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I asked this before but didn't get a clear answer, are there a list of known rewelds and non-rewelds? I know its military "scraps" such as Hydramatic, but I still dont really know
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I have never seen a list of known reweld receivers. However, I have seen rewelded Hydramatics, Colts, and H&Rs over the years.
That said if I was purchasing a registered receiver I would apply the following criteria.
1. Is it Colt factory M16 and the accompanying paperwork list Colt as the original manufacture. Odds are good it is not a reweld.
2. Is the receiver from a non-military supplier (Oly/SGW, SENDRA, Essential Arms, large pin/no-fence Colt SP1 or AR15 Sporter). Odds are high its not a reweld.
3. If its a factory Colt and/or commercial receiver, are all the marking correct and the receiver has fully intact anodizing without paint type-coating on it. Further boosts odds its not a reweld.
Now conversely....
3. Is the receiver from a military supplier from the 60, 70s, or early 80s (Colt, GM Hydramatic, H&R, maybe Balimoy) and the paperwork shows somebody else as the manufacturer of record. Odds are significantly higher its a reweld vs. a factory gun.
4. Is the receiver a Colt, H&R, GM Hydromatics and the manufacturer of record on the paperwork either John Norrell or John Stemple? Odds are really high its a reweld as they seemed to be the most prolific vendor of rewelded M16s.
5. Are both #3 and #4 in the affirmative and the original markings are not 100% and/or its been painted, plus its got another manufacturers marking hiding under the pistol grip, etc? Virtually guaranteed to be a reweld.
There are still challenges as some rewelds were done well., some secondary MFG markings could be lost during a refinish, and the paperwork over the years have been changed to say Colt vs. say Stemple. Granted with the ATFs recent focus on all transfer paperwork matching the original F2, many of these paperwork changes should probably be caught and corrected back.
If you are really concerned the easiest reweld filter would be...does it have a paint type coating on it. I don't think there would be any way to effectively hide the weld area without a paint type coating on the receiver. Any reweld receiver I am going to speculate has not been re-anodized and even if it was reanodized the weld area probably wouldnt take the anodizing and dye the same as the original base receiver parts.