Hello to all of you, my name is Mike I am new to Ar's and to this forum. I went out with my friend whom has a Bushmaster 16" carbine(A2?) and we put about 300 rounds thru it the other day. That's all it took for me, I'm hooked. A few weeks later, I had the opportunity to trade a guy I know for a Colt 20" h-bar comp match. I like the gun ALOT, but now I am thinking about selling some of my handguns that I don't shoot that much anymore so I can buy(build) another one heh. I was just wandering where I might find a list of what all the number designations mean, I.E. A2,A4,M4 etc. I think what I want is an M4. Do they make those in the h-bar? Also my rifle has a solid one piece FF aluminum handguard on it. It there any cooling benefits to this over one of those RAS FF units? I really like the tech looking stuff and want to build another rifle from the ground up utilizing some of the rail system stuff. Also, on my rifle there is a scratch in the finish on the forward assist(?) and I was wandering if there is any tricks to getting rid of it without compromising the value or mechanics of the gun. Anyways, that's about half of the questions I have for now but I don't want anyone to have to write a novel answering them. Thanks for all your help and I'm really excited to be on the forum and to be owning an AR.

Easy I.D.:
A-1 is a old style sights (no knobs)
A-2 has adjustment knobs on the sights.
A-3 is the one with removable carry handle.
M-4 is the designation given to the barrel with the hourglass cut out, cut out is for mounting M203 grenade launcher.
The aluminum one piece hand guard is for accuracy, it is the equivelent of free floating the barrel.
Brownell's sells touch up pens to cover dings and scratches on ARs.
Welcome to the board, and check out the hometown forum in the upper right.
We usualy have get togethers that are announced there.

Ok newbie, here are some answers:

The numbers in the A suffix defines the AR15 modifications over the years.

A1-This the first series mods to the rifle. The buttstock is shorter than the A2 series by 1/2". It has no brass deflector. The rear sights does not have an elevation drum. Also, this series has the triangular handguards and a tear drop foward assist.

A2-Longer buttstock, improve rear sights, improved handguards (round), a brass deflector (for southpaw shooters), and a round foward assist.

A3/A4-Which ever is the correct designation. I know that Colt is using the A4 designation for the current M16 production and marketing. Mainly, the key mod is the flattop design with the detachable (it is lost somewhere) carrying handle.

The M4 is the carbine configuration that everyone likes (it's the in thing). It has a 14.5" barrel that is stepped down just ahead of the front sight to allow the mounting for a M203 grenade launcher. Civilian legal sales will involve a permanent attachment of a muzzle device to give the legal 16" requirement.

As for the free floating handguard that your rifle has right now. It helps with the accuracy more than the heat dissapation.

And check out the Mag and the Ammo FAQs posted in their forums.

Welcome [newbie]

I heard the touch-up pens were equivalent to a sharpie.

Welcome to the Board!

MM419

[wave] howdy!.


AND DONT SELL ANY GUNS, EVER.

[url=groups.msn.com/TheMarylandAR15ShootersSite/whatisana1a2a3ora4.msnw]What is an A1, A2, A3,or A4?[/url]

Welcome aboard. It looks like you initial questions were answered. If you need any help give a holler.

Mr PHX-AR,

Welcome!  You will love your new AR; I will tell you that since I purchased my RRA CARA2M4 I'm in love!  

This board is fantastic for finding answers to what you might think are really dumb questions.  The people who respond here are absolutely top notch and you will find very little gun-snobbery here.  

Mr DCOKE76 made a comment that some might find a tad flip, but he's dead smack right on the money - selling guns is not the best way to go.  Eventually you may find that you regret having sold one weapon to obtain another.  I've learned this lesson the hard way.  I still regret selling some - not all, but some - of the weapons that I've owned over the years.  

An alternative that's worked for me through the years is to pick the weapon that I wanted and then to set aside some money each week from our paychecks until I had the cash in my hot little paws.  I don't believe in debt (credit card payments in particular) so this way I could pay cash for the weapons.  Just a suggestion - YMMV!  

Again, welcome to the board and to the world of ARs!

Mike Sigman
[email protected]

Clean the scratched area on the aluminum receiver and use a product called Aluminum Black from Birchwood Casey.  Apply with a cotton swab, and after it has darkened enough, wipe the area with a damp cloth, then let dry and oil it.  For scratches on the steel parts, you can get Touch Up Blue from Birchwood Casey.  I know, it is not an exact match for gray parkerizing, but close enough.