Someone mentioned to me that there where early prototypes of Colt manufactured AR-15 in .222 caliber before they ended up doing .223. Anyone have any history or knowledge of this??? Thanks
Steve

IIRC, The Colt AR15 in .222 was manufactured for countries that did not allow ownership of a semiauto in a military caliber like the .223.  I could be wrong though.

Quoted: IIRC, The Colt AR15 in .222 was manufactured for countries that did not allow ownership of a semiauto in a military caliber like the .223.  I could be wrong though.

That's correct. Socialist European nations look down on people who own firearms, especially in military calibers. Have to keep the citizens as servants to the government.

A few years back someone posted some pics of one that they owned. It caught my eye because I have two Colt 20 round mags stamped .222. They work great in my .223.

I would post pics but hunt101.com STILL will not allow me to up load any new photos.

Quoted: A few years back someone posted some pics of one that they owned. It caught my eye because I have two Colt 20 round mags stamped .222. They work great in my .223. I would post pics but hunt101.com STILL will not allow me to up load any new photos.

use tinypic.com

The .222 rifles were made in the early 1980's for export to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy,etc.... and some South American countries….......most of the countries at that time (some still) had prohibitions against their civilians owning military caliber firearms.

There were four models made:

R6010……Sp1 type 20”
R6510…….A1 type 20”
R6511……C7 type 20”
R6512…….A2 type 20”

Quoted: The .222 rifles were made in the early 1980's for export to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy,etc.... and some South American countries….......most of the countries at that time (some still) had prohibitions against their civilians owning military caliber firearms. There were four models made: R6010……Sp1 type 20” R6510…….A1 type 20” R6511……C7 type 20” R6512…….A2 type 20”

Which of these were sold in the US? I could have sworn seeing a 6510...

Australia got a bunch back in the day but now their banned there and they had to turn them in.
If the new J.F.K. gets in the white house we might have the same problem.

Never ever saw a .222 AR15 in Australia. And I saw a lot. Every single one of them was a .223

FWIW

Mick

I know that they used two carbine buffers end to end.  I don't know if they used a carbine spring or a rifle spring.  I would imagine a rifle because the preload distance would be about the same a rifle with that double carbine buffer setup.  It is something I always wanted to try in a 223 upper.  Just to see if would make problems.  Might want to extract too soon.  I know it wouldn't hurt it.

I don't know why they used this setup.  I always imagined that it was because the 222 Rem barrels were gas ported the same as the 223 Rem 5.56 Nato barrels.  This would be done to lower the amount of small run tooling.  However, the 222 Remington has a lower pressure at the gas port.  So they might not have been reliable pushing the 5+ ounce rifle buffer back.  But they would be reliable pushing the 2.7? ounce carbine buffer back.  I think that whoever thought up that simple solution should be applauded.  Pretty simple and uses standard parts.

At least one of each shows up for sale from time to time in the US market. Not sure how many are here. I know there is one R6510 that floats around Gun Broker from time to time...price is too high.

Australia never prohibited military calibers as far as I know...Most of the AR's sold in Australia were SP1 rifles and carbines, a few 6601's,6551, 6420.6520 etc....but not as many as the earlier SP1 series.  My former father in Law said the SP1 20" and the stainless steel Ruger Mini-14's were popular outback/ranch rifles in the late 1970's and 1980's.

that's right.. I do have a Colt barrel in .222. Building it as we speak :)
Buddy of mine has a Colt and an Olympic in 222. He lives in Western Europe.

Quoted: Australia got a bunch back in the day but now their banned there and they had to turn them in. If the new J.F.K. gets in the white house we might have the same problem.

If that happens, there will be a run on 6" PVC pipe here just like down under.