Evil black rifles.......

Retired Sarge · Jun 20, 2021

I have an AR15 that is a clone of the M16A2 I carried later in my career, been wanting to do an AR15 up like the M16 (604) I carried early in my career. Well I found a slick side upper last week, so I started my build.

Have a buddy hooking me up with a pencil barrel for the build. Have the A1 style pistol grip inbound and watching a few Type D buttstocks as we speak. Won't be 100% correct, but it will be close enough.

Picture 1 AR puzzle laid out.
Picture 2 showing the slick side (No forward assist, no shell deflector).
Picture 3 comparison with my A2.
Picture 4 my A2.

Fat · Jun 21, 2021

....really nice.... I like the look of forward assist. I haven’t looked close enough at the newer pieces without it. Knowing about it’s history I just want it.
The rear site adjustment is different also?
Does the knife have a bayonet attachment?

Retired Sarge · Jun 21, 2021

Fat said:
....really nice.... I like the look of forward assist. I haven?t looked close enough at the newer pieces without it. Knowing about it?s history I just want it.
The rear site adjustment is different also?
Does the knife have a bayonet attachment?

Yes what you see in my picture is a M7 bayonet for the M16 rifle, with its M8A1 scabbard/sheath.

Correct the rear sight is different between the M16A1 and the M16A2. Heres two pictures that show the differences.

Picture 1 is a A1 style rifle (slick slide) with A1 sights.
Picture 2 is a A2 style rifle (forward assist and shell deflector) with A2 sights.
Picture 3 shows a close up of my M7 bayonet attached to my AR.
Picture 4 shows my M7 bayonet attached to my AR.

Retired Sarge · Jun 21, 2021

Fat said:
....really nice.... I like the look of forward assist. I haven’t looked close enough at the newer pieces without it. Knowing about it’s history I just want it.
The rear site adjustment is different also?
Does the knife have a bayonet attachment?

The Army decided to use a powder that didn't work well in the AR, it caused a lot of carbon and power build up in the barrel, chamber and on other parts, and for some reason didn't stress cleaning of the weapon. This resulted in a lot of Jams with the M16, there was a report on the rifles recovered from the dead that were broken down in an attempt to clear jams. This sucks in a firefight.

Anyways the Army asked for a Forward Assist to force the jammed shells into a dirty, fouled rifle as a fix. With the investigation over all this, and cleaner burning powder being used and rifles being cleaned, jams became a once in a blue moon problem.

Eugene Stoner, was against the Forward Assist, but the Amry got what it wanted. The Air Force didn't want it, and didn't get until we upgraded to the M16A2 in the late 90s. Granted our early M4 style variants probably already had it.

In my opinion, if you are having to shove your brass into a filthy rifle in order for it to be used, at some point you are going to get a failure to extract issue that causes a stoppage. Now granted if you are in an extended firefight I'm sure it comes in handy. But at the time it was a fix, for a problem that really didn't exist per se, because it was an ammo issue not a rifle issue that was caused by the Army Brass.

Long read but the following link explains it better than I can or tried to.

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/history-of-the-m16/

Retired Sarge · Jun 23, 2021

At a standstill until I get the barrel. Had planned to have it in hand already........But I came down with the crud, so I've been chilling out reading up on how to do the barrel installation etc.

Retired Sarge · Jul 1, 2021

Type D buttstock is slated to be here tomorrow.....So I guess I'll attempt to change it and the pistol grip out to the A1 soon.

The rest of the small parts and the roll pin punches will be here Saturday, so I can install the A1 rear sight. That will make the entire back end built, and ready for the barrel.

I have the weld spring, snap ring, barrel nut, gas tube, flash hider lock washer, 3 prong flash hider, A1 style handguard slip ring, triangle handguards on hand.

Lacking at this point, barrel (In work), triangle handguard cap (In work), complete FSB (In work).

Need to get a sling and bayonet. She's closer to being done.

Retired Sarge · Jul 2, 2021

Woo hoo the Type D buttstock arrived today, and the screw will be in tomorrow. Without the barrel I'm at $734.65 right now.....Plus if I decide to sell the A2 buttstock and pistol grip, I'll recoup a few bucks......So not too bad!

You can see the difference in the buttstock lenghts when you compare the M16 style to the M16A2 style.

Retired Sarge · Jul 11, 2021

The great AR barrel shortage of 2021 is keeping me from going any further. NO-ONE has 20 inch pencil barrels with FSB installed in 223/556. Hell can't find pencil barrels without FSB either, not that I want to go that route. The few barrels I can find on the secondary market are pretty damn pricey as they are colt take-offs.

As I said previously, I'm at $734.65 right now.....So not too bad and I should be able to come in under $1,000.00 when done, and have extra parts left over. IE A2 buttstock, A2 pistol grip, barrel nut, which I could sell to recoup some money, or keep as spares or for a future build (Not that I plan on one)......LOL!

Plus my sciatica is acting up, I managed to pinch my sciatic nerve last Tuesday, and haven't been able to get it un-pinched since. So 6 days of excruciating pain so far!

Garscale · Jul 11, 2021

You must be an evil person planning a mass gun violence event. Yep I heard it on MSNBC.

Retired Sarge · Jul 11, 2021

Garscale said:
You must be an evil person planning a mass gun violence event. Yep I heard it on MSNBC.

They lied, Fox News said I was a Saint, since I only perforate paper targets.....!

Retired Sarge · Jul 14, 2021

Got a pencil/lightweight barrel with FSB installed inbound.....All I need to get is the forward sling swivel and rivet, and the front A1 sight post, spring, and detent (Which I found them already). Then it will be time to put the AR puzzle together.

I'll be getting the green (M1, M14) style sling along with a bayonet for it.

Retired Sarge · Jul 16, 2021

Barrel showed up tonight (at 2015), awaiting the sling, front sling swivel, and A1 front sight post, spring and detent to show up..

This is what a AR puzzle looks like when all the parts start showing up. Basically ready to be assembled, the little parts can be dealt with after the barrel and 3 prong flash hider are installed. Starting to feel like a kid on Christmas Eve...!

Retired Sarge · Aug 9, 2021

Well changed out the A2 buttstock for the Type D buttstock, changed out the A2 pistol grip for the A1 pistol grip. Started the install of the rear A1 style sight, waiting to hear back on a question about it before I finish installing it. After that I need to have the barrel installed and wrap up a few little things on it.

Been laid up with back issues since 06 July 2021, so progress has been slow.

Pic 1 with the A2 pistol grip and buttstock.
Pic 2 with the A1 pistol grip and Type D buttstock.
Pics with the rest of the parts.

Fat · Aug 9, 2021

... Looks great, I hope your back feels better and you fire some lead down range soon..

Retired Sarge · Aug 9, 2021

Here's a comparison between my M16A2 (Top) clone and my M16 (604) (Bottom) clone back halves. This way people can see some of the differences. Example A1 versus A2 rear sight, A2 versus Type D buttstock (A2 has a trapdoor in the buttstock the Type D doesn't), A1 versus A2 pistol grip, no forward assist or shell deflector on the M16 (604), etc.

Retired Sarge · Aug 9, 2021

Fat said:
... Looks great, I hope your back feels better and you fire some lead down range soon..

Yeah me too, tired of hurting. Mentioned to CINC Household, that if I was a horse they would have shot me for being lame already, she just gave me "THE LOOK" that made me regret those words real quick.....!

Blewfur · Aug 9, 2021

Nice looking piece

Retired Sarge · Aug 9, 2021

Blewfur said:
Nice looking piece

Thank you, its been fun and challenging (First and will be my only build), could have bought a Colt for over $1500.00 and changed out some parts to make it right or bought a retro build for $1500.00 and still would need to change out parts to make it right.

I have $946.75 invested total in parts, and the hunt for them has been fun and educational to say the least.

Retired Sarge · Aug 13, 2021

All that is left to do is to install the front sling swivel. Don't have the rivet tool for that, so I'll have to take it to a gunsmith for that. Plus four of the seven rear sight parts. The flat spring, aperture and screw are installed, the drum, detent spring, detent, and roll pin are not. I for the life of me cannot start the dang roll pin in the roll pin hole.

So I put it away for the day before I got frustrated and do something I can't fix....... :BangHead:

So here is a picture of the Faux USAF M16 604 build as it stands, then a gratuitous picture of it with its younger sibling a Faux M16A2 style one.

Retired Sarge · Oct 12, 2021

The Faux 604 built (No fun switch), has been sitting off to the side. Everything was moving along pretty good until it came to the A1 rear sight drum pin and the front sling swivel pin. They didn't want to go in no matter what I did. Then my Sciatica kicked my arse and it sat there unfinished.

Well, I was sitting here staring at the idiot box, and decided to give the two pins another shot, and fifteen minutes later I was looking at a "COMPLETE" Faux USAF M16 604.

20 inch pencil barrel, A1 pistol grip, A1 rear sight, A1 front sight, triangular handguards, Type D buttstock, slab side upper (No forward assist, no shell deflector), 3 prong flash hider, green M1 style sling and small pad ejection port cover. Has a full fence versus a partial fence that the original/early ones had. I went with the full fence since when I originally enlisted in 1986 and up to when we converted to the M16A2, the rifles were a mixture of M16, A1 and A2 parts. So I shot 604s which had A2 lowers.