Galati International has a number of uppers for sale in their latest catalogs, which, according to the write ups, are manufactured "by current military contractor".  Any idea who that would be?  Colt?

For the US it's FN, Fabrique National. Although some other country may have another manufacturer.

I would not believe anyone who claims to have FN (or current Military contractor) parts.  The contract that allows one to provide parts to the military also requires exclusivity.  Therefore any parts you find by them are either stolen government property, factory defects, or manufactured before they became military contractors (not likely).


YMMV
Steven L.

Quoted: The contract that allows one to provide parts to the military also requires exclusivity.   YMMV Steven L.

No,

That is not correct.  Nothing in the FAR's support your claim.  Please explain how this is true?

The catch word in thier advertising is "current".....this could be distorted enough to include....colt...fn...bushmaster...compass lake engineering....possibly others.....since the ad refers to "parts".....it leaves the possibility wide open.....

When I purchased my first AR, the parts were supposed to be from such a source. When pressed for the name of the manufacturer, I was told "FN made the upper". After much searching, I found the correct person to talk with at FN. He sighed and told me that they field tons of calls about this and assured me that no legitimate source exists for resale of FN uppers. He also expressed much of what has been said in this thread. I asked him if I could pass the info, including his name and extension along to others. He said he thought it would be helpful to him and others. I have since (it has been a long time ago) misplaced the info...

The information came from FN, they were my only source, so, if he was incorrect then my post is also.

After getting in touch with suppliers that advertised this misinformation about their products (most of them said "FN manufacture" when pressed for a source), most didn't care that this was incorrect. (With the exception of this "advertising inaccuracy", I have otherwise been more than satisfied with these suppliers.)

You could check the proof mark (if it exists) on the upper to find out who made it. Mine was a "splintered 'A'", therefore, it was made by Oly.

Hope this helps,
   -JmE-

Quoted: That is NOT a proof mark.  It's a forge die marking, and only indicates the source of the raw aluminum upper forging.  Many manufacturers buy these raw forgings.  It's the *machining* and *finishing* of the forgings that counts, and the die marking tells you none of that. For example, Bushmaster, Oly, DPMS, and ASA have all used Accurate Forge upper forgings (the splintered-A marking).  But the final product made from these is NOT the same.  Olys are the worst, as they skip a number of machining steps to save money.  Bushmasters are not only machined exactly to print specs, but are also finished 100% per Mil-Spec, unlike the others. In most cases, you DO get what you pay for.  The question becomes, "How much do I need?" -Troy

The only real point in my post was about the claimed FN origin of some suppliers. The last part was just to indicate a possible way to clear up the origin of the upper. Your posts adds nicely to the information needed and clears up an unfortunate error of ignorance in my post. Thanks.

              -JmE-

>>>>>>>NEWS FLASH<<<<<<<<

There are at least THREE current military contractors for M16A2/M4 upper receiver assemblies.  One is FNMI of Columbia, SC.  Another is Colt.  The third is CAPCO of Grand Junction, CO.  There may be others.

Recievers are made by FN sub contractor for the uppers ,supplied to galati from "model 1 sales" there #847-639-3192.                                                  Are FN sub contracorts any good?

Being a sub-contractor fo FNMI does not make them a military contractor.  To be a military contractor, they must have a contract with the military and their parts must meet military specification.  Just because they also supply parts to FNMI does not mean that the parts they supply to Model 1 or Galati meet the same specs as those they supply to FNMI.

To answer the question, just because one of their customers is FNMI does not mean that parts not supplied to FNMI are good, bad or indifferent in and of themselves.