THAT'S What It Reminds Me Of

Something about how Dottie looked was reminding me of another gun.

At first I thought that it was an AR-18, but it hit me today:

Dottie most resembles a Taiwanese T65 rifle.

 

It's similar, not exact, but...

I can relax now.

Proing

Got the Wilson Combat Accu-Tac flash-hider installed.

I like the retro-modern look of the AccuTac, and I've used them before.

Olive still sports one, albeit in 5/8-24 instead of 1/2-28 on account of being 6.8x43mm.

Because that upper used to be Dottie's, it seemed appropriate that Dottie return to wearing this model of 3-prong.

FuzzyGeff, has one on his Olga.

Will it make Dottie more accurate?  Probably not.  Does it do a better job of hiding the flash?  Very marginally vs the A2 birdcage I took off.  Does it look cooler?  Subjectively, yes it does! (YMMV)

Dottie, strangely considering I have a purple AR, has become the gun of whimsy.  Hardly a thing about her current build is to make her more functional.  But I'm ending up with a carbine that points well, shoots well and is very comfortable.

Accidental functionality in the pursuit of fun?  I will take it! 

So Different

I am so enamored with Dottie's current configuration that I grabbed Tabitha to see how they compared...

They both have early furniture, but the slightly heavier Dottie points so much better.

I'm at a loss.  Dottie just feels better than Tabitha.

There's so many ineffable gun things.

Retroesque

Dottie now has repop Brownell's triangle handguards to go with her vintage A1 pistol grip and stock.

Brand new Orlite magazine for looks.

The Brownell's Retro handguards are a bit crude in the heat shields, but they fit well.

No issue with the Orlite's ribs in getting the magazine locked and the bolt-stop working on any of the AR's here.  Will they affect feed?  Dunno.  Gonna have to put it in the rifle case and put a few rounds through each gun as I shoot them.  Going to be a long term project to test against all of them. 

Easier To Show Than Tell

I'm familiar with most of this kit from photos and books, but never seen most of them in action.

Pretty neat!

How To Make An IDF M16A1 With This One Wierd Trick

If you put an Orlite magazine into your M16A1 clone, it's magically transformed into an Israeli M16A1!

This also shows why you need to grind down the overinsertion ribs for most guns.

Many, if not most, AR magazine wells won't let you get an Orlite magazine fully inserted without some carving or grinding on the overinsertion rib.

While taking these pics I noticed that, now that I have an Orlite magazine and a KaBar, I can take an almost fully accurate picture of the painting from the Twilight: 2000 Small Arms Guide.  I don't have the right ammo box, but I have one that's VERY close. 

I Have A Stalled Project

International Milspec has beat me to production.

 

I can see several differences between the real E4A and what they've done; and I might just steal their changes for mine when I finally get around to making it.

Factual Error

When verifying that Bushmaster is who coined the term "dissipator" for a 16" barrel with a rifle length sight and handguard, I encountered this article from Pew Pew Tactical.

In this article is a photo:

Colt 605 with suppressor, Vietnam 1968

They identify that rifle as an R605.

It is not.

That's an M16A1 or an R603.

The HEL E4 suppressor overlaps the barrel, it doesn't attach right at the front sight base.

I know it's a little obscure, but...

Then there's this photo:

“New York” with Colt 605a and suppressor and “Jackie” with M-16/M79 grenade launcher

Again, not an R605.  That's an M16A1 with a HEL E4 again.  Notice the forward assist?  But the caption contains another glaring error, that I replicated above.  Did you spot it?

I think we can skip citing Pew Pew Tactical as an authoritative source...

For Photographic Purposes Only

This is as close as I am taking Dottie to being an R605 clone.

I borrowed the handguards from Bubba's AR and did some judicious relieving to get clearance around the allen head.

I gotta admit, it looks right.

Not going to leave it this way though. 

This is the normal mode:

 

National Retro Day?

 

As Many As Smallpox

55gr 5.56x45mm from a 20" 1:12 pencil barrel works.

It worked well enough that the Russians Soviets copied the idea based on data they'd accumulated in Vietnam.

While improving the materials for the furniture on the A2 was something that needed to happen, and flat-tops give a flexibility unheard of in 'Nam...

I'm still not convinced we needed to change to 1:7 and should not have acquiesced to the Belgians in 1980.

I know I've read treatise after treatise about how to improve on M855, and how that leads to using heavier rounds; I don't think I've seen a comparison between M193 from a 1:12 barrel compared to a 77gr SMK from a 1:7.

Maybe Even More

Condition is everything for vintage AR parts.

Because I got into the retro thing early on, the condition of my parts is generally excellent.

The condition of the parts kits going for $2k now is not so excellent.

I'm in a having cake or eating cake situation.

To reap the benefits of the appreciation of the parts, I would have to take my retro guns apart and sell said parts.

Then I would not have my retro AR's any more.

I like having them.

I've noticed that I have a lot of guns in this category.

I don't shoot them, but they get a good fondle from time to time.  (I'm dusting, why not fondle while I'm there?)

Noticing this has a tremendous chilling effect on "the wants" for other guns.

It doesn't eliminate those wants, it just makes it easier to bear.

Non-Liquid Assets

Things are getting strange out there in "retro" AR land.

That upper receiver is worth $400.

I paid $150 for it in 2008.

Apparently, nobody is making them any more.

 

The vintage uppers and furniture I got for $500 each for Roberta and Charlotte are running $2,000+ each now.

Wow.

I am so unused to things I buy becoming more valuable rather than depreciating.

Car Guys

Marv and I both remember Hydramatic M16's.

In his case, it was the rifle he signed for.

In my case, it was a rifle in the platoon.

Because all of our M16's were M16A2's, the one I remember had to have been subject an upgrade kit.

I only recall it because I remember saying, "Hydramatic, like the transmission?" 

Yes, like the transmission.

General Motors, Hydramatic Div. made M16A1's in the early '70's same time as Harrington and Richardson.  Mostly to show that we weren't tied to Colt as the sole manufacturer, partially to show Colt they didn't have a monopoly on making them.

I wish I'd known more at the time to make some notes.

An M16A1 converted to an M16A2 wasn't much more than the lower remaining from the original gun.

The "AUTO" marking was supposed to be changed to "BURST" and there were a few ways of doing that.

Selector markings were supposed to be added to the right side.

The buffer, spring and receiver extension were retained, but the entire fire control group was replaced, even the parts which were the same.

The complete upper assembly was replaced.

Probably saved $25 a copy.

Two

There have only been two A2 uppers that have passed through this house since I started getting into AR's.

Andrea wears the only one left.

The first one through was on The Lovely Harvey's second AR.

Cheyenne does not look much like this anymore.  She's now a clone of a R651P from Platoon because she likes SSG Barnes.

Cheyenne's old upper got sold off.  I can't remember if it went with the HBAR 20" barrel or not.  Andrea's came with the barrel from pre-Remington Bushmaster.

A2 stocks...  About five of those things have passed through here and been snatched up by eager cloners.  Usually just in time for me to decide I wanted to make an A2 clone again.

Now that I have an A2 and A4 clone, I think I have enough stocks to last for a while.

I Remember When

When I first started making AR's from kits, I was firmly set in making clones of retro guns.

Fortunately for me, I caught the bug when retro parts were practically being given away.  You cannot buy a vintage A1 upper receiver for what I paid for Bubba's complete A1 upper assembly.

I was ahead of the trend.

At the time kits were pretty evenly divided between A2 uppers and flat-tops; but the utility of the flat top took hold and there was suddenly tons of unwanted A2 uppers to be had.

I dabbled a bit at making an A2 clone but didn't really commit for years until I made one from an 80% lower engraved with the serial number from my issue M16A2.

I am glad I hung onto that A2 upper receiver now!

Just as quickly as the market was awash in A2 uppers... there were none.

A2 uppers just weren't around.

That appears to be changing, because the trend is now to make M16A2 clones.

What was old is new again!

I wonder if Beretta M9 and Model 92FS prices will spike along with it?

The Joy Of The M16A1

This photo is a placekeeper.  I'll take a better one.

I've said more than once that Eugene nailed the ergonomics on the M16 and Tabitha is no exception.

She just feels right compared to other AR's in the collection.

The only AR that I like shooting better is Brenda, the plastic fantastic AR found behind every blade of grass.

They're just comfortable!  Comfort matters!

The stocks are the right length, they don't grab my beard, they're balanced well.

Winning all around!

Living WIth The Model 59

Because the original genesis of the Model 59 was a request by the SEALs to make a Model 39 take Hi-Power magazines, there's a lot of the feel of the Hi-Power to it.

S&W, of course, went proprietary for the magazine.  Can't have customers paying the competition for things we can sell ourselves!

Again and again I am struck with the question, "There's nothing wrong with this gun, why did they stop making them?"

Which is odd, because I know perfectly well why they did.

Cost.

They simply cost too much to make.

S&W surely tried.  The Model 910 is a cheap as you're going to get this design and it failed against the juggernaut of Gaston.

Plastic injection molding cost much less than machining, and the frame of a pistol is a very complex part.  The plans and tooling drawings for the M1911A1 are out there on the intertubes and you can see how many operations are needed to make that frame from a hunk of steel.

Do all that, or just pull it from the mold 96% ready to go?

But, back to the original point.

I can say, with authority, that carrying a Model 59 is not significantly different from carrying a Hi-Power or M&P 9.  As long as you shoot them all about the same, and I do.

It's making me doubt some of the other conventional wisdoms of gun magazine writers with regards to what I should be toting on a daily basis.

It's almost as if their recommendations are driven more by advertising dollars than actual needs.  That's not true, a periodical NEEDS advertising dollars a surely as plants need sunshine.

I know my decision to carry in a shoulder holster is met with much scorn by the gun writers and instructorati, but it's a comfortable way to carry.  A sure way to get someone to stop doing something is to make it unpleasant.

How many means of packing are unpleasant?

How many are fine if you are fit and trim and live 36° or more from the equator?

You've got to figure out what works for YOU and don't worry about what works for THEM.

Their job, and they've forgotten it, was to make you aware of your options so you could make an informed decision.  They, like so many other places, have become advocates of The Way and like all acolytes they will not suffer dissent from their Holy teaching.

But I say, dissent!  Be different if it works better for you!

It's Happened

Remember how I set myself to liking my M16A4 clone?

It's now my favorite.

It doesn't hurt that it groups really well.

I think it's the extra mass.

I'm as surprised as the next person!

I was never a fan of the extra length of the A2 stock, but here we are.

Still Packing 1975

The Model 59 continues to do exactly what a more modern gun would do.

Collect lint from my armpit in its Miami Classic II.

It should be pointed out that it's been 100% reliable at the range so far with the TL8 17-rounders.

My experience is underscoring the idea that if you have a pistol suitable for carry, there's no reason to throw it away for an improvement in the margins.

On the downside, the sights are kinda hard to see sometimes, some white dots would be of great help.

I think I will paint the front sight with my glow-in-dark paint to give some contrast.

Under normal light, it's now a white front sight.  With a quick flash from a flashlight, it's the green seen above.

I'm carrying more than one light which will do, are you?