 The Armalite AR-16 appeared in the later 1950s.The AR-16, a 7.62mm NATO selective-fire rifle, was Eugene Stoner's final design for ArmaLite.The AR-16 and its predecessor, the AR-12 were designed by Stoner in response to demands by the military forces of smaller, less developed nations for a less expensive, yet state-of-the-art selective-fire military rifle that unlike the AR-10 and AR-15, could be produced inexpensively of heavy-gauge sheet metal using automatic screw machines, lathes, and presses.