We have seen some of these in the Black Rifle by Edzell.  Unusual to see the uncropped, original Colt B&W prints showing Rob Roy's adaptation of the Stoner/Peck AR10 belt feeder on the AR15 being fired with a still in the white upper receiver.  Also unusual to see the catalog photo of the finished model with the links feeding in the wrong position.......since it was a bottom link model.  The weapon was obviously fired during the winter in Hartford, CT....and it looks like it was fired into a makeshift backstop behind the old forge building, which still stands behind the east armory building.  There is supposed to be actual film footage of this test also......but only God know where that may be.....probably thrown out long ago.











This last pic(s) is from "The Black Rifle" by Edzell........ which shows almost the end of the belt burst.....

Love the nose to charging handle cheek weld.  Back then, they knew how to shoot!

@Coldblue what about your final iteration of the A2 did Rob Roy like / not like?  I'm sure he gave you feedback.  Did he mention what he would have implemented if it was his project, or done differently?

Thanks!

ColdBlue....thanks for your service!

My uncle was a Marine Infantryman under your watch and he was indeed a RIFLEMAN!, like all marines are.......He loved the M16A2.....specifically the sights.

He recently made up a clone M16A2 using a modern day Colt semi and a now hard to find A2 fixed carry handle upper in medium grey color.  It is his go to varmint gun.......for 2 and 4 legged varmints!

If he only had one complaint, that's very good!  You can't do much better than that!

He didn't mind the longer stock or thicker barrel profile?  What were his thoughts on the twist rate?

ColdBlue, sadly Mr Roy & David Behrendt (colt salesman and engineer) from that time frame have both passed.  I think the only person who worked at Colts during the beginning of the AR15 through the A2 development - roll out is Richard Costello.  I think he is retired down in FLA also.  Harold Waterman is still alive, who originally designed the A2 style sights on the first Colt LMG version with the change out barrel in the 1970s.

I know from experience that Mr Roy closed the deal on the UAE Colt purchase, and it then piggy backed (no offense :)) into a big sale to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even the big order to Kuwait for A2's which was prepaid but later cancelled due to Desert Storm winding down so quickly.

I got to handle an XM-4 marked Colt carbine at a Navy base in 1986, then a few years later handle a gold plated one in Abu Dhabi......they actually carried them and the Presidential guard for Sheik Zaied had gold plated Colt M16A2 commandos.  I learned in passing from Mr Roy in the early 1990's at a gun shop in Connecticut that the Marine Corps was actually behind the development of the M4 carbine also......but they lost out the funding for something else the Navy wanted....so I guess Roy was able to sell the M4 to UAE with a boat load of M203s to keep it alive.

The Sheik and his two sons, Sheik Kalifa and Sheik Mohammed all carried Gold plated and engraved Colt pythons while falcon hunting, so some salesman kept Colt alives during that time.

Was the belt fed M16 ever tested in combat . I remembered seeing an m16 with a belt inserted on the cover of "A sniper in the Arizona" when I was a kid. I dont know if they just added that for the picture to send home or if it was a legit m16 belt fed

Edit to add - Found the pic Attached File

very VERY cool

LAFMEDIC1, awesome pic of the AR belt feeder in the wild.......never seen that pic before!

Looks like some Marines just messing around.

Those look like 7.62 for the M60 guy next to him. He just put it in the door as probably a joke.

Looks like the prototype fed from the left too.

Coldblue.....Awesome pics!

I worked with a retired Gysgt who was at the Foreign Material Exploitation Team @ Quantico back in the day.  A friend was a Agent with NIS, then - now NCIS, and he found some interesting gear that needed to be brought to the attention of someone......I think a Soviet silenced pistol or silencer ammo.

He had a XM4 like in your picture........it was issued to him since he was the liaison with a Special SEAL Team here in Virginia Beach.  He told me that the XM4 was the USMC brainchild, but it lost out in the funding....as you said.   He said the Navy Spec War people jumped all over it......but Rob Roy was later able to sell a ton of them with M203s in the Middle East.

His kit bag also had a 11.5 inch M16A2 with a small suppressor made by your folks at KAC in the late 1980s.......it was twice the size of the Colt factory XM177E2 suppressor, but he said it was a real suppressor and not a flash hider......it was the baddest looking carbine......short, handy, very accurate and relatively quiet.  I think he used a Police version of SS109 that was not adopted.  He said it was sub MOA in the Commando.....which I found hard to believe until I fired one a few years ago with a Aimpoint.

Thanks for the Pics.......the USMC really doesnt get as much credit for developing such "go to gear" as we use now.....just look at your work back in the day with the original Armalite AR10's with Phil Seeburger's old suppressor designs.......True Awesomeness.