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Posted: 11/24/2004 10:31:58 AM EDT
Carry handle. Never seen this mark before. Ideas?
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I just purchased a Colt R6721 upper. The removable carry handle has the same exact marking which like you I have never seen before. Another interesting thing are the markings on the upper itself. The upper has the T markings on the top of the rail, is marked M4 above the gastube hole and there is a C and a keyhole marking on the left side of the upper. Anybody else have the same carry handle and upper receiver markings on their Colt upper receiver assemblies? Thanks, DD out!! 
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Only time I've seen this marking is on a Detachable carry handle from a Bushmaster Rifle, I have an A2 upper with the same forge mark but have no idea who sold it originally, I bought it used with no further info |
So is it possible that Colt might have used a forging from that particular company or did someone slap a Bushmaster carry handle on this upper to pass it off as a Colt? |
What companies? How about all of them? I really don't know why people get so worried about the bloody forge marks. The raw forging is meaningless in terms of the quality of the finished piece. Anchor-Harvey, Cerro, and Cardinal seem to be the forges turning out most of the raw forgings used on ARs these days, and the quality of the finished product is purely the province of who took the forging and turned it into a finished product 
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I was not worried about the mark. I was just curious as I had not seen this one before. I understand the forge to final manufacturer/finishing production line process, but many do not, as evidenced by fxntime's post. We're all learning here... |
"Keyhole" is Cerro Fabrication. |
My 6921 has all of the same markings. |
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For many years, Colt used only Alcoa (AF) forgings for their flattops. I don't think anyone else has ever used Alcoa Forge uppers besides Colt. Not to be confused with Anchor Harvey (/-\) forgings..... Now you see Colt using some Cerro forgings as well, for flattops |
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Receiver forgings for AR-type rifles have become a commodity. Back in the old days, when Colt was the only manufacturer, this was not the case. But, with multiple vendors making forgings on a regular basis, all manufacturers have the oppertunity to shop around for the best price and/or availability for their raw forgings. Therefore, it is not at all unusual or unexpected to see a manufacturer use forgings sourced from many different companies, nor different manufacturers using forgings from the same source. Again, the source of the raw forging is MEANINGLESS, and has been for at least a decade or more. -Troy |
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