Black Guns: AR/MSR http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/04/robert-farago/wilson-combat-black-rifle-market-on-the-brink-of-collapse/ Contrary to popular belief, "AR" when referencing firearms does not stand for "Assault Rifle."  AR is an abbreviation for the original company that created this style of firearm, ArmaLite, Inc.  Also the M-16 designation stands for model 16, nothing more.  This is a common misconception.  ArmaLite sold the patents on the designs in 1959 to Colt Manufacturing.  The platform that ArmaLite produced is one of the most versatile and customizable firearm platforms available on the market today. This platform has the capability to be customized by the owner to be anything from  the standard 36 inch barrel design with an effective range of 800 yards, to a 50 inch barrel sniper rifle that is accurate beyond 1500 yards.  One reason for this may be that it was originally designed for the military and needed to be extremely versatile. These firearms also have a large range of calibers from .22lr to .50 BMG.  The standard AR-15  shoots a 5.56mm or .223 round, or a 7.62x39mm which is the AK-47, Kalashnikov, round.  I can personally say that the 5.56mm/.223 round can be accurately fired at 600 yards.  The trajectory of this round is easily predictable.  If one was to sight in this type of firearm at 100 yards, it is a simple thing to adjust the height for distance.  If one was to aim 4 feet above a target at 600 yards it will be hit.  At 500 yards the adjustment is 3 feet above the target.   http://www.loadammo.com/Topics/Octobe1.jpg These firearms were also designed to minimize the recoil energy transferred  to the shooter.  The .223 caliber round is only slightly larger than a .22 long rifle.  Also .223 is one of the smallest rifle rounds that is available on the market.  To put this in perspective, recall the round that was looked at earlier was a .30-06 and had 17.82 foot pounds of recoil energy with a recoil velocity of 11.97 feet per second.  The .223 Remington has a recoil energy of only 3.02 foot pounds with a recoil velocity of 4.93 feet per second.  This means that the .223 Remington has 16.95 percent of the recoil energy and 41.3 percent of the recoil velocity of one of the most popular hunting rounds in Alaska.