I built my A2 off what I was told was a late 80's PA state trooper trade in upper. It is 100% colt, but I would like to I.d the forward assist and possible date range this f.a was on government contract A2's. It has the roll pin so it's a two peice and I'm guessing it's a small button? I'm not sure. And am I correct that colt only put the two peice forward assists on government issued rifles? Commercial Hbars of the time were one peice big buttons? I'm not sure and my facts are prob way off. I need some help from the masters here. Thanks guys.

Forward assist...
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I'm clueless to date ranges of forward assist changes but it looks to me like a small head.

The anodizing or color on the forward assist looks like a deep black in the picture and the receiver looks like a lighter black or even with a slight blueish tint. Is that just an illusion from the lighting in the photo?

Yea it's an illusion from the bad lighting. The upper is actually a colt grey. Far lighter than the Anderson lower.

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Uhm...

It's a standard Colt "small button" forward assist.  

Colt uses this style of forward assist on all of their weapons that have them, government contract or not.  

The presence of the roll-pinned button is an easy indicator, as most commercial knock-off brands use a pressed-on forward assist button.  

"Big button" forward assists were a transitional design and had a plunger and a sleeve that was used on both military and commercial rifles, though they persisted on commercial rifles for longer, because Colt often "uses up" old parts to build commercial rifles.  

Date range would be "any time from the early-mid 80s to today" for this forward assist.  

~Augee

Wow, very informative and detailed! Thank you very much for your response.  I just learned a lot from what you wrote.

It is probably correct, though I prefer teardrop type.