Image credit
- Title
- File:Stoner 63 Assault rifle.png
- Author
- Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stoner_63_Assault_rifle.png
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v944.9 m/s3,100 fpsverified
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
measured at this barrel length
Inputs
- v944.9 m/s3,100 fpsverifiedsourceTable 2-1, muzzle velocity for the M16A2: 3,100 fps. The M855 is the manual's service round for that rifle.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
3 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm3.58 kg7.893 lbestimatedsourceRifle configuration, from the article's specifications table (not the infobox, which carries no weight or length fields for this modular system); no inline citation is given there.
- v_recoil1.061 m/s3.479 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights. This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity30estimatedsourcepublished as a 20- or 30-round detachable box magazine for the box-fed configurations, from the infobox, uncited there.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v944.9 m/s3,100 fpsverified
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- diameter5.7 mm0.2244 inestimatedsourceNo free NATO dimensional standard is published. The C.I.P. datasheet for the .223 Remington, which shares this bullet, gives a cartridge-maximum bullet diameter of 5.70 mm.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- velocity944.9 m/s3,100 fpsverified
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
- n30estimatedsourcepublished as a 20- or 30-round detachable box magazine for the box-fed configurations, from the infobox, uncited there.
- rpm800 rpmestimatedsourcemidpoint of a published 700-900 rounds/min range for the AR, Rifle, Carbine and Commando configurations, from the infobox, uncited there.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Variants
Carbine
The short-barrelled, retractable-stock configuration of the Stoner 63 system, keeping the same receiver group, gas system and box-magazine feed as the rifle on a shorter barrel.
- Mass, empty
from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
- Length
stock extended, from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
- Length, folded
stock collapsed, from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
- Barrel length
from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
Commando
A short-barrelled fixed-stock configuration of the Stoner 63 system, further shortened overall compared to the Carbine.
- Mass, empty
from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
- Length
from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
- Barrel length
a short, fluted 15.7 in barrel, from the article's specifications table and body text, uncited there.
AR (Automatic Rifle)
An automatic-rifle configuration of the Stoner 63 built for a squad-support role while still feeding from a detachable box magazine rather than a belt, sharing the rifle's overall length and barrel but built heavier.
- Mass, empty
from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
| Variant | Years | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Carbine | — | Mass, empty, Length, Length, folded, Barrel length |
| Commando | — | Mass, empty, Length, Barrel length |
| AR (Automatic Rifle) | — | Mass, empty |
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table, and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Gas, long-stroke piston
- Roles
- Designed in
- United States
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1963
- Production
- not recorded
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
Rifle configuration, from the article's specifications table (not the infobox, which carries no weight or length fields for this modular system); no inline citation is given there.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
Rifle configuration, from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
- Length, folded
- not recorded
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
Rifle configuration, from the article's specifications table, uncited there.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
midpoint of a published 700-900 rounds/min range for the AR, Rifle, Carbine and Commando configurations, from the infobox, uncited there.
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- not recorded
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- 5.56x45mm NATOprimary30 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Stoner 631,022 mm40.24 inheight not recorded
Representative outline: the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Stoner 63 records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion. That height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Gallery
Image credit
- Title
- File:Stoner 63 variants at Quantico, 1969.jpg
- Author
- USMC Archives(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY 2.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stoner_63_variants_at_Quantico,_1969.jpg
Detail
Eugene Stoner designed the Stoner 63 after leaving ArmaLite, built around one core idea: a common receiver and bolt group that could be reconfigured, by swapping barrel, stock and feed modules, into a rifle, a carbine, an automatic rifle, or a belt-fed light, medium or fixed machine gun. Where the AR-15 and AR-10 had been single-purpose weapons, the Stoner 63 let one action serve every squad role a rifle platoon needed, built by Cadillac Gage rather than ArmaLite itself.
Its combat record is tied closely to one user: Navy SEALs adopted the light-machine-gun configuration in Vietnam as the Mark 23 Mod 0 and favoured it enough that the type is still associated with SEAL small-unit tactics of the era, while Marine Corps trials in 1967 tested several configurations including the LMG and a medium-machine-gun variant. The wider system never won a general-issue contract. Army trials found reliability problems tied to ammunition tolerances the design was unusually sensitive to, and the whole modular system demanded more cleaning and maintenance than the M16 it would have to outperform to justify the switch. Once American withdrawal from Vietnam removed the urgency behind a new infantry weapon, the programme lapsed, and the belt-fed role it had filled for the SEALs eventually passed to the M249 by the late 1980s.
This entry models the box-magazine Rifle configuration as the primary entry, with the Carbine, Commando and squad-support AR configurations recorded as variants since they share the same receiver, gas system and magazine feed and differ only in barrel length, stock and weight. The belt-fed LMG, MMG and FMG configurations are not modelled here: they use a different feed system, and the ranges published for their rate of fire and effective range span far more than the box-fed configurations, so treating them as one data point would misstate all of them.
Every figure in this entry comes from the Wikipedia article’s specifications table or infobox without an
inline citation, so each is recorded as estimated. No twist rate is published.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Stoner 63 · Wikipedia · 1363253063 · read 2026-09-09 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-09-09 · review status: agent-populated