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Posted: 11/21/2004 2:13:35 PM EDT
| Anyone familar with a forge marking of FK on an A2 upper and would this be a forge marking on a factory Bushmaster upper? |
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ILARNUT, The FK markings and the fact that it is an A2 upper pretty well confirm for me that it is an FN produced piece as used on early production M16A2's. Both the F and the K should appear to be raised(forged into) the upper right hand side adjacent to the rear sight assembly. They indicate that the blank was made for FN by Kaiser forge. FM is another all forged marking that was utilized by FN on early production A2's, indicating production by Martin Marrietta for FN. On later and current production uppers from FN only the code of who produced the blank will appear as being forged in. FN then stamps the letter F into the blank upon completion of the machine work prior to being anodized. I guess the current method more or less asssures that the finished receiver is a legitimate FN product and not a surplus blank that was sold by the forge to someone else to finish. Using the previous information as background. While it is possible that the FK blank may have been sold to Bushmaster who inturn finished it into a complete upper receiver, it is not highly probable in my opinion. And by the way, most of the information on Biggerhammer is woefully out of date an subject to be inaccurate. Wpns Man |
If you got an FK upper on a Bushie lower. you've got a home, or dealer built rifle. That'e not to say it isn't a fine piece. Certainly an FN upper is as good as they get, and Bushie lowers are excellent also. They just didn't get mated at the factory As the Army, and now the Narines, have gone over to the flat top type uppers, it seems that a number of these A2 type uppers, both Colt and FN, are showing up here and there. |
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Early 90's BM factory rifles came with all kinds of different forge markings, FK among them. I haven't seen one with that marking since the late 90s, though, so if this is supposed to be a new gun, I would have some questions (though *anything* is possible, given how many different markings exist). -Troy |
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Good example of the current stamped after machining variation mongo. Which reminds me that I really need to invest in a digital camera, as it's alway easier to show an example of something rather than try to explain it in a hundred words. So it would appear that a FK or FM code for that matter, on a factory Bushmaster upper may be more prevalent than I assumed, though probably not in large quantities. Since they have been observed in the early 90's as reported by Troy, that would tie into the same time frame that FN produced rifles with that code. As I said before, Kaiser may have sold the surplus blanks to Bushmaster, or anyone else to finish. Though the F being forged into the blank indicates that it was originally intended to fill a FN contract. Please note, this should not in any way be confused or construed into an example of FN or one of their "subcontractors" selling off surplus, overruns or rejects of FINISHED components into the commercial marketplace. On the contrary, this is probably a prime example of why they changed over to the current system of applying the F stamp to parts only after they have been completely finished and meet specifications prior to being anodized. This would alleviate any chance of a third party producing a component with your identifying code/mark. Wpns Man |
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