I'm with a small federal LE agency and we haven't had any ARs in the past.  We were just given some old (brandnew....well never fired) A1s that I need to upgrade to M4s....and yes how much money I spend on this really counts.  What's the most cost effeective upgrade kit and what concerns should I have?

I had an Colt Sp1 that was setup A1 Style that I turned into a M4 which is my 3 gun rifle. Depending on what how many you have and all the Toys you want to put on it it can be cheap or can be a lot of money. Since I don't know how much money your agency has to work with. Basically if you want a True looking M4 this is will you'll need:

1. New Upper receiver and Barrel with the 14.5 inch M4 profile which you can get from Bushmaster, Rock River, DPMS or whoever you want. Also I don't know if you want to go with a carry handle or if you want a flat top. The Advantage with a flat type receiver you can mount scopes, red dots and holosights.
2. New Furniture M4 style Stock, M4 front guards.

These are the bare necessities you'll have to change.
You can also put on Tactical rails on the guards to mount lights, Red dots, Tactical Slings. There is a word of things you can put on your rifle. If you'd like help doing this or need accessories I can help you out at a lower price. Just contact me at [email protected] and I can try to hook you up with some of the stuff you'll need.  Good luck
Here is the Rifle I built
[img]http://www.infantryarms.com/images/ia_m3.jpg[/img]
Kelly Jenkins
Infantry Arms

Spur,

I sent you a lengthy email, let me know if you don't get it.  I think it should help.

Save us taxpayers some money and keep them as A1s.  You don't need a machine gun anyway.

FALPhil,

If you don't know the difference between an A1 anda M4, or if you don't understand why a LEO would need the change, perhaps you should keep your fingers off the keyboard.

Your taxes pay the garbageman, why not go tell him all about it as well....

If you're with a public agency, I'd suggest contacting either Colt or Bushmaster about purchasing complete kits for the conversion. Colt, especially, is into the LE market these days, and would be able to supply you direct, rather than you're having to acquire from a parts supplier and pay for his profit (and Colt's).

Re the cost, a significant part can be made up by selling off the A1 uppers. I promise you, there is a market for them, especially here on this web site[:D]. If you agency allows it, I'd sell off the A1 barreled uppers.  You may well find the returns cover a very large part of the cost of the new M4 top ends

I've just finished up 6 years as armorer/ trainer for the security unit at a large federal agency, so I've had some experience w/acquisitions. Tho we didn't have any ARs, I often had to contact S&W and Remington for parts, and know that all the major manufacturers have personnel that deal w/LE agencies, at prices considerably less than the over the counter tab.

Feel free to E mail me if you want any further info.