[Raith]

Hmmm... So are these considered version 4s?  I've seen pictures of the supposed version 3 CA Armalites with white trades.  Hopefully this will all equate to CA having more quality control.

[Harley]

For those of you interested in some trivia.  Armalite was the original developer of the AR15 which was also the original designation of the M16 before the military adopted it and put it into service.  They sold the patent to Colt who made all the money on it.  Ugene Stoner was the engineer who designed it as well as many other weapons.  That is why Colt and the other companies who produce AR15's call them by that designation, "Armalite Rifle".

[Legs]

And sadly enough, Stoner's original design for the rifle was drastically altered to make it what the military now uses.  The Stoner rifle is vastly superior.  Robinsons Arms offers their Expeditionary Rifle these days, and it is a very close clone of the original Stoner, with some improvements.  It's the best modern example of the Stoner design.

[Wojo]

Didnt the original one use carbon fiber?  I remember watching that on TV awhile back... wasnt sure though.

[Raven1]

I will be looking to pick one up as soon as I sell my M40, been wanting an all metal body M4 for too long now!!

[Legs]

These do look very, very nice.

[Harley]

Actually Wojo, carbon fiber wasn't all that greatly used in the early 60's as far as I know.  From what I've read the guns were manufactured pretty much the same as they have been up till recently, aluminum receivers, steel barrels, (although not chrome lined at that time), and I belive the stocks were fiberglass and not plastic in the very early stages.  There is a company that is making complete upper and lower receivers made out of carbon fiber now, (can't recall the name).

[Yankee]

Yeah the Robinson Aramament M96s are offered with the Bren top feed style configuration now, kinda cool.  To convert a '56 Stoner from left hand feed to right hand feed costs about 11k for the kit alone right now, so for a unique feed option these days the '96 would probably be a good idea.  A shame we ended up with the M16s in Vietnam, if it weren't for political circumstances we could have been packing FNs.  Too bad.

[Harley]

I've been fortunate enough to have had the pleasure of firing several full auto weapons.  It's true that the M16 was plagued with several issues in the beginning.  Once these issues were dealt with it has become a great weapon for the modern soldier.  The M14 for example is a fantastic weapon.  It also had it's problems, especially when firing on full-auto for extended periods.  It's also a damn heavy rifle, but then it has to be in order to control a .308 cartridge on full-auto.  The down side is the weight and the beating one takes from sustained fire.  Unlike an M60, .308 again, which weighs almost three times as much and absorbs the recoil.  On the other hand the M16 with it's 5.56 cartridge has little recoil and therefore does not need to weigh as much, hence less fatigue from carrying it around all day, and a lesser beating from sustained fire.  <end rambling>

[Legs]

I wondered how long it would take Big John to defend the M16 fmaily!!  Leave him alone, you meanies!!!

[Wojo]

Your right Harley, i must have mistaken it for fiber glass... ill keep an eye out for the same show again on the history channel, it was an hour about the m16 and how it came to be.  History channel tends to show the same shows over and over again so like i said ill let you know []

[Yankee]

Yeah, the 5.56s were probably more appropriate for the jungle fighting anyway, with the earlier 308 FNs falling in line with the M14s as they were phased out later in the war.  'Course luckily for us shorter Asian soldiers the '16s were adapted for the conflict(as opposed to supplying the ARVN troops with full wood-and-steel 308s).

[Paco]

Posted from an email I received from Classic Army:

"Please be informed that we will launch M15A4 Carbine, M15A4 Tactical Carbine & M15A4 Rifle using a real gun logo ~ Armalite, replacing the old M4A1, M4T and M16A3.  Also there will be some new spare parts in the new rifles.

We will inform you when they are ready. The expected release day will be at the end of March.

Improvement of M15A4 CARBINE

²         Metal Body

I.            â€˜Armalite’ Real Gun Logo  

II.         Laser Script

²         Improved material of Hard Grip, Foregrip and Retractable Stock

I.            Change from Plastic to Nylon & Glass Fiber

²         Individual Series no. will be added

²         New Gears will be used

²         Re-enforced Adaptor Ring for Foregrip

²         New Version of Hop-up Chamber & Rubber

²         High Speed & High Torque Motor

 

Improvement of M15A4 Tactical Carbine and M15A4 RIFLE

²         Metal Body

I.            â€˜Armalite’ Real Gun Logo  

II.         Laser Script

²         Harder Fixed Stock which can use 10.8 V battery

²         Individual Series no. will be added

²         New Gears will be used

²         Re-enforced Adaptor Ring for Foregrip

²         New Version of Hop-up Chamber & Rubber

²         High Speed & High Torque Motor