Long time no see....nice to know you're still around !

Hey guys! Thanks for all the input.

Based on the serial number, 201258 we may have figured it out. 1965, Commercial/Export CAR-15 Series. Model 614,  with 2,446 made.

How it made its way into John Keoayian's collection will always be a mystery, but I'm glad it did.

The 614’s were roll marked with that model. So either this was a test sample or was intact a non issued military 604 due to lack of property roll marks.

Who know with Johns stuff though.......

I am glad to read your opinion, as the pictures show it has no 614 model roll mark. This is why I leaned toward the non-issue 604. Now the question is why is the serial number what it is, clearly in the CAR 15 commercial / export range (which would then make it a 614, but alas, no roll mark).

Plus the super early gas tube, BCG, firing pin and other features add a bit of mystery.

So, I'll revert back to my original finding, which is some type of one-off gun that John had assembled as some point, maybe in early 1965, with more early 604 characteristics than say a 614. But then again, could it be a 614 with no 614 roll marks?

Anyone?

My theory is that it was pulled off the line for something/a spare and ended up not being needed so they built it into a gun that they had parts laying around for. I have 2 blank lower receivers from his collection that only have the Colt paragraph and serial number hand stamped in. I was told by a gentleman who still works there that that is still common practice today to just pull one off the line whenever they need one.

I would chalk this gun up as a early '604' generation 'build' and keep it as such being a unique piece of Colt history. You may never know the exact details of it due to the people putting it together being long gone unfortunately.

I would imagine that lower receiver was pulled off of the production line due to the large “anomaly” on its left side, at the top of the channel for the magazine over travel stop. It looks like some sort of machining mishap resulted in a deep gouge in the receiver, which was then roughly hand-filed down and touched-up.

Colt was a bit more picky about the appearance of their AR15 rifles in the early days, as is evident from their grinding off forging flash on receivers and front sight bases. Maybe Colt pulled this lower off of the line because it didn’t meet their early “higher standards” for appearance, or they thought that a rifle with this blemish would be rejected by the military.

Obviously, the lower receiver is a fully functional part, so there would be no reason to scrap it. It might be for these reasons that the Colt executive was able to have this lower receiver built up into his personal rifle, using the parts that were on hand at the time.

Anyway, just speculating out loud as someone with factory/manufacturing experience. At any rate, it is a very cool and unique rifle!