I know Colt's stamps a "C" in their bolt carriers, but do they use any other letters.  Specifically is "(j)" a Colt's part?  I've checked the "Biggerhammer" link, but didn't see an answer to my question.

Luke62:

I too have a believed to be Colt bolt marked with a 'J'.  I have been told that early M-16 bolts were marked this way, although my example has forward assist cuts.  So I don't know how early.

It is an M-16 bolt as it has the fully enclosed, long circle buffer end.

Maybe one of the guru's here can enlighten us as to what we actually possess.

Geno

Geno,

I don't own it yet, but I am told it is a surplus M16 bolt carrier.  I don't know if it has the F/A notches.  It's supposed to have the early "greenish" phosphate finish though.

I agree with you, there has to be a "guru" out there who knows if this is a Colt part.

As a side question: I have a carrier that is stamped with a "C" but it looks narrower than the "C" on the biggerhammer site. Also the carrier key was not staked on. Does anybody else have a verifiable Colt carrier with a narrow "C"?

I also have a carrier with forward assist notches and is marked with a J. It's a semi-auto. Is this a Colt carrier?

OPen Fire:

Query:  When you say your bolt is semi-auto, do you mean the lower rear part of the carrier has been cut away?  That is, looking at the carrier from the end the metal looks like the letter"C".

Was your bolt instaled in a factory new rifle?

My bolt was purchased from a private party, so I have no idea where it came from.  I was told that early M-16 bolts were marked with a "J".  My bolt was designed for fully automatic operation is the rear is a full circle and the cut out slot for the hammer is shorter than on semi-auto rifles.  It looks identical to the current military M-16 bolts.

Who knows?  They could be sub-contractor bolt carriers for Hydra-Matic manufactured M-16's.

11B/E5:  I believe the narrow "C" you refer to I saw on ARmalite AR-10 bolts.  Now that has nothing to do with Colt or AR-15's.  I looked in my Armalite M15A2 and its bolt carrier is unmarked.  But that's not proof either.  So I am not able to give you much help beyond speculation.

FWIW....Geno

Colt only uses C on their bolt carriers. Bolt carriers marked with anything other than C are not Colt. There are several government and civilian suppliers of bolt carriers that use J,N,X,F (and others?) to designate origin. Sorry, I don't know specifics except that N is supposedly the company that supplies to FN as well as several civilian wholesalers. Colt bolt heads will be marked "C MP" or "C _ MP" with the space having a letter to designate the lot, example "X" as "C X MP". Colt extractors will have a small "c" etched underneath.

I should have looked more carefully at my carrier with the "J" mark since it is a M-16 carrier, not a semi-auto.

The part in the bolt carrier that holds the extractor and ejector is called the "Bolt" not the "bolt head".  

I know...Picky...Semantics...whatever...