Author Topic: AR upper variations - stripped  (Read 348 times)

Big Frank

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AR upper variations - stripped
« on: November 12, 2024, 06:21:49 AM »
Here's a refresher about what the various AR uppers look like and how to tell them apart, in case anyone wants to know.

1. The original AR-15 and M16 didn't have a forward assist, or jam enhancer as some people call it. Many people refer to these as slickside uppers.

2. The M16A1 did have a forward assist, but was otherwise the same as the older uppers.

3. The C7 had all the features of the M16A1, plus an M16A2 style built-in brass deflector. You can think of it as an M16A1.5. More than an A1, but less than an A2. The C7A1 is a flattop that has a Weaver rail that doesn't meet the M1913 Picatinny standard of the M16A4, but C7A2 flattop upper receivers are machined to the M1913 standard.

4. The M16A2 had the fully adjustable rear sight. The M16A3 used the same upper as the M16A2, but it had full-auto capability like an M16A1, instead of a 3-round burst like the M16A2. The M16A2 Enhanced rifle also has the same upper but it uses a 4-way Safe/Semi/Burst/Auto trigger group.

The M4 is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 rifle and the M4A1 has a removable carry handle like an M16A4.

5. The M16A4 is the modern flattop upper with an M1913 Picatinny rail that works so well for mounting optics. It's hard to believe the most modern rifle we have uses a 111 year old rail from before World War I.

AFAIK the Colt M5 carbine was never adopted by anyone, but the front of the upper is octagonally shaped to match the free-floating M-LOK slotted handguard. It uses a short-stroke gas-piston instead of direct impingement. The Colt CMK rifle chambered in 7.62x39mm uses the same octagonal upper and handguard.
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alfsauve

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Re: AR upper variations - stripped
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2024, 01:22:49 PM »
Wasn't the original charging handle inside the carry handle space?
Will work for ammo
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Majer

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Re: AR upper variations - stripped
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2024, 08:50:09 PM »
That was on the Armalite AR-10
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Big Frank

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Re: AR upper variations - stripped
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2024, 10:58:00 AM »
That was on the Armalite AR-10


Yep. And with a large titanium flash suppressor/compensator on early models you could dump a 20-round mag in a bushel basket at 100 yards. Compare that to an M14 on full-auto that becomes an anti-aircraft gun after the first few rounds.
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

 

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