Hi guy's,
I remember reading a thread about the blue coloured operations manual but for the life of me I cannot find it.
I have just come across a guy on EBay selling what he thinks are maybe originals, I know the EBay purchasing rule, buy the item not the story but I'd like a little upfront knowledge first.
Can anyone with a wee bit of knowledge fill me in what to look for on the manual.
TIA.

Those look like photocopies to me, especially when you look at the staple area - you can see the stains from the staples in the original copy.  Also, ANY time someone says “possibly copies” they almost ALWAYS are.

Hope this helps.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/XM177E2-Manual-Pictures-Added/123-736832/?page=1&anc=bottom#bottom

Thanks guy's,
I did notice that the staples looked kind of strange. In fairness to the seller, he does state that they could be "vintage copies"
Think I'll give this one a miss and keep on looking.
Thanks for the link M4it, very interesting reading, that may have been the one that I referred to in my opening post.

You can get the originals cheap due to the fact they all look like copies. You just have to look for rusted staples and worn paper to find originals. Generally you can get them for the $50-$75 range

I bought one of the manuals that you are looking at on E-Bay.  Not positive that it is a copy, but it is not bad.  My smaller one in my post is definitely an original.  You can tell by the printing.

Hello Brough67!

Great and nice to meet you here finally!

I have seen that auction too and are also looking for such a manual to add to my collection.

Stay safe, mate! Greetings from Germany,

Mike

Hi buddy,
Yes I finally managed to get onto this great Forum.
Hope that you're feeling well and keep safe my friend.
Brough

I am looking for the previous manual, was there a earlier example for the Xm177?

This.

I have 4 that are vintage. Two are definitely original. One is a unique single side printing, stapled, with much clearer images than the rest. The other is the more usual double sided printing, stapled together.

The other two, I'm not sure about. They pop up from time to time, printed in large format and stapled down the spine, like a comic book or other mass produced army manuals. There is a loss of quality with the images which makes them seem to have been made at a later date. Possibly still "real deal" army printings.



Yes, but I've never seen it in the wild. Only a picture of the cover in "The Black Rifle Volume 1".

There's also a manual from Colt covering the original CAR-15 but, it's exceedingly rare. I only know of two copies and a 3rd that was sold before I could purchase it.

The CAR 15 one that you are referring to I do not believe has the xm177. They have the CAR’s like the 607 and 608.

I also have this one which is part of a folder that contained single sheets for multiple rifles colt had. It had an original prototype ‘commando’ with a ribbed slip ring and full curve 30 round magazine. This is dated 1966.

Also note the round handguards on the cover

Attached File


Attached File

When I got my 639 many moons ago:



it came in what looked to be the original shipping box from Aeromarine:





Along with the weapon itself contained within a corrosion resistant plastic shipping bag:



resting on a bed of green Easter Egg basket filler:



The box also contained these accessories:



and these manuals:



I have no idea if any or all of this stuff was original and actually shipped from Colt to Aeromarine.  But, it looked pretty good to me so I never split it up.

The small E2 manual is army issue, the other one I’m not sure about. It’s definitely a reprint but I’m not sure if it’s from Uncle Sam or another publisher.



Yeah, it covers the SMG and HBAR, not the 177. I’d love to see the 177 manual.

That is killer, when was your gun built by Colt?


Here is another question, is there any GAU5/A or GAU5A/A specific literature?

I would settle for an original XM177E2 Manual vs the Xm177

Here is a manual for the gun on my profile. AKS74U or a “Krinkov” which is a nonsense made up name.

Attached File

Attached File
Attached File

The best we can figure out, it was built in '72.

This was the second 639 I was offered.  On the first one, somebody put an open end wrench to the flats of the moderator and bunged them up. I passed on that one.  Way back when I acquired this 639, the seller wanted to know if I wanted 'all the junk' that came with it.  I told him sure, what the hell.  But, he said it would cost me a couple bucks extra to 'ship the crap'.  Oh well...

The boxed magazine that came with my 639 has a .223 marked floor plate, not 5.56mm.  The original Aeromarine shipping label is still addressed to the then East Texas Sheriff who originally bought the weapon.

I got the 639 from a large C3 dealer in Dallas in 2000.  But it was shipped from another dealer in Florida.  Ain't that interesting.?

The 'A1 Carbine shown in the picture above with the 639 came from a Virginia C3 dealer who was closing down his business in 2000.   He told me it came out of a Virginia police department.  That's all I know about it.

I just came back from a quite tough shift at the fire service and saw that post. It made my day. Thank you for posting the pictures. Both are real beauties. Amazing to see the extras ("junk" what the f...?) as well. Really really nice carbines, I have to say I love them. Despite all tactical improvements I think the early carbines are the best looking and still most handy and balanced ones.

Thank you for posting the pictures, stay safe.