Am I missing some thing here ?

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/646568940

Plus shipping...lol

Not an A2 port door. It is an early large square pad port door found on Model 601s and Model 602s. These are hard to find these days. I lucked out a few years ago and got one on a Rubber Duck I bought. That port door now resides on my 602 clone.

Attached File


Attached File

How many out of the way army and Nat Guard outfits have ammo cans of them sitting on some dusty shelf ?

I don't know how many 601/602 ejection port doors are lying around out there but I bet there are some 603 style out there somewhere waiting to be found.  And if someone finds them fast and starts selling them before some reproductions hit the market again they will definitely make a pretty penny.  Once the reproductions are out they won't be as valuable.  601/602 reproductions are already available (though not 100% correct on the inside) so they aren't as much of a problem and that one on GunBroker is definitely not worth anywhere near that kind of money.

I guess your missed the narrative describing what it is.

Just because a seller says it something doesn't always means it is what it actually is.

In this case I was wrong. I forgot about the large flat pad  port doors. So I was wrong .......  sorry

Not mine, and I do not know the seller.  However, I disagree with your assessment that it is "definately not worth anywhere that kind of money". With standard A1 doors currently selling for $80-$100 on Gun Broker, that door, which is "much more rare", SHOULD be worth $165 to someone builing a 601 or 602 and needs it. It is also in nicer condition than you usually see.  Many people, myself included, refuse to use ANY reproduction parts (other than the lower receivers, and if I were independantly wealthy, I would even forgo those).

It's all good man.......I was just giving ya shit.

I actually have my doubts about that particular one even being an original one.  That one almost appears to be a used version of one of the better reproduction ones I saw a few years ago which would also explain the nice condition to most other used ones out there.  I guess the real test to its value to someone is to see if it sells for that.  I also prefer original parts when available and at a price that is not inflated do to perceived value.

That one is 100% real.  The repros are made out of A2 port doors and the back of the pad is crimped in place.  Real ones have the pad held in place with a pin, just like that one has.

I've never seen a reproduction with the round detent housing. 

As for value, who knows?  It's a collector's item.
I sold the last spare I had for $90 or $100 about a year or so ago, but retro prices have climbed significantly since then.  As someone else said, look at what A1 doors are going for now, and it's entirely possible there will be buyers for this one.

I agree there is usually someone that comes along willing to pay for everything regardless of price at some point.  On the other hand the reason the A1 style ejection doors have climbed so high is because of demand.  A1 uppers are more readily available between the reproductions like NoDak Spud and Brownells or in the used market since there was way more made especially when you count the SP1 market using those same ejection port doors as well.  More people are doing M16A1 and XM177 clone builds now then anything else and yet the ejection port doors required to do those builds correctly are pretty scarce so the price on them has risen.  Less people are doing 601/602 builds, and yes the real parts are harder to get, but the builders of those rifles are less frequent as well.

Don't forget that a major reason fewer people are building 01/02 clones is the rarity--and higher price--of the early parts.  If the prices were closer to those of A1 parts, you'd see many more 601 builds.
You're right--retro is a classic supply-and-demand market.  But don't assume there's not substantial demand for 601 parts.  That demand, coupled to the very low supply, drives up the cost.

I will say, though, that I would have posted a more modest starting bid and let the market drive the price (unless he's not really anxious to sell it).  $165 might be a bit high--but I doubt by much.

The fact that there is a mention on here of that 601/602 ejection port cover on GunBroker and after a day it is still available sorta tells a story.  This is the place to get the word out about stuff like that and generally if something rare and hard to get turns up posted in this forum it doesn't last for sale long.  Time will tell what that story is.

I do disagree a little with the statement that the only reason more people don't build 601/602 clones is because of parts availability.  Yes more of the serious retro clone builders would put them together if the parts were more readily available but the fact is most people are building M16A1s and XM177s because that's what they carried, or that's what their Dad carried, even now in some cases what their Grandfather carried, or they just think it would be cool to have one.  It's what they primarily saw used in the military for the 25+ years.  Not near as many people had contact with 601s and 602s.  And most of the people building even the M16A1s and XM177s don't even clone them 100% they just want a close representation.  Most of them have the wrong upper receiver for their era, and most are on a A2 lower receivers, and some have the wrong barrel due to twist rate, profile, or length.  But they still want it to look more or less aesthetically like a M16A1 or XM177 from a few feet away so they need that small rectangular pad ejection port door.  It's why so many people show off pictures of their rifle with the door open.  It's not because they have a wonderful bolt carrier it's because they have the wrong door and want to distract from it.  I on the other hand always picture my rifles with the door shut to show that I have the right one.  I know, I know, a lot of us can tell from the inside of the door too but most people can't.  People could build 601/602 clones that way too, meaning a representation of one using some parts that give the look but not 100% correct, but they just don't on as large of scale as the others because it's just not what most people want or even know about.

It really just comes down to ones own perception, what I think, or you think, or we think doesn't really matter, it's what the other people out there are thinking that drives the market and the demand for certain items.

I have to admit I kinda like seeing items sell for a lot from time to time because it just makes me feel like the stuff I have is worth even more then I thought.  Whether that is true or not is a different story.

And the lesson is, when selling a rare item, ask what you want.  You just might get it. 

I feel better already lol.

Dude.. That door has a roll pin holding the pad on.
Every 601 and clone I see, That is the first detail I look for.
Its how you tell how close a 601 is to real.

I have better luck starting my auctions at .01 with no reserve, and an honest description with good pix.  

Personally, as a buyer, I almost completely ignore and bypass auctions with high opening bids.  I also bypass auctions with a reserve, as they are almost always astronomical (or at least higher than i am willing to pay).  

Funny thing, if that seller were to open that auction at .01, the selling price may have gone higher than his opening bid.... and also sidetracked a thread like this with BS suggestions that the part is fake and/or suggestions that the part is over priced.

What scares me about doing this is when I have like 37 watchers an not a single  bid.  Makes it feel like someone is going to swoop in and take advantage of me.

Most would be shocked at what uncle sugar has laying around.
I showed a buddy of mine who was in the NYAFNG (this was back in 1998) an early Armalite Waffle mag, he said "Those are garbage & don't work for shit, we just threw a couple hundred of them in the dumpster last weekend".

I wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers and the roll pin holding the pad normally dictates the originality of a 601/602 ejection port door.  The only concern is that three years ago at a gun show there was a dealer of some pretty rare early AR15/M16 parts selling a few reproduction 601/602 ejection port doors with the correct look and roll pin design.  They seemed about as perfect as could be, almost too perfect in my opinion because they were brand new looking and he had them side by side with an old original one to show for comparison.  He said that he only had ten made, he was keeping four, and selling six at $95.00 each.  I asked him if he was going to have more made and he stated that he planned to if those ones sold well.  At that point he had only sold two.  I have never seen him again and I know someone on here must be him or know who he is.  It looked remarkably similar to that GB one that just sold, but then again a mint original and an accurate reproduction should look the same so that really doesn't mean anything.

Contrary to what some may think I suspect that this thread may have actually been the catalyst that helped sell the ejection port door for that person.  What we post here, whether with good or bad comments, still seems to help find a buyer for just about anything.  Look at the McKay lowers the other day, they sold out within hours even after people posted a couple potentially negative comments about them.  Brownells blemish barrels at the deep discounted price got so much traction from being mentioned on here that they are all just about gone even in spite of that fact that almost every other person had posted a concern as to them still being good or not. (Just for the record I think the barrels are fine).  And then you take an item like that GB 601/602 ejection port door and you can almost bet someone in this forum bought it.

Does anyone on here happen to know that GB seller?  I'm just curious where the ejection port door came from.

Next thing yall are going to tell me is that my 603/4 transitional clone is worth as much as an M1.

Depends on the M1.

Or gone for .01
Ask me how I know...