I never see worn A2 grips, what happens to them?  For a retro Air Force franken-carbine or if your assembling something with a worn upper it would be nice to have a worn looking A2 grip but I have never seen one for sale.

Since most AR owners/builders probably has about a dozen A2 PG's sitting around in the parts bin at any given time, I think folks just toss out the worn out ones  Here's a picture of a Colt M16A2 that has a beautiful worn-out A2 PG

Because very few like them, they never get used

I still can't figure out why they even switched to the A2

The A1 style was pretty nice.

The A1 is the best. I think.  

I have a little story though.  I had an epiphany yesterday.  I was fondling my guns.  I had just recently put an A1 on my Colt A2, because I just like them so much better and I plan to shoot it more coming up here.  So....  But then I also have two RRA lowers on other builds.  So I noticed that the original colt A2 grip that came on my 20" A2 was fatter and felt better than the RRA run of the mill A2's.  Enough so that it makes it almost passable.  I might stick that one back on the A2 to keep with the theme.  The colt one is marked with a "4" on the inside of it.   The RRA ones had no markings.  

So....  I didn't really realize how much of a difference there was but I had heard that there was some variance.  The Colt one is a lot better than the RRA ones.  Which are probably like most of them out there now.  


A1's rule though.  I haven't tried a crap ton of grips, but any of the ones I've tried pale in comparison.  

I like that grip, that is what I'm looking for. :)  Nice rifle too.






There is quite a bit of variation in A1 grips too, here is a current thread where we're discussing it:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_123/682914_A1_grip_variations_please.html

The GM / Hydra-matic grips are the fattest A1, they're not too uncommon.  If you look at some of the other linked threads in the above thread, you will see pictures of Colt A1 grips with an asterisk in a circle.  (its a little hard to describe)  Does your Colt A2 grip have that mark too?

No, it's a "4", but it's in a circle like you say.  

I wonder what kind of A1 I have on there now.  I forget where I got it.  I think I got it from someone on here.

I looked at my A1 grip and it's got a circle with 6 sections like a pie.  And then it's also marked with a "C".  I wonder if that means Colt.  The checkering is raised over and above the profile of the rest of the grip.

I posted pics of some A2 PG's for comparison in another thread that's been archived.  So I'll post them here again.  #1 A2 on the left was taken off an early '90's Colt rifle.  #2 in the middle one came off my late Colt SoCom and one on the right came with recent production LPK (but can't remember which brand because all the current ones look the same to me).  The Colt PG on the left (#1) feels rubbery, but is shinier than the more recent chalky looking one (#2) which also feels rubbery.  The shinier one is also a little beefier than the one in the middle.  One on the right is skinnier than the 2 Colt one; checkering is sharper and the lines are a bit more angular.  PG #1 has a 3 inside a circle near grip screw.  PG #2 is marked F4 inside PG and #3 has no markings at all.  I hope this helps and will try to take an updated picture with an early shiny Colt A2 PG  

All my A2 factory style grips go in the parts box, as a matter of course. Make mine MIAD is the battle cry around here....and I always wrap mine with a hefty chunk of bicycle inner tube, FTW !  

That shows the differences vary well.  Thank you!!!

The one that came on my Colt looks mostly like #1.

You needed to replace that front pivot pin

All my A2 get replaced with an A1 or a Hogue grip. The A2s sent with packages as freebies to a buyer that I sell something to.



Looks like an A1 stock too, along with your A1 grip.

I too like the A1 grip better than an A2.