The Browning Automatic Rifle or BAR. Ask a Second World War, Korean War, or Vietnam War veteran how it is pronounced. If you say "bar," they will tell you that is where people go to drink alcohol. The correct pronunciation is, and has always been, "bee-ay-ar" - or simply sounding out each of the letters in the abbreviation of the weapon's name.
The exact same method of pronunciation applies to Colt's CAR-15. It is NOT pronounced "car fifteen" (like an automobile), it is "cee-ay-ar fifteen." I was at a gun show looking a certain dealer's wares. Another person, in their twenties, was at the dealer's table before I arrived. The person was talking to the dealer about modifying this and that on a "car fifteen." I honestly believed the person was referring to something made by Kahr Arms. It was only after I actually started paying attention to the conversation did I realize the person was talking about an AR-15 semi-automatic clone.
The pronunciation of CAR-15 is derived from the pronunciation of, not only the BAR, but the original AR-15, which is pronounced "ay-ar fifteen" (not "ar fifteen"). The CAR-15 has ALWAYS been pronounced "cee-ay-ar fifteen" by Colt and the end user, the United States military. Further, Colt applied the designation CAR-15 to their family of SELECT-FIRE weapons, NOT the semi-automatic ones. Calling a semi-automatic AR-15 (or clone) a "CAR-15" is completely incorrect.
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