Letter "A" Carry handle forge mark is whom...?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Letter "A" Carry handle forge mark is whom...?

Posted: 3/6/2005 1:26:35 PM EDT

A friend of mine is contemplating selling a complete A2 postban upper. He has long lost the original paperwork and is unsure of the manufacturer. There is what looks like a letter "A" on the RH side of the carry handle, just forward of the rear sight slide. Any idea who the manufacturer is?

Also, this A2 upper has a "8/3" elevation wheel. This is a 16.5" barrel. Shouldn't the sight be "6/3"?

Thanks for your help.

Posted: 3/6/2005 1:29:00 PM EDT

[#1]

A2 upper receivers come with the 8/3 elevation index, regardless of the barrel length. Only the carry handles come with the 6/3 elevation indexes.

I've seen the "A" marked A2 upper receivers on Bushmaster and RRA recently. Olympic used to use the mark also, but I haven't seen one in a long time. The last time I saw one on an Olympic, it was an A1 receiver.

Posted: 3/9/2005 6:46:22 AM EDT

[#2]

Alcoa made the upper

Posted: 3/9/2005 6:55:31 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Alcoa made the upper

Nope. The Colt Alcoa Forge uppers are marked "C AF". The splintered "A" forgings are Anchor Harvey. These raw forgings are supplied to many manufacturers, who finish them, as stated about 1000 times to date.

Anchor Harvey Home Page - notice anything familiar in that company logo?

Added a pic:

Posted: 3/9/2005 7:10:15 AM EDT

[#4]

I have recently seen the splintered A on a Colt upper, so Colt uses them too.

Posted: 3/9/2005 7:14:24 AM EDT

[#5]

great info. learn something new everyday. thanks

Posted: 3/9/2005 7:15:54 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
great info. learn something new everyday. thanks

BiggerHammer's info is extremely dated, but it is a good historical foundation.

BiggerHammer

Posted: 3/9/2005 7:24:15 AM EDT

[#7]

Has anyone noticed any quality differences between the splintered A, keyhole, and unmarked uppers? Im guessing any quality differences would be produced by the AR companies final machining of the aluminum forging rather than the company who produced the forging?

Posted: 3/9/2005 7:26:51 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Has anyone noticed any quality differences between the splintered A, keyhole, and unmarked uppers? Im guessing any quality differences would be produced by the AR companies final machining of the aluminum forging rather than the company who produced the forging?

I'm betting it's just luck of the draw, but I've had better luck with the "A" marked and keyhole marked receivers than the unmarked ones.

Posted: 3/13/2005 7:40:46 AM EDT

[#9]

Thank you all for the information. I needed to clarify before I posted this complete upper on the EE...
Enjoy life...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Letter "A" Carry handle forge mark is whom...?

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