were there ever any a2 barrels in the military without bayo lugs?

No - an A2 can accept a bayonet.

All USGI A2's had bayonet lugs. There were some commercial Colt sporters that came without them.

Yeah, I have one. I bought it in '93 and never noticed the lug was missing until muuuch later.

I think he was talking more about Carbine models with shorter barrels that had no bayonet lugs. Kinda like how the XM177E1, E2, 605, and 607 didn't have bayonet lugs. AFAIK they all did, even the 733 Commando. Which in my Opinion would look better without the bayonet lug, even on my dissipator builds I shave the bayonet lugs off.... It makes for a much cleaner look....

I'm pretty sure there was such a barrel in the Clinton era ban and I think some match barrels don't have them.

Couch-Commando has one I think.

RO733s used barrels both with bayonet lugs, and with the bayonet lug shaved off.  






That being said, from what I have seen, at least - the shaved bayonet lug is more common.

As for military use - the RO733 was a commercial/export model, and thus would have been purchased by the military for special purposes "COTS" or "commercial, off-the-shelf," i.e. in the form that it was currently available commercially, without modifications or inputs or military specific specifications, thus the rules that would apply to the full range of commercial/export production could equally apply to those purchased COTS by the military.  

~Augee

Great info as always.