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Posted: 2/26/2003 4:29:18 AM EDT
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Your '68 vintage rifle would have come with the slick side receiver, that is, no forward assist. I recently saw advertised a large hole upper with forward assist. I didn't know Colt ever made any available. My guess they were some of the last of the SP1's made, just before the switch over to the AR15A2 Sporter ll. Does your forward assist receiver have the large hole or small? Will the front take-down screw fit in it or not. The double screw front pin is the large (~.312") where a small hole upper will be .250", the same as the rear take-down pin. And welcome aboard Hawg. |
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As Fruit said, your SP-1 should have a non forward assist upper, but may or may not have a bolt carrier cut for a forward assist. My 1964 Colt SP-1 came with a slick upper and the bolt carrier is not cut for a forward assist either, but I aquired a Colt large hole forward assist upper and installed a Colt M16A1 chrome lined barrel on it so that I could shoot the damn thing and not cringe everytime I pulled the trigger. I'm also assuming that the last SP-1's, and the very early Green Label "A2" rifles had forward assist uppers with A1 sights. [img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=5942[/img] [img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=5943[/img] |
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By 1968 I believe that all the SP1s were being made w/notched, non chromed, bolt carriers, but the uppers were still slick side. There are a few large hole forward assist bolt carriers out there. Just picked one up at a show a couple of months ago, but the vast majority will be small hole, and require an adaptor pin to mount. I can't recall ever seeing a piece marked SP that came out of the box w/a forward assist. I may be wrong, but I think that by the time Colt started putting FA uppers on commercial pieces, they were already calling it something else besides "SP1". But then, the only Colts I claim to be an expert on are the two I own[:D] |
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No SP1 ever came from the factory with a forward assist. Not even the last ones made. In fact, even the first Sporter IIs had none. Any SP1 with a f/a has had its upper receiver replaced with one from either an M16A1 or a later Sporter II. If yours is that old, you really should leave it as-is; any replacement of parts for its own sake on a classic like that is just vandalism. Now, if I came across a really early SP1 that someone else had already disfigured with a CAR-15 or M4 stock and upper, I'd restore it (assuming I could buy it) but I might in that case slip in a forward assist. |
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Quoted: Oh, I see now: you have a [u]second[/u] upper group. That wasn't clear to me when I first read your post. How anyone stands having an upper without a matching lower is beyond me, though. Ya read my mind[:D] Actually, I did put the FA upper on my SP1, but then I'd made it an XM177 clone about 22 years ago, and the FA upper was the final piece needed to make it an XM177E2 clone. |
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Yep, mine is that old. Verified 1964, and in probably 99-98%. I replaced the Edgewood buffer with a new one, and the "new" upper so that I can shoot it without fear of screwing anything up. Don't worry, I saved everything and can put everything back to rights in less than a minute. [img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=5939[/img] |
| Thanks Fruit my SP-1 has the double screw in the front does that make mine a large hole upper I am new at this. Would you say that my spare upper with FA belongs on a Sporter model Colt it has FA with a bayonet lug an aflash hider that comes to three points at the end it is not like my bird cage on my SP-1 thanks again. |
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