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Posted: 1/20/2016 6:29:48 PM EDT
| I was curious to know if Colt ever did any sear upgrade to their SP1 rifles. |
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Quoted:
I was curious to know if Colt ever did any sear upgrade to their SP1 rifles. If by "sear upgrade" you mean converting existing semi SP1's to registered full-auto, definitely no. Colt's staff lawyers nixed that for liability reasons. All SP1 conversions were done outside of the Hartford factory by third parties. |
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One other note to the OP:
Back before the May 19, 1986 cutoff for transferable MGs, BATF did not have any rules for the marking of firearms -- you could mark them anywhere, and with anything, with no minimum size or depth. Thus, many transferable MGs were marked with vibrapens, and in hidden places (on AR receivers, a favorite spot was on the flats underneath the pistol grip). In addition, many of the markings were so small and shallow that a refinish would wipe them out. And finally, back in those pre-internet days, some makers using Form 1's did not think they needed to mark their MGs at all. (I know of two times at MG shoots in the '90s where ATF checked MGs and found there were no maker's marks. (In the first case, ATF explained, the owner agreed to get it marked. The agent gave the owner a business card and told him to send him photographic proof within 60 days. And that was that. (In the second case, the owner got into an argument with ATF and swore that markings weren't required under federal law. Result: ATF seized the MG on the spot, shipped it off to tech branch .... who did the ugliest marking I've ever seen, then shipped it back to the registered owner -- after letting it sit for six months in an ATF locker, that is.) Bottom line: Despite what many SP1 RR owners claim, the fact that you can't see any non-Colt markings does not mean that Colt did the conversion. HTH. |
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Are semi auto SP1s worth anything? They never get any bids on GB. I have one that came as a host for RDIAS. It just sits in my safe, as the RDIAS has a shiny new host (I stripped the sp1 of its' M16 parts). Their slab side appearance makes them not all that collectible. |
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Are semi auto SP1s worth anything? They never get any bids on GB. Sure, the early semi SP1's are collectible. I understand that they're worth up to $2,000 NIB. I have a couple of SP1's that I could have converted to FA back in the day. I didn't do it, because I figured it would ruin ruin their collectibility (no one could have imagined the Hughes Amendment causing the runup in FA prices). Instead, at the time, I bought converted Sendra guns, and an actual Colt M16. |
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Quoted: If by "sear upgrade" you mean converting existing semi SP1's to registered full-auto, definitely no. Colt's staff lawyers nixed that for liability reasons. All SP1 conversions were done outside of the Hartford factory by third parties. Quoted: Quoted: I was curious to know if Colt ever did any sear upgrade to their SP1 rifles. If by "sear upgrade" you mean converting existing semi SP1's to registered full-auto, definitely no. Colt's staff lawyers nixed that for liability reasons. All SP1 conversions were done outside of the Hartford factory by third parties. Do you know the history of the LaFrance RR SP1's? Friend of mine has one and what is interesting about it is that there is no serial number by Colt on the left side of the receiver on the magwell where Colt would normally put their serial number. It has Cal 223 and Model SP1 under the Colt pony on the magwell but no serial from Colt. It only has LaFrance's serial number on the right side of the magwell. I wonder the order in which the auto sear pin hole would have been drilled or how it would have even left Hartford with no serial number. I would think that Colt may have done a run custom for LaFrance? |
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Quoted:
Are semi auto SP1s worth anything? They never get any bids on GB. I have one that came as a host for RDIAS. It just sits in my safe, as the RDIAS has a shiny new host (I stripped the sp1 of its' M16 parts). At first I was going to scrap it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Who knows...in 20 years it might be a collectible. Their slab side appearance makes them not all that collectible. Older SP1s command fairly high prices - if there's been a recent crash in SP1 prices, it's news to me. From 2014 onward, each year's crop of SP1s are becoming C&R now, which will only add to their value and desirability going forward. |
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Quoted:
(snip) I would think that Colt may have done a run custom for LaFrance? I don't have any definitive info on the LaFrance guns, but I'm guessing you are correct -- Colt did a custom run for him. At that time, he was doing a lot of agency and .gov contract work and had built up a great rep, so Colt may well have bent their rules for him. |
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Quoted: I don't have any definitive info on the LaFrance guns, but I'm guessing you are correct -- Colt did a custom run for him. At that time, he was doing a lot of agency and .gov contract work and had built up a great rep, so Colt may well have bent their rules for him. Quoted: Quoted: (snip) I would think that Colt may have done a run custom for LaFrance? I don't have any definitive info on the LaFrance guns, but I'm guessing you are correct -- Colt did a custom run for him. At that time, he was doing a lot of agency and .gov contract work and had built up a great rep, so Colt may well have bent their rules for him. |
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Quoted:
Which makes me wonder who drilled the autosear pin hole....I'm guessing Colt since it left Hartford with only LaFrance's serial number....making it a factory Colt SP1 machine gun. Not a conversion. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
(snip) I would think that Colt may have done a run custom for LaFrance? I don't have any definitive info on the LaFrance guns, but I'm guessing you are correct -- Colt did a custom run for him. At that time, he was doing a lot of agency and .gov contract work and had built up a great rep, so Colt may well have bent their rules for him. The only way to find out would be to file an FOIA on one, and see who filed the Form 2. |
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Quoted:
Are semi auto SP1s worth anything? They never get any bids on GB. I have one that came as a host for RDIAS. It just sits in my safe, as the RDIAS has a shiny new host (I stripped the sp1 of its' M16 parts). At first I was going to scrap it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Who knows...in 20 years it might be a collectible. Their slab side appearance makes them not all that collectible. No, there's no value in them. But since I'm a sucker, I'll give you a couple of hundred bucks for yours to save you the trouble of scrapping it. 
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Quoted: The only way to find out would be to file an FOIA on one, and see who filed the Form 2. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: (snip) I would think that Colt may have done a run custom for LaFrance? I don't have any definitive info on the LaFrance guns, but I'm guessing you are correct -- Colt did a custom run for him. At that time, he was doing a lot of agency and .gov contract work and had built up a great rep, so Colt may well have bent their rules for him. The only way to find out would be to file an FOIA on one, and see who filed the Form 2. I hear you and don't want to know that bad. The guy that I know that owns it doesn't care to know either. However, thought I'd mention it as a possible exception to the rule of all SP1's being conversions. |
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Quoted:
Thanks Tony, that was the information I was looking for. Had a conversation about this and the guy got me all spun around. FWIW, this comes up every couple of years: Someone selling an SP1-based RR claims "Colt did the conversion because there are no marks on it other than Colt's. That makes it worth more than one that someone else converted." BTW, I can give you a GREAT deal if you're interested in buying the Brooklyn Bridge ....
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