what was the model designation for the airforce carbine that was the same as the army's 653?  14.5" "pencil" barrel, A1 upper(forward assist, no brass deflector), 2 position stock, A1 full fence lower, etc. etc.?

i know it was GUU, or GUA, or something. was it the GUU-5 by chance?



camaro

I believe that it was designated GAU-5/A.

Link: Colt Commando

If you are talking Colt Model 610, you are talking USAF GAU-5/A. US Army equivalent was the Colt Model 609 / XM177E1.
www.retroblackrifle.com/ModGde/CrbGde/610.html

www.retroblackrifle.com/ModGde/CrbGde/609.html


If you are talking Colt Model 630 or 649, you are talking USAF GAU-5A/A. US Army equivalent was the Colt Model 629 / XM177E2.
www.retroblackrifle.com/ModGde/CrbGde/649.html

www.retroblackrifle.com/ModGde/CrbGde/629.html


If you are talking US Army / Colt Model 653, the exact USAF equivalent or designation  is up in the air? There are some references to a GAU-5/P, and some to a GUU-5/P, more than likely the 653 would have fallen into the GAU-5/P designation. You can check out the USAF Carbine Guide for more info:
www.retroblackrifle.com/ModGde/CrbGde/USAFGdeCrb.html


Hope that helps,
"Capt Richardson"

There's a lot to suggest that GAU-5/P should have been a designation.  Some Air Force documentation have them listed in the following manner "GAU/GUU-5/P," which would imply that there is some confusion on their end.  

GAU-5/A is a misnomer within the USAF's designation system, as the three letter prefix is for airborne guns (and all other GAU series weapons are airborne guns), and the "/A" suffix is supposed to denote weapons applicable to aircraft.  My general feeling these days is that this issue was gradually fixed, first the eventual applicable of the proper "/P" suffix (for personal items) and then with the placement of it in the proper class, by then changing the three less prefix.  

The only thing I can think of that put the GAU-5/A in its class initially was that perhaps this slot had been reserved for the survival rifle that didn't pan out, and the decision to adopt the Colt 610 meant that it was easier to apply this designation to it.

Im embaresses to ask, but what does GUA and GUU stand for?

Quoted: Im embaresses to ask, but what does GUA and GUU stand for?

IIRC the weapon was listed on my custodian account (1982) as Gun, Army Universal, Colt 5.56.
I have seen references to Gun, Air Unit, however I cannot remember accurately.

They don't techincally stand for anything as an acronym.  They have specific meanings with the ASETDS (Aeronautical Support Equipment Type Designation System) used by the USAF.  Equipment with a three letter prefix is of one of three types, it is a group (G), unit (U), or kit (K), all indicated by the last letter in the prefix.  The first two letters are the class.

GA is airborne guns, while GU is just for guns (the only two known GUs are GUUs and are personal weapons).

For a complete run down on the system go to this very good website: www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/aerosupport.html

Note that there are MIL-STD documents that detail this system and could be consulted as well if they were available.

Man, thats a whole lot of info on those pages. I got me some reading to do.