AR Sponsor
Posted: 9/9/2003 3:57:10 AM EDT
| I tried the search but did not find anything. Saw a reference on another site that these were / are made in Canada. Can anyone provide details? It is an A1E3. Thanks. |
|
No, the "DK's" are not Diemaco (we've been through this a few times). There are a few of them around though, I have one, and I sold one, and CMMG had one on the EE recently. The reference your looking for is [url=www.biggerhammer.net/ar15/uppers]Bigger Hammer[/url][smash], but this list is very much out of date. Bigger Hammer lists the DK as Bushmaster, but the finish detailing is too poor for a BM ( the rough seam inside the carry handle, ect.). |
|
Then, just as now, the aluminum forging companies supplied raw forgings to anyone in the AR industry who needed them. Except for the early Colt uppers (when they were the only company making them), forging marks are not unique to any company. Trying to use the forge markings to figure out who machined & finished the upper is like trying to determine the make and model of a car based on the brand of tires it has on it. -Troy |
|
All Colt barrels and uppers have SOME markings. Back then, Colt didn't sell parts; only whole guns, and all of their guns had a factory acceptance stamp on the major components. Upper forgings usually had a two-letter code (C and another letter), and all but the earliest barrels had "C MP ...." on them, and even these had a few markings. If the barrel is absolutely unmarked, it isn't a Colt. -Troy |
| Not, to dispute what Troy has to say, but I called Colt's customer service to ask them about the markings. The guy I spoke to was only a customer service rep. He did say that there was a note in the computer that said rifles with bolt carriers made prior to 1973, and non-chrome lined barrels made prior to 1965 were not necessarily marked at all. He also said the rifles with non-forward assist A1 uppers had the same note that they were not necessarily marked. He told me that if the parts aren't marked, there is no way to say for sure that they are indeed Colt, but according to his computer it is possible that they are Colt. |
|
Quoted: non-chrome lined barrels made prior to 1965 were not necessarily marked at all. Right. But keep in mind that the number of ARs/M16s made prior to 1965 was very small, and those guns were all military rifles that were heavily used by US advisors and ARVN soldiers. The chances of these barrels showing up is fairly small. True, there are still some very early Air Force guns around in AF armories, some with very little use, but not many of these were surplussed. The vast majority of M16 barrels were made from '65 on, and IIRC, '66 was the first year the SP1 was available to civilians. -Troy |
AR Sponsor