Ever since my friend got me into retro ARs, I have wanted a replica of a 603 that would have been manufactured right around when my uncle served in Vietnam. I don't know the dates he was there, but I remember him telling me about taking cover from mortar shells during the Tet Offensive. The year of manufacture I had in mind was 1967 and I think I came up with something close. (when you look at it from the outside) The upper receiver is a no forge code Colt with a slight green tint to the anodizing, barrel is a "MP 12" and no drain hole in the FSB, early bend gas tube, kinda shiny "L R" drain hole hand guards, and a bird cage flash hider. With the no drain hole FSB the barrel is probably from 1966 and would have had a 3 prong originally, but I put a bird cage on it because it probably would have been changed out by the time my uncle was there. I paired up a nice set of matte no drain hole hand guards but they look very new, I think of the ones on it as worn replacements but I'm on the fence which way to go. The upper assembly came with a black slip ring so the components may not be original to each other. I shopped around for a purple slip ring but the one I already accidentally owned (before I knew what a purple slip ring was) turned out to be the most purple. (Am I understanding the purple slip ring thing correctly? I am looking at original SP1 auctions for comparison) The gray buffer tube, spring, buffer, and BCG, and CH are all from a Century imported kit, LPK parts are a mix, stock is from the EE, shiny grip was found in a bucket of grips at a local show, cotton "MRT" sling was found at a surplus store for $9 or so. (prices have since gone up and the nice ones are all gone) One of the bigger cheats / cost cutting measures I am guilty of is the full fence NDS lower. A while back they had magwell blem 9mm lowers for $100, I couldn't resist. I always wanted a partial fence lower for this project, but there are a few
full fence XM16E1s out there so I am using that as an excuse / justification. I've only shot it a few times, I'm too disorganized to know how to give a range report but it sure is fun shooting at garbage in a gravel pit. Here are some pictures, the top 2 pictures were taken in florescent lighting and the slip ring doesn't look purple as a result.
(full width)
(full width)
I like the upper receiver / barrel components of this rifle, thin parkerizing on the barrel from handling, manufacture flaw(s) above the FA bump on the receiver, rifle rack dents on the ramp of the FSB. "Flaws" are the front swivel was held with a rivet and the park got worn away, I'm assuming the bare spot on the left side of the upper receiver is from bouncing around a barrel of surplus upper assemblies. (Am I right about this?)