Hey folks. So here's the story. I've been the owner of three different Title 1 m203s--one LMT, and two Colt. The LMT was the first one I bought and it was as perfectly black as any standard AR-15 you could imagine. It's very nicely finished and I've always been impressed with its quality. But when AU released the Colts, I jumped on that as the Colt was the one I had always really wanted (because roll mark). The first Colt 203 I received was about as purple as a lilac-covered Barney after an MMA match at a grape stomp. I sold it in order to fund getting a replacement from AU, which I was assured would be black. The replacement was a dark gray, but still purplish, and definitely not black.

Be that as it may, here's what I want to do. I intend to completely strip the Colt down to the aluminum receiver and have it re-anodized so it is properly black. After removing the original anodizing, I'm going to use the opportunity to clean up some of the ugly machining and dremel marks as well (I'm a machinist in training). I'm not concerned about loss of thickness--that can be built back up when it is re-anodized.

(part 1 of 2, since I'm limited to 2000 characters)

Disclaimer: I'm sure I am being OCD about this. Whatever. Don't care. I spent $2,500 on it. I want it to be cleanly machined and black in color. Judge me all you want. Again, don't care.

My question is for anyone who has either completely stripped down an M203 receiver, or who has experience with building an m203 from a stripped receiver. Do you have any advice/suggestions/cautionary warnings about stripping this down? There are threaded inserts for the mounting bracket in front, but they do not appear to be staked in. There is a large roll pin that is used to time the receiver to the rifle--that will have to be removed. The pin that holds the barrel latch was never staked so that's easy to remove. Then there are a few roll pins here and there.

Speaking of the roll pins--are there any sources for getting replacements for these? I'm not crazy about reusing the originals. I'll try Colt first; we'll see how that pans out.

I appreciate any and all advice from the collective hive.

(part 2 of 2)

Doesn’t look too wild, I’m sure with patience and photos along the way it won’t be hard to take apart and reassemble.

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1. You sound new to roll pins so I suggest you buy this AR-15 book. I actually learned a lot about properly removing and installing roll pins in anything from Glen Zediker and this book. He shows you how to use a lot of specialized punches which I ran out and bought from Brownells in case I decided I didn't need them and could return them in any condition. Years later I still have all those tools and they have paid for themselves. Since buying this book and the recommended punches I have messed up exactly ONE roll pin. I was too impatient to go get the proper punches that I already had. These things not only protect your roll pins, they also protect your newly anodized receiver.

If anyone can suggest a better book for the AR-15 or roll pins I will buy it. I haven't found it yet.

Glen Zediker's Book

2. Books and Videos - Field manuals, training manuals, training films - All that stuff has to be out there and would be a tremendous help to you. I haven't had the opportunity to look for any of it since I am busy with other projects. I do have one general grenade launcher book by Leroy Thompson. It's proving to be interesting but doesn't cover any level of maintenance like you are talking about.

That's very helpful--thank you. Is there a link to the manual that you got this from? I've been looking for something like this but haven't been able to find it yet.

It doesn't look too complicated. I have experience building multiple ARs and stripping firearms down to the bone. This shouldn't be any different. Roll pin #31 looks like it's going to be a bear to get out though. Anyone have suggestions for tools that would help with removing a roll pin like this? That looks like it will have to be pulled out, as there is no room to punch it out from the opposite side. Clearly that would destroy the pin, but again, I won't attempt this at all until I have a complete, new set of m203 roll pins.

Thanks for the suggestion on the book--I will definitely add that to my library.

I'm not exactly new to roll pins, but I'm certainly new to m203 roll pins. I noticed while watching a video on Youtube about LMT and how they manufacture their m203s, that their workers use presses to get those long FCG roll pins into the receiver (one guy even messed one up on camera while doing this, lol). I may therefore look into getting a small hand press if that would help. I do already have a lot of the roll pin punches from Brownells, but of course, I'd get whatever tools necessary for the job. This won't be done at all if I don't feel I can do it 100%. The goal is to improve it and give it the finish and quality it *should* have had straight from the factory.

You need the 23&p manual for the (almost) complete disassembly of the M203, the screw inserts have a special tool that allows removal of them. All of the pins can be removed with a punch and a hammer/mallet, they use presses in shops as it’s faster, more consistent, and it allows for employees to not slip and bang a punch into a brand new receiver. The 203 is pretty easy to disassemble, if you’ve stripped an AR, and maybe a FAL or M1A down to the smallest parts, you can do the 203 any day of the week.

William

PS the inserts are called helicoils ??

Link to video?