Many older folks might find it interesting that the AR-15 has been around long enough, that the originals can be called "classics" now....
It doesn’t
seem like it was almost a year ago in May 2015 that I received the M16A1 parts
kit from What A Country. The price then was $478 with shipping, the price now
is $599.
I received a
$35 dollar price break for removal of the “evil bits” - Bolt Carrier, Trigger, Hammer, Dis-connector and Selector Lever
"Original Colt M16A1 Parts Kit.
Surplus used: Good condition. Will show some use/wear to all parts/furniture.
Ejection port door generally will have some discoloration.
These parts come from original Colt 1970's era M16A1 export rifles."
Surplus used: Good condition. Will show some use/wear to all parts/furniture.
Ejection port door generally will have some discoloration.
These parts come from original Colt 1970's era M16A1 export rifles."
Of course it cost me more that that to replace them with the approved items. I got the bolt carrier from PSA (they are out of stock as of this writing, I don't recall the exact price, but it was around $50 IIRC
and the ALG, mil-spec trigger group from AIM for $45
I bought a
20 in. lightweight barrel from Del-Ton for $154.
I also had
to order a safety selector which was missing from the parts kit from PSA for
$10 and an AR15 lost parts kit from Amazon with pins/springs to replace a few
pins that were also AWOL from the original parts kit.
Of course,
the NodakSpud receiver was $160, plus FFL fees for $195 total.
I went back and
forth trying to decide to order a gray or black receiver, and decided to go
with the black. It was probably almost six months from the time that I placed
my order to when I received it. Some of the time was taken up by my choice to
have a black finish instead of the standard gray. Maybe I should have gone with
the gray, but I like the looks of the black lower with the buttstock and
foreend that came with the parts kit, so I really don’t regret my choice.
It’s not
like I’m going to fool anyone into thinking that I have a real M16A1
anyway. Especially with NODAKSPUD instead
of a Colt or Armalite logo on the receiver.
A can of Brownells
matte black Aluma-Hyde II to match the upper receiver to the black lower was
$12.
I also had
to buy an armorer’s tool, and upper and lower receiver vice blocks for maybe
$50.
Total price for
the damage was just over $1,000.
Here is is finished, matching upper and lower and a period correct 20 round Colt magazine
It turns out this sort of build is pretty popular. As I was preparing this post, Colt announced (at the NRA Annual Meetings) that they were bringing back the Colt M16A1 (in semi-auto of course).
photo courtesy of The Firearm Blog
Here is is finished, matching upper and lower and a period correct 20 round Colt magazine
It turns out this sort of build is pretty popular. As I was preparing this post, Colt announced (at the NRA Annual Meetings) that they were bringing back the Colt M16A1 (in semi-auto of course).
photo courtesy of The Firearm Blog