Got a colt AR15 receiver that is marked 9mm Carbine would like it to say .223 carbine, is it okay to remark caliber? Who can do this and what does it involve.  Price?

Should I start with Kurts Kustom?

i dont really see how you would remark it with out still having it marked as .223 and 9mm.  most forgingsthat i have seen are made out of 7075 T.  that is an unweldable series of aluminium. so you couldnt weld over the old caliber.  A356 also does not weld well either.  you can tell where it was welded but your colt should be forged though.  yoou need to think about refinishing prices also.i just bought a 9mm upper and am in need of a lower though.  shoot me an email!

Lowers can be remarked and it is done all of the time. Tons of lowers that were converted to machineguns have been remarked to M16. The ONLY person to contact to remark AR15/M16 lowers is John Norrell.

2608 Grist Mill Rd.
Little Rock, AR 72227
Fax: (501) 225-7864
E-mail [email protected]

He has moved recently and I'm not sure if this is his updated address and fax number, but I know the email address is still good. He may take a little while to get back to you, but it's because he is very busy. He is the best there is at this kind of stuff.

As a side note....why don't you just sell the 9mm lower and use the money to replace it with a .223 lower? It would cost you less money, as remarking isn't exactly cheap and it would probably be less hassle. There is a decent market for Colt 9mm marked lowers.

Michael

does he change the caliber on the lower or does he just mark them again?  to be marked both 9mm and .223.  when a class !! manufacturer converted an ar to a m16 they had to put there company information on them but they also left the original information on them.  im curious as to how he would get rid of the old markings on an unweldable series of aluminum

The lowers are not unweldable, they are just hard to weld.

He welds over the old markings and remarks it to your specs. He can also repair old worn out lowers by welding up the pin holes and redrilling them.

If AR/M16 lowers were unweldable where do you think all of the "US Property" marked M16 rewelds came from? It may not be easy to do, but there are people out there doing it.

Michael

how much are 9mm complete colt lowers going for?

The postbans usually sell for a little more than their .223 counterparts. The prebans usually fetch about $100 more. This comming from prices seen on subguns.com

Michael

Also, dont the 9mm lowers have extra holes to hold the blocks in?  Mine has does. You would have to get those filled in as well. Why dont you trade it for a .223 lower and a few bucks like the other guys have suggested.

don't want to part with them because they're LE lowers for my cousin's department.

people might weld them all the time but that does not mean its a stable weld.  i just got back from the airforce heat treatment / metallurgy class at aberdeen proving grounds MD.  i am a nuclear certified TIG welder and a 7 level machinist.  according to the Air Force Technical Order (T.O.) 1-1A-9. the only weldable series of aluminum are the 2XXX, 5XXX, and 6XXX.  i have welded on 7075 T6 before.  yes you can put a bead on it, but it is not stable and prone to crack out.  that is why it is classified as a non weldable series (7075)  this is just what i have learned from my many years of welding aluminum and exotic metals used in the AF

If this is the case, then why does it matter what they are marked anyways if they are for LEO use? Besides, the LEO markings don't mean anything if they aren't in preban configuration. If they are just lowers then they are just postban lowers with meaningless LEO markings in the eyes of the law.

Whatever your reasons are, if you still want to get .223 lowers then head over to subguns.com and work out a trade with a dealer for some LEO .223 lowers. It might cost a little $$, but it will be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting them remarked, which in this case would cost about as much as the lowers themselves are worth.

Michael
(scratching my head...)

I've never heard of a welded AR/M16 lower "cracking out". That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, just that I've never heard of it. I'm no expert on this subject, I just know it works. If you want the specifics I suggest you contact John Norrell, as he makes his living off this kind of stuff and is an expert in this field. If he has time I'm sure he could answer some of your questions.

Michael