I bought several of NoDak Spuds Upper Receivers and I'm basically building several retro "Franken" AR-15s using various manufacturer's parts.   With that said and for "cosmetic" reasons only, I'm looking for a business that can remove the casting mold "NDS" off of these Upper Receivers.

After removing the "NDS," I would like to have the areas buffed out and perfectly blended/smoothed out to match the rest of the Upper Receivers lines, as if those casting I.D. were never there.

Also, is there a solid business that can cerecoat these uppers afterwards to match various shades of Colt gray from the late 70s to the mid 80s in a very flat/matt non-glaring finish that can mimic the original Colt factory finish??

...Not a big fan of duracoat since I had a couple firearms refinished and the finish was not very durable and scratched up pretty easily with normal usage... But not abusively.

BTW, I'm not a purist or even near one and these will be shooters.

Thank you!!!!

If you're not "even near" a "purist," then why does it matter?

I mean, sorry, dude, I'm not trying to insinuate anything, but NDS does a lot of what they do to keep people from thinking that their stuff is original, and it seems like you want to get rid of that part.

I find the NDS forge code really unsightly.  If they were so concerned about someone passing it off as an original they wouldn’t offer them without the forge mark for like an additional $25.  Also they could engrave the bottom of a lug or something.

I probably wouldn’t mind as much if the forge mark was just an N.

I had a Brownells 604-ish upper I got cheap that I wanted the forge codes removed (‘C’ & the Anchor Harvey A). I paid a local machinist to mill them off but it ended up looking like shit. I plan to Cerakote it black just because I want a black 604-ish gun but have low expectations. This will be retro-inspired; that’s all.

My advice would be to just get an NDS upper from them w/o the forge mark. Their 604-Type uppers don’t actually have them BTW — just the 603.

There are several members here who can do that.
I’m sure John Thomas would do it.

Do it yourself. I did mine with a little sandpaper and you can see it but can't feel it at all. Then you can send it off for cerecote.

Personally, I order the NDS uppers direct from Nodak Spud without the NDS forge code. It cost an extra $20, but it is well worth it. Something to think about in the future.

I'd like to see them marked in the same fashion as the Colt "C H" receivers, such as "N S".

If you have a Dremel, do it yourself.

Okay, looking all the way back to last night, my post is douchey, and I apologize for that.

You are spot on in your original post.

I dremal them off, little hand sanding and norrells

I said the same thing a few years back but it doesn't seem to bother most people.  All of the military contract uppers seem to have the 2 letters in the same spots like CH, CK, CM, LM, etc. and the NDS just looks a little strange the way it is wrote if you are used to looking at the original surplus uppers.  That said, I never used to know that they offered the option to take the forge code off for an extra $20 so plan on ordering a few before long, there quality is superb and beyond the original Colt's in my opinion.  Compare a NDS next to about any original A1 upper and the fit & finish is much nicer, they really go out of their way to produce a superior product.

Edited to add - To the OP, Molyresin Flat Grayish-Black is the paint you want to refinish your uppers with.  I have never seen any cerakote or other paint that looks right but the Molyresin looks just like the original anodizing and is a perfect match for the XM Grey.  You can remove the forge codes yourself pretty easily with a set of small files & some sand paper - a dremel would also be beneficial if you have a steady hand.  It may be hard to match the exact finish of the upper if you plan on just painting this area of the receiver and leaving the rest be but with some trial and error you can probably get it pretty close.  I'd likely just paint the whole receiver after you file off the original forge codes.

No, you're right.

I don't blame Nodak for branding their stuff, but it's not to my taste either.

I’d imagine JT at Retro Arms could do it fairly easily.