries about bias towards the AR-15
26:00 - Rigged tests at Fort Greely in Alaska
30:03 - Strong words from a bird colonel at Fort Greely
32:00 - The "results" of the Alaskan tests
33:24 - The 6mm shell game to delay Stoner until the M14's adoption
36:02 - Comments on contractors being isolated from weapons testing
37:14 - An amusing story about a private at Fort Benning
42:42 - Stoner on the advantages of and reasons behind the .223 cartridge
47:20 - "Emotional" issues in testing between the AR-15 and M14
50:20 - The design of the safety
50:36 - The use of aluminum and various manufacturing techniques in the AR-10/AR-15
53:22 - Stoner discusses his gas system, and how it is not direct impingement like the Ljungman
57:17 - Discussion on the AR's buffer
59:40 - The use of chrome on early bolts and carriers and anodizing on the receivers
1:01:47 - The moving of the charging handle due to issues in the Arctic

The Eugene Stoner Tapes playlist:    • The Eugene Stoner Tapes  

All footage is used with permission from the Smithsonian Institution Archives.