AR15 is popular

The Army adopted the AR15 under the designation M16 back during the Viet Nam war.  That’s maybe 60 years ago.  Many men learn to shoot the M16 in the Army and find they like it.  Later, in civilian life, when they want a deer rifle, they tend to buy the AR15 because they have shot it a lot in the army, and liked it.  It’s an easy gun to like, it’s light, and recoil is very low.  The .223 round is powerful enough for deer and it is light, so carrying a good many rounds is easy. 

   What’s the difference between and AR15 and an army M16?  They are basically the same rifle, most parts interchange.  The AR15 is a semi automatic rifle, pulling the trigger gives you one shot.  The M16 used to be fully automatic.  Pull the trigger back and hold it and BRAP, the entire magazine was fired off. The Army decided that this used up too much ammunition, leaving patrols out of ammo after a single brush with the enemy.  So the new M16’s only fire a three round burst instead of the entire magazine.  I suppose we can call this fully automatic.

   Anyhow that is why there are a lot of AR15s and AR15 clones out there.   Guys learned them in the Army and liked them.