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Posted: 8/10/2005 9:34:42 AM EDT
Anybody know what peroid in AR history these are from?
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Posted: 8/10/2005 9:38:16 AM EDT
[#1]
They look A1 pistol grips to me, but with some kinda of tortice shell finish. Reminds me of guitar picks made by Fender that are called tortice shell. Interesting nonetheless.
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Posted: 8/10/2005 9:44:52 AM EDT
[#2]
Aye, those are real early M-16 grips. I have one on my 16a1 clone. Seen some stocks with the same swirls. Pretty neat.
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Posted: 8/10/2005 9:45:19 AM EDT
[#3]
Not sure what the deal is with "mottled" black furniture. I got a whole set that is Air Force surplus:
  
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Posted: 8/10/2005 9:47:56 AM EDT
[#4]
Based on the handguards I think they are mid-60's though. The first rifles delivered with black furniture were the 602's and thier furniture was not like this.
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Posted: 8/10/2005 9:57:25 AM EDT
[#5]
Clean 'em up and sell 'em! I know several people who are looking for real A1 pistol grips.
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Posted: 8/10/2005 10:29:47 AM EDT
[#6]
i think(and i could be wrong, so please no flaming) that the pistol grips in the first pic looks like the bakelite type material(instead of basic polymer plastic) that was first used to make very early and prototype AR furniture........like said before, i could be wrong, but that's what i think.....
camaro |
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Posted: 8/10/2005 10:49:47 AM EDT
[#7]
Beautiful rifle...where'd you get the sling? I'm kind of looking for one. Anyone know of a place that sells them? Also, I found a C and something that looked like a pinwheel in the interior of my PG next to the screw hole...that means it's a Colt right? |
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Posted: 8/10/2005 11:02:24 AM EDT
[#8]
It is not the early brown stuff (which was not Bakelite). The Model 01 had brown furniture, and the ones sold to the Air Force were painted green. Here is a green painted brown surplus Air Force Model 01 grip I tried to strip:
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Posted: 8/10/2005 11:04:35 AM EDT
[#9]
The sling is standard 50's and 60's USGI sling. You can pick them up at gunshows for cheap. Fulton Armory also sells them. I have not figured out the pistol grip markings yet. |
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Posted: 8/10/2005 12:23:43 PM EDT
[#10]
These aren't Bakelite. They are make of some sort of resin. The 'brown swirl' is not a finish, it's the same swirled color all the way through. The tops look like they were cut out after molding. |
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Posted: 8/10/2005 1:43:46 PM EDT
[#11]
I paid $5 for my last one. I should have picked up a few more for some additional projects.
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Posted: 8/10/2005 7:16:27 PM EDT
[#12]
bakelite is made out of resen......and bakelite doesn'at have to be brown.....the very first AR had BLACK bakelite furniture......as well many com block countries also used bakelite in brown as well as BLACK......i still believe these grips are bakelite grips.....just me, but it looks like the way that bakelite is molded with the "swirl" effect.....instead of a polymer plastic that would have more or less no color "swirl".......
still +1 for being bakelite..... camaro |
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Posted: 8/10/2005 7:33:32 PM EDT
[#13]
Wait until Lumpy sees that photo, he's going to be heading straight to the bathroom and locking the door...
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Posted: 8/10/2005 8:28:13 PM EDT
[#14]
The AR-15 was made of high tech aircraft industry materials (circa 1950's). The first production AR-15's had brown fiberglass furniture made by Fiberite of Worchester, MA. Here is a close up of a set of Fiberite handguards with a hole in it, notice the fiberglass strands: 
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Posted: 8/10/2005 10:01:09 PM EDT
[#15]
the very first one(non production i believe) had bakelite furniture and was very fragile.....i think the whole gun weighed less than 5lbs......the barrel was extremely thin......it was not combat ready in that time......i even saw that about the first AR on the history channel......
camaro |
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Posted: 8/10/2005 10:09:12 PM EDT
[#16]
yfs200,
Check e-mail. Sammy |
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Posted: 8/11/2005 3:46:04 AM EDT
[#17]
Got some, too....
 Have seven or eight that I'm switching over to all my retros.  More pics to follow. uxb |
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Posted: 8/11/2005 4:20:57 AM EDT
[#18]
The pistol grips in the pic are the same as the ones we had on our 'Nam era M16's and A1's. They always had that hard core salty look to them, -it gave them a certain character- nothing like the clean furniture of the A2's/A4's.
Nice weapon Ekie. Looks just like the one pictured in the Marine Corps 'yearbook' that you get after boot camp, green slip sling and all. Sweet. |
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Posted: 8/11/2005 4:50:59 AM EDT
[#19]
Yea I could use a couple more A1 grips too. I have at least one more retro build to do. |
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Posted: 8/11/2005 5:15:54 AM EDT
[#20]
The prototype Hollywood AR-15 also used fiberglass furniture, the fiber strands are visible even in this low res picture. 
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Posted: 8/11/2005 5:17:17 AM EDT
[#21]
Thanks for the info. |
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Posted: 8/11/2005 5:38:26 AM EDT
[#22]
Yes, those are early (as mentioned) maybe 1960's era A1 grips. They appear unusual in texture because as camaro mentioned, they are not made of the usual polymer plastic that you guys are used to right now. Though I am not sure what type of materials were used in those days, i would say something like fiberglass.
I still see a lot of those here in the provinces used by some of our military men. |
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Posted: 8/11/2005 6:36:44 AM EDT
[#23]
Here's some more pics. The material does appear to be very fiberous. Some of the grips have stickers on the inside. The markings are all very different. On the top, there can be a letter (A,B,C,D,or E) or no letter at all. Inside, there are 2 types of symbols, one that looks like a "Red Cross" symbol, one that looks like a sliced pie. The cross has a number by it, 1-4, the pie, a letter.
  
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Posted: 8/12/2005 12:02:55 PM EDT
[#24]
Could it be possible that these were used by GI's in the field? If so, the GI's used to clean their lower receivers (assembled) by dipping the whole thing in a vat of solvent. Solvents can destroy finishes, especially when there is repeated exposure. This being the case, there would be little finish left on the grips, and the basic manufacturing materials would be exposed. I believe this is why the grips look as they do.
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Posted: 8/12/2005 12:16:37 PM EDT
[#25]
That's exactly what I mean by "pinwheel" (couldn't think of a better description  ).Mine has a lightly stamped "C" that seems to be stamped backwards, then below that the "sliced pie" is stamped at about the same depth as the backwards "C", then next to the "pie" there's a large, raised "C". This is all behind the pistol grip screw hole (the side nearer to the stock) on the inside. I also have an either RRA or Bushmaster (can't remember which LPK I got it from...long story  ) which has a raised "F" in the rear of the interor of the PG, behind the grip screw hole (again, nearer to the stock) and a lightly stamped "2" on the opposite side of the screw hole (nearer to the mag well).
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Posted: 8/12/2005 12:25:20 PM EDT
[#26]
can I get one?
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Posted: 8/12/2005 1:00:27 PM EDT
[#27]
Last year my Father's PD received their DRMO M16A1s from the gov. I upgraded the rifles with M4 uppers and A2 pistol grips. The original grips looked exactly like the tortoise shell patterned grips pictured. I ended up giving them away here-hopefully the recipients gave them good homes and are enjoying them
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