Magnum Mania!

The M16A1 is the iconic version of the M16; it is the one that was most commonly used in the Vietnam war, so it is the one you are most likely to see in a Vietnam war movie (or a Magnum P.I. Vietnam flashback scene), and in action-oriented movies and TV shows in general from the '70s and '80s.

I built this a couple years ago, using a new old stock USGI Colt-manufactured M16A1 that had been broken down into a "parts kit" (which included everything but the lower receiver, which isn't legal for a civilian to own because it was never registered with the ATF as per NFA '34, and the registry was closed in 1986 as per the Hughes amendment to FOPA '86) and a Nodak Spud NDS-16A1 lower receiver (which are A1-style lower receivers specifically colored to match those 1970s-era Colt M16A1 parts kits that were on the market a couple of years ago; a dark gray color rather than the black of A2-style lower receivers).

I used a new Colt-manufactured semi-auto-only AR-15 fire control group in it, and found a new old stock M1 "seatbelt" sling for it, still in the sealed brown paper package dated 1969. The standard cotton M1 slings tended to rot in the jungles of Vietnam, so they made a version of it using the same material (and weave pattern) as car seatbelts were made out of at the time, which solved the problem:



It is very accurate (as M16s/AR-15s tend to be by design) and functions flawlessly. Colt never released a civilian version of the M16A1, and I've always wanted one. I had a Colt AR-15 SP1 when I was a teenager, which was very similar, but it was more like an M16 than an M16A1, i.e., it had no forward bolt assist and no magazine release button fence; it also had a few annoying changes compared to an M16 that were made for no good reason, such as the selector stops being machined off, and the front hinge pin being a large screw rather than the proper captive push-pin.

So here are a couple of pictures of my M16A1 "clone":

MaximRecoil wrote:The M16A1 is the iconic version of the M16; it is the one that was most commonly used in the Vietnam war, so it is the one you are most likely to see in a Vietnam war movie (or a Magnum P.I. Vietnam flashback scene), and in action-oriented movies and TV shows in general from the '70s and '80s.

I built this a couple years ago, using a new old stock USGI Colt-manufactured M16A1 that had been broken down into a "parts kit" (which included everything but the lower receiver, which isn't legal for a civilian to own because it was never registered with the ATF as per NFA '34, and the registry was closed in 1986 as per the Hughes amendment to FOPA '86) and a Nodak Spud NDS-16A1 lower receiver (which are A1-style lower receivers specifically colored to match those 1970s-era Colt M16A1 parts kits that were on the market a couple of years ago; a dark gray color rather than the black of A2-style lower receivers).

I used a new Colt-manufactured semi-auto-only AR-15 fire control group in it, and found a new old stock M1 "seatbelt" sling for it, still in the sealed brown paper package dated 1969. The standard cotton M1 slings tended to rot in the jungles of Vietnam, so they made a version of it using the same material (and weave pattern) as car seatbelts were made out of at the time, which solved the problem:



It is very accurate (as M16s/AR-15s tend to be by design) and functions flawlessly. Colt never released a civilian version of the M16A1, and I've always wanted one. I had a Colt AR-15 SP1 when I was a teenager, which was very similar, but it was more like an M16 than an M16A1, i.e., it had no forward bolt assist and no magazine release button fence; it also had a few annoying changes compared to an M16 that were made for no good reason, such as the selector stops being machined off, and the front hinge pin being a large screw rather than the proper captive push-pin.

So here are a couple of pictures of my M16A1 "clone":

Wow!!! Beautiful piece!

Of course, the way things are going, you'll only be able to own sling-shots in a few years. Enjoy owning firearms while we can!

Seriously, cool replica. I've not invested any time to map out the particulars in creating vintage firearms, but it looks very well done. I know some of the history of the M-16 from my time in the US Army ('89-'93). I noticed the picture covered the third position option on the selector switch (as it should while on "safe").

I'm sure it's blank under there....

Enjoy!!!

Kevster wrote:Wow!!! Beautiful piece!

Thanks!

Of course, the way things are going, you'll only be able to own sling-shots in a few years. Enjoy owning firearms while we can!

Seriously, cool replica. I've not invested any time to map out the particulars in creating vintage firearms, but it looks very well done. I know some of the history of the M-16 from my time in the US Army ('89-'93). I noticed the picture covered the third position option on the selector switch (as it should while on "safe").

I'm sure it's blank under there....

Enjoy!!!

Yes, it is blank under there. Some people have gone so far as to have the word "auto" engraved there, along with using an M16 selector switch that will physically move to the "auto" position (but still be semi-auto in that position of course). In some cases they have even made a mockup of an auto sear pin above the selector switch (usually by simply engraving a circle, but in some cases, drilling a shallow hole that doesn't go completely through and attaching a short section of a pin into it). Some people have had the Colt logo engraved on the side of the magazine well too (or Harrington & Richardson, or Hydra-Matic). I think taking it that far is risky. The people who enforce the law aren't necessarily gun experts (nor are they necessarily legal experts), and if they see the word "auto" on the side of your rifle which looks an awful lot like an M16, and especially if the selector switch will actually move to that position, who knows what would happen? Sure, you'd eventually be cleared when it's determined that your rifle is in fact semi-auto-only (ideally anyway, assuming the ATF doesn't trump up some "intent to construct a machine gun" charge on you), but who wants the hassle, or possibly even an arrest?

The U.S. shipped a load of new Colt-manufactured M16A1s to Israel in the 1970s, and they went into storage and stayed there until a couple of years ago, when they were completely disassembled and sold to dealers in the U.S. (minus the lower receiver of course). This presented a rare opportunity to build an M16A1 clone using new USGI Colt-manufactured parts all from a single gun.

Prior to this, if someone wanted to do this, they would have to scrounge [usually well-used] USGI parts from various sources, and then there was the problem of finding an appropriate lower receiver. Very few companies have ever made a semi-auto-only A1-style lower receiver, and the one or two options that were out there were hard to find, poor quality, and the wrong color (black rather than dark gray). So a lot of people ended up using A2-style lower receivers, which can be found anywhere, but are also the wrong color, and have the wrong design as well (though they are functionally compatible). This results in a gun that looks like this:





Then Nodak Spud came along, a small 2-man operation in Minnesota, owned by an AR-15/M16 enthusiast and perfectionist. He started making various "retro" parts, all with amazing quality; perfect machining and fit & finish; tight tolerances and accurate dimensions. He also teamed up with the US Anodizing company to finish the parts in a color that matched the old Colt color (you can see in my pictures in my previous post that the color of the Nodak lower receiver is an excellent match to the color of the 1970s Colt upper receiver, which they call "XM Gray").

The Nodak lower receiver that I got was beautiful; perfect. Everything was a perfect fit and in perfect alignment. Colt themselves couldn't have done a better job.

MR: Beautiful job on the M16A1 clone! Anybody would be happy and proud to own that. Well done.