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Posted: 5/19/2004 5:53:06 AM EDT
| Does the A1 upper have the dual appeture ??? Thinking of building me a K.I.S.S. carbine, but have never really ever looked at an A1 upper. Thanks for the help in advance. |
| The apertures are close to the A2's SMALL aperture. I don't have them in front of me at the moment but IIRC they are a hair or two larger. They are nowhere near as large as the A2 large apeture (how the heck could you hit anything at 375M with an aperture that large?) |
Build it. I put the one in the picture together sort of as a truck gun/slim and trim kind of thing and it's fast becoming my favorite. I know, I know, the sling is bigger than the gun, still playing with that part of it. I wouldn't have even mounted the scope except my eyes aren't what they used to be. It's not as light as you can go, but it balances really well for me. M16 slick side upper, A2 rear aperture, M4 barrel, preban Sendra A1 lower with old style Colt collapsible stock. Tough to explain, but it just feels "handy".
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matt, Get the FA and deflector A1 receiver. One of my uppers is an A1 with a 16" M4 barrel. I also replaced the A1 aperture with an XS Sights same-plane aperture. This is no-BS one of my favorite uppers. I highly recommend building one. Email me if you have any specific questions. CMOS |
You can also find an A1 upper with the FA but without the deflector. You save a few ounces by going with the slick side, but I don't think it's very much. In my case, I wanted the thing as slim as possible so I went with the slick side upper, standard carbine handguards and older style stock. Works for me, but lots of folks can't live without the FA. Your dollars, your choice. |
| You're looking at it, that's a 14.5" M4 with Phantom (old style) on my carbine and as I said, I like the balance. Bushmaster can sell you that barrel on a new upper directly, or you could shop the equipment exchange here and pick up the parts you need. You do need to be specific as far as the upper, since there is a bit of confusion regarding what exactly constitutes an A1. The slick side I used is more correctly refered to an M16/SP1. A true A1 would have the FA, but no deflector and the same thing with deflector is more properly called a C7. However, most folks just call anything with the fixed rear sight an A1. As long as you know which one you are looking for you shouldn't have any problems. I think anything you're likely to buy new, as in the Bushmaster I refered to above, would be C7's (Bushmaster refers to it as an A1), which is what you say you need. Probably more then you wanted to know, but it's early and I'm feeling "chatty". |
| I don’t have a scale to measure the difference, but unless you’re deliberately trying to shave weight or, as in my case, have another reason to do without the FA and SD, I don’t think there is enough of a difference to matter. Since you say the wife is a lefty, I think you have a good reason NOT to want a slick side upper. I do recommend the A2 rear aperture, but that’s my personal preference and others may disagree. Bushmaster, I think, advertises that they will install what they sell, so if you end up getting a complete upper from them you may want to ask about this as an option when you buy. Another thing I think makes a difference in the feel of the thing is the handguards. I’ve got a very nice Bushy preban M4 setup with the larger handguards. It works great and I like it a lot, but be aware the older style carbine handguards give an entirely different feel to the gun. This is a pretty cheap swap, so you could try one or the other and see what you like. For the better half, she may prefer the smaller size of the originals if she has smaller hands. If you decide to go this route, shop for original Colt carbine handguards, the difference between them and the aftermarket is amazing. |
The weight difference is 0.1 lbs (the C7 is lighter than the A2). |
You are quite right - my mistake.
Yes, Yes I would have that information thanks to some help from site contributers: MD-AR15.com Weight Tables The M16 upper (no foward assist and certainly no brass deflector) is 0.5 lbs. A full 0.2 lbs lighter than the A1/C7 upper (yep the brass deflector adds negligble weight so the C7 weighs the same as an A1). |
Yes. they are C7's. But you can't call Bushmaster or CMMG and order a C7, because they list them as A1's. BTW, I traded out my two A2's for A1/C7's a couple of years ago, because I hate the A2 sights. |
Bushmaster can call 'em anything they want  . Heck, they're calling flattop models "A3." M16A3 has a fixed handle, M4A3 doesn't exist -- all M4s are flattop other then the first run or two.A-numbers on commercial models are all willy nilly and inconsistent across brands. Determine what you want and ignore the A-numbers as defining anything. For example, if you want a flattop receiver specify flattop receiver. Could be an A4 in one brand, or an A3 in another. If you want non adjustable A1 type sights on a fixed handle with a brass deflector look for those features. -- Chuck |
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