"GM"? M 16's

I recall it was the GM Hydramatic division that produced some rifles, this was their automatic transmission division. An M16 is much more simple to produce than an automatic transmission, but I suspect the aluminum forging for the receivers was childs play for this division.

Not winding down, they were made during 1967-68 and are stamped:

HYDRA-MATIC DIV.
G.M. CORP.

PROPERTY
OF U.S. GOVT.
M16A1
CAL. 5.56MM

I don't know of any NFA registered ones in the US. Would make a nice addition to an M16 collection.

Would you believe Norinco also produced the M16A1?

The M16A1 wasn't the first rifle that GM made. The largest manufacturer of M1 Carbines during WW2 was the Inland Division of GM.

One of the vets over at the Vietnam memorial in Sacramento is still telling people about the Mattel made ARs.

Wow I have been a GM and gun enthusiast allmost my entire life and never knew that. Any pics?

if iremember right, the m-16a1 i carried whenin the army from 83 to 86 was ahydromatic , shocked me at the time

M16A1s were produced for the US government by Colt, (highest production), GM Turbo-Hydromatic Division (next highest production) and Harrington and Richardson. (H&R had production problems and didn't deliver all that many)

I used M16A1s made by all three manufacturers during my time in the Army.

Click to expand...

Heck, I fired all three of those variations at the Small Arms Firing School and M-16 EIC Match at Camp Perry over the last two years. The Army Marksmanship Unit supplied the rifles and they were all rebuilt to M-16A2 standards. These were *OLD* rifles though, even the "new" uppers looked old. I imagine they were some of the first A1's to be rebuilt to A2 standard.

The Colt rifle I used one time was marked "Colt AR-15" and then below that "M-16A2" with the "2" crudely overstamped over the "1". I have a pic of that rifle somewhere. I also took some pics of the GM Hydro Matic and H&R rifles, but not all my pics turned out.

I walked up and down the line looking at the rifles before one of the relays and saw very few "FN" built rifles. The majority were Colts, IIRC.