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Posted: 2/27/2009 5:14:35 PM EDT
[#1]
Yep, flat top.
Heres a picture on the Bushmaster website of an A2 and an A3 http://www.bushmaster.com/catalog_military_MCWA3S20.asp |
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Posted: 2/27/2009 5:19:08 PM EDT
[#2]
Wow, that was fast! Thanks, Mikhail!
I know with the AR clones that A3 means flat top but I keep reading that that's not true of the real M16 - that only the M16A4 and of course most M4s have the rail and removable carry handle/sights. |
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Posted: 2/27/2009 5:28:10 PM EDT
[#3]
The M16A3 is a full auto version of the burst M16A2.
The M16A4 is a flat top. So, those calling a flat top an A3 are really incorrect. |
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Posted: 2/27/2009 5:30:01 PM EDT
[#4]
The M16A3 is a A2 carry handle type but with Safe - Semi - Auto selector. It's not usually seen much, the Navy got most of them, and it was a fairly small number anyway.
the M16A4 is the flat top. |
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Posted: 2/27/2009 8:41:00 PM EDT
[#5]
Thanks again!
Since the M16A3's a rare bird I guess that's why I can't find a picture of it. Looks like you couldn't tell the difference between the A2 and A3 anyway. Wonder why flat top ARs are called A3 instead of A4? |
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Posted: 2/27/2009 8:58:18 PM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
Thanks again! Since the M16A3's a rare bird I guess that's why I can't find a picture of it. Looks like you couldn't tell the difference between the A2 and A3 anyway. Wonder why flat top ARs are called A3 instead of A4? best i can tell it's a matter of convenience. A1 and A2 have very distinct characteristics, since the civilian market does not necessarily make use of full auto specs and whatnot, a flat top has become known as the A3 since it's the third distinguishable variant. makes sense to me, anyway. |
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Posted: 2/28/2009 5:38:28 AM EDT
[#7]
I believe the A3/A4 confusion is Colt's fault.
Colt started calling their flat top receivers A3s before an official military designation was made. Then the military designation of A3 was given to a full auto A2. |
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Posted: 2/28/2009 7:34:27 PM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:
Colt started calling their flat top receivers A3s before an official military designation was made. Then the military designation of A3 was given to a full auto A2. +1 |
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Posted: 2/28/2009 8:36:06 PM EDT
[#9]
Ah, that makes sense, innocent_bystander. Thanks!
It's good to get this sorted out, I kept getting different answers. |
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Posted: 3/2/2009 5:59:06 PM EDT
[#10]
This A2 is running a 10.5 LMT upper but came with a 14.5 flat top and is full auto . Also is not mine but I do get to shoot it
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Posted: 3/3/2009 10:50:34 PM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
The M16A3 is a full auto version of the burst M16A2. The M16A4 is a flat top. So, those calling a flat top an A3 are really incorrect. QFT. |
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Posted: 3/3/2009 10:50:39 PM EDT
[#12]
DT.
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Posted: 3/4/2009 4:32:42 AM EDT
[#13]
Quoted:
This A2 is running a 10.5 LMT upper but came with a 14.5 flat top and is full auto . Also is not mine but I do get to shoot it
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6885/benellim1entry009.jpg Tell us the story about the M16A2E. I am not familiar with it. What is the "E" designation? |
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Posted: 3/4/2009 11:55:16 AM EDT
[#14]
"Ex" is the army designation for an engineering development model
The M16 became the XM16E1 before it became the M16A1. When the army applies it, it's official. When a vendor applies it, it's marketing (until/unless the military adopts the same nomenclature). XM177-E2 = military designation for an 11.5 shorty M16A1 from the late vietnam era XM15-E2S = manufacturer-speak for the Sendra (later, and now current, Bushmaster) AR-15 variant model number. |
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Posted: 3/4/2009 12:27:44 PM EDT
[#15]
Right, but how was an M16A2E configured? Did it become the M4?
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Posted: 3/19/2009 9:45:01 AM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
The M16 became the XM16E1 before it became the M16A1. Not correct. The M16 never became the XM16E1. The M16 (Colt model 604) and the XM16E1 (Colt model 603) were fielded at the same time. |
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Posted: 4/14/2009 10:10:59 PM EDT
[#17]
Colt incorporated the USMC recommended changes, etc., etc., and developed what became the M16A2.
One of the changes meant that the M16A2 didn't have an AUTO setting, only BURST. The Navy wanted some of the new guns, but they wanted AUTO capability. Some guns were made for for the Navy -Voila! M16A3. FN got the contract - Colt never made any M16A3s. (Apparently Sabre Defense has recently also gotten a contract for A3 production. But not Colt.) Meanwhile, an A2 with a flat-top receiver was being developed. The successful prototype became the M16A2E1. The M16A2E1 was adopted, hooray! But the M16A3 designator was already taken by the Navy. So, the Army adopted the M16A2E1 as the (drumroll) M16A4. The End. Epilogue: The flat-top receiver was a Good Thing, and inevitably has been finding its way onto some of the Navy's A3s. But they weren't born that way. |
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