M16 upper from the 1960's

VIZSLA444

I need some information. I have a M16 upper from the early 60's with the orginal green handguards, pistol grip and stock. Any idea of value would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

givette

Welcome to the forums!

Value? that depends. Is the "furniture" green plastic? Or simply the original black plastic painted green.

If its not a paint-over, the prospective buyers will most likely be interested in the plastic. Barrel and throat condition of an early firearm (unless you gauge it) is a pig-in-a-poke.

Anyway, if it looks nice, and with good in focus pictures, place it in a no reserve auction here at Gunbroker starting at $250-and let it fly. Best, Joe

VIZSLA444

Thanks for the info. It is not painted over and I have gauged the barrel. It looks like there haven't been any rounds through it.

Txs

Is the delta ring straight or tapered? What style flash suppressor? Is it equipped with a forward assist?

nmyers

And, what are the markings on the receiver & the barrel? What type of bolt carrier does it have?

Neal

bobski

sounds like a ps-1.[?]

VIZSLA444

It does not have the forward assist, it has the 3 prong flash suppressor, tapered barrel, no bolt carrier or charging handle. It is early 60's M16 upper with the green furniture.

Wehrmacht_45

Sounds like an SP1. How do you know it is an M16 and not an AR15? Most M16's had the teardrop forward assist, but the SP1 commercial guns were slick side like the original AR15 prototypes.

VIZSLA444

It came from a military collection so it may be a early prototype.

nmyers

It likely came from a "Colt ArmaLite AR-15", the select fire predecessor to the M16. Furniture changed to black prior to adoption of the M16.

Neal

Txs

I bumped into a link that might help you narrow down age of your receiver.

www.retroblackrifle.com/ModGde/RflGde/601.html

For what it's worth, in their Components Guide section it states the very earliest buttstocks on their model 601's were constructed of brown fiberglass. The second edition buttstocks for these rifles were the same, only painted green. The serial number range for the 601 is reported as 101-14,484. All subsequent models supposedly had black furniture.

You'll probably have to start a Pt. 2 post because this one's due to be locked, but keep us posted on what you determine. What you have has piqued some people's interest.

BTW - I remember spotting a brown fiberglass outfitted M16 in an Air Force weapons vault on Lackland AFB back in the mid-70's. You could actually see the brown fiber strips laid into the buttstock and handguards, not just paint. At that time it was still being used for basic weapons instruction. I hope someone thought to preserve that piece of history.