silicosys4
Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
- Messages
- 3,692
Back in 2002 or so, I had just turned of legal age and wanted to buy an AR-15. This right after the assault weapons ban sunset, and prior to that there weren't a lot of AR-15's available where I am at. This was 20+ years ago when there wasn't a lot out there for and about AR's, this was pre-internet and I was young and ignorant.
Around that time AR's had just started showing up at gunshows, and there were really only a few options. DPMS, Bushmaster, Colt, and Olympic Arms were about your only choices.
Well, there was a decent gun show in town and I had a few firearms for trade, no cash, and went looking. My choices were as I remember, a few Bushmasters, a few Colt's 6920's, and one weird mystery build sitting in the corner. At the time I didn't know it was a mystery build, it just looked cool sitting on a table up on a bipod.
All my options were right at the $1k mark.
(This was a different time, AR's were just becoming popular, were still pretty rare, and just about any AR was a thousand dollar gun)
and I had about that in trade, so I started working the floor. I sold a ratty Remington 870 18" riot gun for a few hundred, a Mossberg 835 for a few hundred, and (cringe) a Springfield M6 scout for $150, more than I paid but ouch. Like I said I was young and dumb and those were the times.
Now I had enough cash plus my unmolested Norinco Mak-90 (worth about $400 at the time) to trade.
The Colt 6920 guy said he was willing to do the trade, $550 cash plus the Mak-90, but for some dumb reason I was just drawn to that enormous AR on the table in the corner. Names meant nothing to me, all AR's were "AR's". Honestly I'm glad at this point because 6920's are pretty commonplace but what I ended up with isn't.
I had to haggle with the guy quiet a bit but ended up with the point of this story and this thread, this monstrosity of an AR, and I don't understand it in the least.
So what I do know.
Its a preban SGW (Olympic Arms' first business name) forged lower.
Its a Colt upper with forward assist but no shell deflector and the really crude early rear sight
It has a chromed bolt
It is not very reliable, which is why I never really got into AR's...I have them but they are not my favorite, even after having 100% reliable ones.
I don't know what twist the barrel is or the barrel manufacturer.
Its a dang pickle because the upper receiver isn't set up for a scope required for the long range shooting the barrel obviously is meant for. I tried one time and the scope was so ridiculously high you couldn't get a chin weld, let alone a cheek weld. I don't know for sure but given the rest of the gun I suspect the barrel is rifled at something dumb, like 1:12.
I have a railed upper receiver to swap out for the handgrip colt upper, but the dang gas block/sight has thus far resisted all efforts at removal and I got pretty rough with it. Once I get the gas block off and the upper swapped it will make a lot more sense. Then I can use the upper for a retro build.
Oh well, I thought y'all might enjoy seeing some of the dumb things people were doing with AR's back then and a story about taking a pile of guns worth close to $2k today and trading them for my first AR, a Frankenstein mystery AR most people wouldn't pay $500 for today.
Around that time AR's had just started showing up at gunshows, and there were really only a few options. DPMS, Bushmaster, Colt, and Olympic Arms were about your only choices.
Well, there was a decent gun show in town and I had a few firearms for trade, no cash, and went looking. My choices were as I remember, a few Bushmasters, a few Colt's 6920's, and one weird mystery build sitting in the corner. At the time I didn't know it was a mystery build, it just looked cool sitting on a table up on a bipod.
All my options were right at the $1k mark.
(This was a different time, AR's were just becoming popular, were still pretty rare, and just about any AR was a thousand dollar gun)
and I had about that in trade, so I started working the floor. I sold a ratty Remington 870 18" riot gun for a few hundred, a Mossberg 835 for a few hundred, and (cringe) a Springfield M6 scout for $150, more than I paid but ouch. Like I said I was young and dumb and those were the times.
Now I had enough cash plus my unmolested Norinco Mak-90 (worth about $400 at the time) to trade.
The Colt 6920 guy said he was willing to do the trade, $550 cash plus the Mak-90, but for some dumb reason I was just drawn to that enormous AR on the table in the corner. Names meant nothing to me, all AR's were "AR's". Honestly I'm glad at this point because 6920's are pretty commonplace but what I ended up with isn't.
I had to haggle with the guy quiet a bit but ended up with the point of this story and this thread, this monstrosity of an AR, and I don't understand it in the least.
So what I do know.
Its a preban SGW (Olympic Arms' first business name) forged lower.
Its a Colt upper with forward assist but no shell deflector and the really crude early rear sight
It has a chromed bolt
It is not very reliable, which is why I never really got into AR's...I have them but they are not my favorite, even after having 100% reliable ones.
I don't know what twist the barrel is or the barrel manufacturer.
Its a dang pickle because the upper receiver isn't set up for a scope required for the long range shooting the barrel obviously is meant for. I tried one time and the scope was so ridiculously high you couldn't get a chin weld, let alone a cheek weld. I don't know for sure but given the rest of the gun I suspect the barrel is rifled at something dumb, like 1:12.
I have a railed upper receiver to swap out for the handgrip colt upper, but the dang gas block/sight has thus far resisted all efforts at removal and I got pretty rough with it. Once I get the gas block off and the upper swapped it will make a lot more sense. Then I can use the upper for a retro build.
Oh well, I thought y'all might enjoy seeing some of the dumb things people were doing with AR's back then and a story about taking a pile of guns worth close to $2k today and trading them for my first AR, a Frankenstein mystery AR most people wouldn't pay $500 for today.
Last edited: