I was able to acquire an old COLT lower receiver w/ collapsible butt stock, w/ all the internal parts except for a lacking rear take down detent, and a broken bolt release. The finish looks like the the original anodizing. Except around edges of magazine well where some aluminum is showing. It has the Circular COLT logo and the Markings "Property of U.S. Gov't", "M16Al", "cal 5.56MM". Near the safety selector it has the stampings "COLT FIREARM DIVISION","COLT INDUSTRIES",HARTFORD CONN.","U.S.A.".
I believe this may be "Vietnam" era lowers that is around more than 30 years old.
Assuming all looks intact. What useful life can we expect from our Alloy lower receivers?
Receivers are hard to find here, and I am considering using it, except that I am afraid that it may have some "metal fatigue" and may not be safe anymore to use. What parts of the lower takes a lot of stress? Thanks!!

I think the aluminum used for receivers is aircraft grade aluminum.  The stress aircraft put on aluminum is far greater that the shooting stress a lower will go through in a life time of heavy use.  I've heard stories of issue weapons with loose takedown pins, but that is the result of steel on aluminum friction.  The receiver can handle just about any torque (maybe sheer is present too) or compression  stresses that .223 could throw at it, which isn’t much.

I would think the receiver should offer many more years of useful service. I do not think the fatigue of normal shooting would be of concern. I would look more to the "human" aspect, look at the hinge point at the pivot pins. It probably has seen more torque in that area than any linear stress from the bolt carrier cycling. Check the hammer/trigger pins if they moved (turned in receiver) it is possible an oversize condition could exist. Check the web between bolt catch and hammer this is a thin area and could have stress cracks if dry fired off of the upper. See if a roll pin was improperly installed on the trigger guard (experience speaking here, expensive mistake) and the pin the retains the bolt catch /release. If you don't see any cracking you are probably fine.
Robert
www.rbprecision.com

All it does is hold the pins pretty much, and just about any hole that wears out can by bushed with steel or maybe some type of brass or bronze.



You do know that they make plastic lowers right?  Tough plastic, but still plastic.  It is a non-stressed part.

Non-related kinda question.  What is the gun situation in the Philipenes(SP, I know!)?  Parts availability?  Get them from the US?

Hi Whisper, Gun situation here, still liberal.
You can own as many handguns as you want, but no permit to carry as of this moment, unless you really have a documented death threat. As for long arms, the ONLY long fiream that you can purchase at a "gun store" is a shotgun or .22LR.
AR-15s or more popular here as M16 or ARMALITE,
BABY ARMALITE(for the shortened version!!)and
INFANT(8" or 6" barreled version!!, but it works).Started of as loose(unregistered) firearms, bought from insurgents, awol soldiers, vietnam war vets, smugglers, gun runners etc. then you hold on to this for a while and wait for an "amnesty" offered by the government which allows you to register your M16s, no questions asked, just submit the requirements. Cost is around USD 200.
About the availability of parts. Almost all the parts needed to upgrade your M16 are available here, except for the lower receiver. The barrel is a bit hard to find and can be very expensive around USD 500 for a J&T 16" M4 non chromed barrel!! All other parts are abundant, but expect double in price.
The small parts, like springs, detents, bolt parts etc. I order via the internet usually to be delivered in a U.S. address, then just wait for that friend or relative to bring it home for you!! But the "main parts" like the barrel, stock, receivers(upper or lower) you cannot.You can be in trouble w/ the law by doing so.
So you will just have to bite the bullet and pay for the price if you really need it(if you can find one in stock) here are sample prices of parts here in USD.
CAR-15 6 position telestock  USD 200
J&T 16" barrel non chrome lined USD 500
DPMS or BUSHMASTER M16A2 upper assy. USD 310

Selling prices of beaten up M16 is around USD 650. The nice shapes goes for around USD 1000.
That is why most of the M16s here uses old lowers made by COLT(mostly vietnam vintage) or by ELISCO(mfg under license from COLT during 1980-86, for use by the Armed forces).
The way to go here is to look for an old ELISCO or COLT then cut the barrel to your desired lenght if you dont like the 20", the next length is 13.5", get a new telestock or upper, some internal lower receiver parts and I guess you are ready to go!!
You can now find BUSHMASTER M4 in the police use and some M16A2 in the Military, but the old M16A1 is still very much in service here.Regards

a320az:

What's your problem?

So... In other words, you can buy an M16 RR there for like 1K? Can you bring it back here or not? Were they made prior to or after the ban?

[b]So... In other words, you can buy an M16 RR there for like 1K? Can you bring it back here or not? Were they made prior to or after the ban?[/b]
I don't think any MG can be imported now for civilian possession regardless of date of manufacture and the origin. There may be special exemptions,, but that is reality of the 1968 and 1986 bans.

He's in the Phillipines.  Our laws do not apply there.  He was trying to describe their local laws and availability.  No, you could not buy one there and bring it back here without customs, State department, ATFE and a ton of paperwork and permits and liscenses.  He is not trying to bring it back here, he is wanting to rebuild it and keep it there.  I could understand the J&T costing more as it is a less usual configuration.  DPMS and Bushmaster do much more export business.

For 2 cases of MREs I bet you could buy anything you would want....in Mogadishu.

Getting it back into this country (or even out of Somolia) is another matter.

I have thought about foreign countries before where fun guns are either legal, or freely available, or the police forces did not exist to deal with illegal machine guns.

How much would a small CNC lathe and mill set cost?

If those things were available, then any small subgun could be built if the right amount of material was available.  Only problem would be getting the barrel.  But then again the barrel blank is just a part, and I wouldn't think that a barrel blank cut into 8 inch section would be a problem to ship from the US.

A person could learn all about little suppressed subguns and the like.

Just something that I have thought about if I ever had to or wanted to go to a different country.

So in the PHL, you couldn't have a person ship you a lower receiver?  What about a 80% receiver?

Just a bunch of questions about the gun situation in PHL.

Thanks!

Hi Whisper, for around USD 60k to 80k you can purchase various lathe and milling machines. not as advanced as real gun manufacturers have but you can indeed fabricate some suppressors, gun parts or even a whole gun. But since you are operating illegally, you can be accused of illegal possesion of firearms if reported to the authorities.
How does an 80% receiver looks like? does it have the stampings of the maker? technically you cannot import here major firearm parts, but sometimes if it "does not" look like a firearm part it can be overlooked by customs. But at your own risk!!

sunga_sy

I am very sorry for my previous post. I had a few different windows open and I thought I was posting to a different topic. Please accept my apology....

Rob

Not a big deal, thanks for taking care of it.