I am building a lightweight CAR rifle, on a budget.  I found a deal on a Stag b/bc/ch for $119: I have not found a lower price.  My A1 upper is a slab side.  I prefer a bolt carrier without the forward assist notches (just for looks), but these cost about $35 more (give or take) than a standard bc with the FA notches.  As a matter of fact, the only slab side b/bc I found is $149.  I suspect that using a notched BC is OK in a A1 slab side.  I inserted three other b/bc from my other rifles: all seem to work fine, but have not shot it.  BEFORE I buy a b/bc, I prefer to know that my bc and upper will play together nicely in the years to follow.

Thoughts

BTW, the Bushmaster LW 16" barrel assembly went together very well on the A1 slab side.  BM makes a nice product.  I'm drilling out the rear sight to make a larger hole: the 300m hole remains the same.

I run notched carriers in all my smooth ones, and my Clot Sp-1 came with one.  You will have no problems......even with your cursed luck.



ETA-  I dropped an A2 rear peep into one of my A1 uppers, and will eventually do the rest that way as well.  

It'll work fine, Colt used them in the SP1's for some time

They will play very nicely together for years to come

If possisble keep us informed. That is the same combo (slicksided A1 + Bushmaster Lwt.) that I purcased last year and still haven't assembled yet. I did get my vise bolted onto my workbench a few days ago so I'm almost there.

Thank you all for your responses!

For some odd reason, this assembly went together like clockwork (not like a Clockwork Orange).  I thought about installing an A2 rear peep, but then I got to thinking that I have not had much luck.  So, I thought that drilling it larger may be an easy way to go; the problem is that it is steel in a weird position.  I am betting that I will leave it as it is: afterall, it aint broke, and with my luck, I would probably put the drill through my finger, not unlike parking my machete in my leg last month while doing yard work.  I am dangerous with simple hand tools, but put me in front of an optical comparitor, eddy current machine, magnaflux, dye penetrant, TIG, or plasma cutter, and I'm hell on wheels.  Go figure.

I am very impressed with the fit/finish of the BM barrel assembly.  I think that this will be the way I go in the future.  The price of the BM barrel assemblies are very reasonable, with known quality.  Building an AR from parts can easily save $150 off dealer/wholesale cost, and much more over retail.  There is not all that much to assembling an AR: push pin "A" into hole "B".  Building an AR is much easier than building an AK from a parts kit; I built three of them last year right after the AWB sunset.

I'll post a thread with my build, sooner or later.

Because I've had a hard day at work, and am in a crabby mood,  let me insert a small correction about something that periodically pisses me off no end.

You DO NOT have an "A1 upper" if it's a slab side piece!   "A1" DENOTES A FORWARD ASSIST!!!! That's where the A1 designation came from in the first place.

What you have is an M16 upper, or as some people refer to them, an A zero upper. Now, if you install a notched carrier, you will have an A1 carrier in your piece, but you still won't have an A1 upper.


Ok---Rant mode off.

Quoted: ... let me insert a small correction about something that periodically pisses me off no end. You DO NOT have an "A1 upper" if it's a slab side piece!

Thank you.  I was just about to do that, myself.

Hey-hey-hey..... take a deep breath, relax and have an ice cold glass of

Or could he call it an Air Force M16 clone? I was told they had the notched bolts even though it was a slabside upper.  Is that correct?

Quoted: Or could he call it an Air Force M16 clone? I was told they had the notched bolts even though it was a slabside upper.  Is that correct?

or a Model 604 - A0 upper with the A1 carrier

Quoted: Quoted: Or could he call it an Air Force M16 clone? I was told they had the notched bolts even though it was a slabside upper.  Is that correct? or a Model 604 - A0 upper with the A1 carrier

Or to explain a bit, the first Air Force M16s had chromed smooth side bolt carriers.   The very first M16A1s also had chromed carriers and bolts.  When the A1 was adopted, Colt d/c'd the smooth side carriers, and just started using the notched piece on all M16s. So a great many Air Force models actually did go out the door w/notched carriers.

I suspect that there were some left over smooth side chromed carriers at the plant that ended up being reworked, and put into the earliest AR15s; but by the time I got my first AR, in 1975 or '76, even the civie jobs had parkerized, notched carriers.