Hi guys...long time. 1911TUNER...how ya been? Well, I've had a slick side colt upper (small hole) for a couple years and it's been on an A2 lower but with the proper furniture. It even has the straight handguard band and it's a 1:12 twist, supporting the heavier 3 prong hider. I decided to make it "proper" by finding a "601" lower to put the upper on. Any of the commercial lowers are attached to the whole rifle and the cost is generally over $1100.00. The colts always have the large hole which has to be delt with by adapter pins. Thanks to the guys over at AR15.com...I found a manufacturer of "retro" lowers spanning the entire life of the M16 rifle from "project Agile" on. They are the ONLY manufacturers in the US. NoDak Spud LLC is the name of the company. The information needed to accurately make the build is on AR15.com, and they have a whole thread dedicated to the build, even converting an A2 lower. I opted NOT to do the A2 lower mod because of the labor intensive procedures involved. The NDS601 that I purchased is "plug and play". If you figure labor and parts etc....it's just cheaper to buy the retro lower from NDS at $180 shipped. When this project is completed, it will be the most historically accurate semi-auto 601 that can be had for civilian use. Fulton armory advertises one for $8-900. It is an A1 mounted on what looks to be an A2 lower. The 601 had NO mag fence, it was a "slick side" lower. I can still remember footage from as early as 1963-1964 on the news...might be my obsession with the build. The earliest M16's were light and handy (around 7 pounds) and considered to be junk by many. The government decided to use WWII surplus powder in the manufacture of the 5.56 ammunition against Stoner's warnings resulting in the jamming issues of the earlier M16's. As far as structural failure...these little black rifles were NOT designed well as a club or bayonet platform, and did break when used as such. I have fired my slick side upper quite a bit. Never had a feed fail or a stuck case...I use proper powder/loads/55gr bullets, and I clean it, as well as use quality 20rd mags. Man....this is gonna be a fun build!
