Posted: 3/28/2017 9:00:33 PM EDT
I picked up a collection of rifles about a year or so ago now and there is one I do not have any info for and Colt cannot letter. It is SL000023. The SL prefix is what is stumping me as I cannot find any info. Anybody know info about it? Carbine model with fixed a2 buttstock and slickside reciever
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I had the same as your Sporter Lightweight carbine model R6530 which I bought when they first came out to the market in 1991 but I sold it at a good profit at the end of the ban in 2004.
The Sporter Lightweight carbines had the SL prefix and from the info (link below) the serial number SL 027246 are pre ban. Mine was an early produced carbine which had the A1 length, 5/8 shorter than the standard A2 carbines buttstock. Later on they replaced it with the longer A2 buttstock. Some of those short buttstocks was marked the letters "CS" but some of them don't have any markings, they're very collectible now and expensive. The Sporter Lightweight carbines were produced from around end of 1990 up to 1994, during the ban they were replaced by the Match Target Lightweight model MT6530 carbine. Hope this helps. http://biggerhammer.net/ar15/ar15serial.html |
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This thread from the archives indicates that S/N SL027246 and below is pre-ban. Unfortunately the serial number list linked in the last post in that thread, which used to be in the Firearms Resources section of the board, is MIA since the board update. IIRC it was more comprehensive than the pre-ban list that's still posted on biggerhammer.net and other places. Production carried on after the ban without flash hider as the Match Target Lightweight.
The model number is R6530, and it's basically a neutered R6520 (Gov't Carbine) with A2 stock and no bayonet lug, and yours of course would be a very early example. This was about the time they started marking date codes on barrels, so you might try removing the hand guards and looking for the date stamped on the barrel near the front sight base, possibly under the gas tube. My guess is that production started in the late '80s/early '90s, which is when the 6520 was introduced, as the equivalent "civilian" model to the law enforcement carbines. The 6530 was also the source of most of the CS stocks available in the US. The CS stock is basically a shortened A2 stock, made the same length as the A1 stocks but of better material. 
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Quoted:
Ok great thank you both for your info!! I do not belive this has a CS marked stock. I believe it is standard a2. This issue with this gun is colt cannot letter it due to them having no info of it in their systems. 
My carbine as well as the majority of the Sporter series (1991-1994) had the steel sear blocks on the lower receiver. Yours have it too because I could see the blind pin above your selector. My carbine have no CS mark on the stock but it have a shorter stock which I compared with my other Sporter Target rifle with a standard A2 stock. You could compare your buttstock length if you have a standard A2 rifle, or someone you know might have one and compare it side by side. If not you could measure the LOP (Length Of Pull) from the front of the trigger to the rear end of the stock, A1 LOP are 12.875" while the A2 LOP are 13.5" (difference of 0.625" or 5/8"). I used my Sporter Lightweight carbine for about 13 years and I never had any problems, it was very reliable and I mostly use it for home defense which I used it on the 1992 Los Angeles riots when I was living there at that time. The only features that I dislike personally were the steel sear block, half moon type bolt carrier, and the large diameter offset pivot pin. About that same time in '91 I also bought a Colt model 6551 Sporter Target 20" barrel rifle and I was lucky it didn't have the steel sear block, I sold it also for a nice profit during the ban in 2001. Currently I have 4 Colt carbines and a rifle, 6721 AR-15A3 Tactical Carbine (new old stock made in 2002 bought it in 2005), another 6721 carbine made & bought in 2010, SP6920 marked Sporter M4 Carbine 2011 model, and a Match Target HBAR lower made during the ban with a new never issued M-16A2 Colt upper half. The Colt factory probably doesn't have the personnel to look at their manufacturing records and they're just using the excuse of your serial number was not in their system. |