Which configuration was it in? Rifle, carbine, HBAR, etc? Did it still have the box, and the wick in the barrel? Just useful info for my database, thanks.

(Hang on while I get my ten-foot pole, to place between me and that MG)

It never left Hartford like that. The serial number is high enough that it would have been one of the last transferable M16A1s made by Colt, and that isn't just an uncatalogued configuration: It incorporates design changes that Colt used on SP1s to differentiate them from full-autos.

It is most probably some sort of frankenColt.

As far as what year Colt started making and shipping 9-mil SNs, no one has ever documented it.

And this is why I really, really, really, really really, really wish registered owners of Colt M16s would take a few minutes and file an FOIA. It costs nothing more than the stamp to send it to ATF, and it could be such a tremendous help to all of your fellow Colt M16 owners! Forget "the kids" -- do it for us!!!!!

(tony k pauses and takes a deep breath.

OK.)

As far as your particular gun goes, the lower receiver is an early to mid-1970's manufacture. But do not even try to date it by the upper -- the gun is almost a half-century old, and any presumption that it still has the original issued upper is useless. And even if that is the upper that it left Hartford wearing, the upper may had been in inventory for a decade before Colt grabbed it off a shelf and put it on a much newer-manufacture lower to fulfill a law-enforcement contract (which never specified things like "uppers must have been manufactured within a certain period"). All Colt promised buyers is that the gun was new. And this was pretty common: Colt routinely manufactured batches of uppers one year, batches of lowers at another time, and only assembled them into a complete firearm when a new contract came in.

Congrats on your new Colt M16! Enjoy! And please, I beg you, file an FOIA request and find out the date that the Form 2 was filed by Colt!!!!

Fortunately or unfortunately, only the registered owner can get an FOIA response letter. But it will give you: The date the Form 2 was filed by Colt; the original configuration of length, which confirms whether it was built as a rifle or carbine; and the number and type of owners (their names will be redacted out, but Form 5 transfers are either to/from LE/gov entities, Form 3's are between dealers, etc., plus the date that those occurred, so it is IMHO useful info.

I know that mine was "born" on March 7, 1978, so that gives me a date to "celebrate" -- and since I bought her in 1994, I know she was Sweet Sixteen when she moved in with me. I also know that she was initially shipped by Colt to an LE agency, then to two dealers in a row, before I purchased her. So I'm the first civilian owner.

If you do get an FOIA, please share it with us or at least with me for the Registry. Since yours is a very low number, it will be the first FOIA I have from one made that early, and will help to date when the 9-mil run began. Thanks!

Hoplites, I created this list over many decades of research. I cannot remember every single entry, but the "refinished based on the pictures" would either be due to it appearing in an ad that was commented upon by folks whose opinion I trust, or from something I saw in the photos myself. I've been studying and researching M16's since back when they were all still called AR15s, and there are many, many subtle clues to a refinish, so you can consider it a semi-expert opinion ... but certainly not conclusive. If you want to message me, I'd be glad to give you my personal email, and would be glad to reexamine any closeup photos you could provide.

Also, if you would like to have your factory carbine entered into this list, message (or email as above) the spec details and SN, and I will add it.

One of the reasons I created this list was because so many 9-mil-SN M16 variants were exported, and thus can never be reimported except as parts kits or post-'86 dealer samples. Ideally, one day we would be able to list all of the transferable ones left in circulation.

Thanks for your input.

It could be, or it couldn't be. Depends on how that particular M16a2 got there.

Colt does fill direct sales orders from other countries, and those are not U.S. Property marked because .gov was not involved in the sale.

Alternatively, U.S. .gov does on occasion supply U.S. Property-marked M16s to friendly governments to help them fight terrorists etc.