From the Future G.I. from Popular Science  May, 1959,from the receiver it is a AR-15,it as the early top placed charging handle,the forearm looks to be  triangular but the early AR-15 (with the top charging handle) used the conic one pice or conic two pice forearm,not a triangular forearm...

In 1959,was this one of the prototype AR-15 units that the army was using for testing?

That'd make a great halloween costume!  Anyone ever try building an AR with the top charging handle?  

He looks like a prototype Cylon.

Oh, and NBC gear....... with no gloves.
Oops.

If you go on Nodak Spuds site you'll see it. Lots of members on here have built top charging AR'S.



 

Build your own!

He's a member here and G2G!

He must be hurting for money to let it go.

The "000003" as the top charging handle and two pice conic forearm,was the AR-15 # 000003 a one off prototype or a sub model as the early ones where units tested by the military and still in evolution,but the (what it seems to be)  triangular two pice forearm,was this used on one of the AR-15 # 000003 type prototypes?

The triangular two pice forearm patent came out in 1960/63...

The early AR-15 prototype line did not use the waffle magazine.

I'm curious...if this was early '59, did the 25-rd mag pre-date waffles?

AR-15 # 000003 and # 000002 use the same two pice conic forearm,the # 000004 uses a diferent conic two pice forearm,but the # and receiver type time layout dont mach,the # 000002 and # 000004 use the rear operated charging handle but the upper receiver as the top charging handle operating machined cut (as the first rear charging handles used a front guide pice inside the receiver machined cut),the # 000003 as the normal early top charging handle...and as the forearms were diferent this one could be a prototype for the triangular two pice forearm placed on a # 000003 receiver and sended for testing or prototype forearm sended to be assembled on a existing # 000003 receiver unit?...as the patent for the triangular forearm was filed in 1960 this could be a 1959 line forearm prototype???

"The first 17 ArmaLite AR15 rifles were originally built with a trigger charging handle similar to the one used on AR10s. Several were updated to the early triangle charging handle. Various types of "furniture' were tested including wood and fiberglass."

"HANDGUARD SLIP RING: STYLE: None or Various (Need Pictures of others) 000001:no slip ring 000002: 000003: cross hatch slipring 000004:polished aluminum slip ring 000012: No slip ring"

"HANDGUARDS: STYLE : Various types of Fiberglass Wood(Serial Number 000004)"

AR-15 # 000001-top charging handle-conic one pice forearm.

AR-15 # 000002-rear charging handle-two pice conic forearm.

AR-15 # 000003-top charging handle-two pice conic forearm.

AR-15 # 000004-rear charging handle-two pice conic forearm/two pice triangular forearm (wood prototype).

The AR-15 # 000004 (Bobby Macdonald)

Someone needs to find better photos from the Springfield Armory Museum.  These just don't show enough detail...but these all look like conical handguards.

#8



#11



#22



#27

Wow, I never knew that the .223 version ever had a top charging handle!

Those are all of the one pice conic forearms,they dont need a slip ring,probably made in larger numbers then the ones using the two pice forearm with slip ring as they were prototypes...

Is future-dude's rifle old no 3? Looks like he has a TCG upper, HGs with vents over/under with slipring, and a 30 rounder like no 3.

Someone needs to get to work on those new 'ribbed' HGs

The #000003 upper receiver is the original (upper charging handle) as the #000001 prototype,the #000002 and #000004 use the subsequent upper receiver (rear charging handle).
It goes #000001 (top) #000002 (rear) #000003 (top) #000004 (rear)...

#000001

Aparently,Fort Ord,Cal. was a testing ground for the AR-15,the Popular Science  May, 1959 photo and this article from Guns Magazine from October 1959 show Fort ord,Cal in the articles...

An Atomic Age soldier at Fort Ord on Monterey Bay, California, 1959: “…displaying the latest equipment for the foot soldier, including a transmitter and receiver in the helmet, body armor of 12 layers of nylon to protect against flak and fragments, a radiation detector, and a gas mask that reduces effects of a nuclear flash.”

Atomic Age GI



"Title
Atomic Age GI

Subject
Fort Ord (Calif.)
Military training

Description
Photograph of an officer at Fort Ord displaying the latest equipment for the foot soldier, including a transmitter and receiver in the helmet, body armor of 12 layers of nylon to protect against flak and fragments, a radiation detector, and a gas mask that reduces effects of a nuclear flash.

Creator
Associated Press Photo

Date
3/22/1959

Contributor
Steven Levinson

Rights
Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user."

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt9s2041rh/

Check out that thin barrel, and PG swivel loop.

another Cold warrior:

From the image,one can see that this AR-15 is of the same #000001 upper receives type,it as the top charging handle and the conic one pice forearm,the forearm and butstock Fiberglass is visible.The lower receiver as #2 painted on,the ones (some of them) tested by the military got a number on as one can see from the ones at the Springfield Armory Museum Collection.

SN# 000011 as #1



SN# ... as #2



SN# 000022 as #8



SN# 000027 as #9



SN# 000006 as no #



But the flash hider on the SN# 000006 is of the same type as the one on the #2 on the Atomic Soldier rifle,as it does not have one.

God, Id love to be able to scan a copy of those rifles.

The Great Rifle Controversy

I was interested in the top photo in this post. The HGs appear to be triangular with a slip ring. Hard to see, but wondering if they are in fact the ribbed triangle HGs illustrated in the 2nd photo.

I think the second photo two pice forearm is conic,at leat they look conic...

...in the first image (the first one on the post) one can see the air vent holes under the foreatm,the white colour may indicate that this may have been a real treangular two pice prototype made out of fiber and plastic foam,as the one on the # 000004...

Probably,the ones in larger numbers were the ones of the  # 000001 upper receiver,whith the top charging handle/one pice conic forearm.
The ones using the # 000002 type upper receiver were probably in smaller number as it was a prototype,the two pice forearm/slip ring were probably propose modifications,from the military,as this makes easy to take out the forearm to clean but with no need to take out the front sight,as with the one pice conic forearm.



...so the two pice forearm coul be tested on the two upper receivers to see what was best?

"By March of 1958 Armalite had delivered ten of these AR-15 and 100,ooo rounds of the new ammunition to CONARC for testing..."

Rifle Squad Armed With A Light Weight High-Velocity Rifle US Combat Development Experimentation Center,Fort Ord,California.



http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/301918.pdf

Soldier Of The Future U.S. ARMY COMBAT DEVELOPMENT EXPERIMENTATION CENTER

AR-15 #000001 as the one pice conic forearm and the early top charging handle,it as a bipod collar welded to the front sight.



AR-15 #000008 as the same one pice conic forearm,it as the charging handle at the rear,no bipod collar welded to the front sight.

In this first image,the AR-15 #000004 as the early front sight,the upper receiver as the center cut on top for the charging handle guide and it is operated fron the rear,it as a prototype two pice forearm with a slip rring (made to fit this forearm in particular)...

In the second image (Colt Armalite AR-15 brochure),the same AR-15 #000004 is shown but only the lower receiver is the same as the upper receiver is all new.The upper receiver as the charging handle operated from the rear also but the center top cut does not exist (new upper receiver and charging handle),the two pice triangular forearm with slip ring,the front sight is new,the butstock is also new as in the earmy ones the butstock had no sling ring as only the pistol grip could use one...













...basically the old #000004 was fitted with a all new butstock and new upper receiver assembly...what ever happened to the old #000004 upper receiver assembly?

...this triangular forearm could well be (or a prototype for it) the one in the Future G.I. photo,this one uses the same #000001 upper receiver,and the butstock also seems to be the early one as it does not have the sling ring...

The forearm (the first one) and slip ring on the AR-15 #000004 was actually based on the Dutch forarm,it works in a similar way as the one made by the Dutch in the tow pice forearm on the first and second transitional models.

The rear section forearm in the AR-15 # is slightly rounded,the slip ring fits to it to hold the two parts closed,this is the same as in the Dutch.

The Dutch slip ring is a nut (slip nut) that works with a screw thread,rotate one way for it to move front to hold and rotate the other way to release the forearm pices,the forearm parts are slightly rounded at the rear so they fit to the slip ring (slip nut) interior.

The one on the AR-15 #000004 works the in a similar way,the slip ring (unlike the Dutch slip "nut") wroks using a spring to force it front to hold on to the forearm,the forearm as two bumps on the side so the operator can fit the fingers in them and force the slip ring back to relece the forearm.

The slip ring in the #000004 is a spring operated vergion of the screw nut ring on the Dutch transitional. (FINALLY,FANTASTIC ,had this thing going inside my head,had no idea of the way it worked,the only thing i knew was that i liked it)







This early spring operated slip ring was later improved so it would have a better grip on the forearm parts and it evolved to the slip rings used in the #000002/#000003 and the last one later used on the #000004 last vergion.



The way the AR-15 #000004 early forearm works is a based on the Dutch and U.S. patents.

1-Slide the spring operated slip ring back.

2-Hold the slip ring back and fit the two parts of the forearm over the barrel nut,the nut perfurated structure fits inside a space in the two forearm pices.

3-Hold the two two pice forearm in place and relece the slip ring so it moves up and so the slip ring tis over the slightly rounded rear section of the forearm pices.

4-To disassemble-Place fingers inside the two bumps (one per forearm pice) and manualy slide the slip ring back so the two forearm pices can cone out.

The slightly rounded section (used on the Dutch forearm) was later changed for a larger straight section,the early slip ring was then elongated to fit better over the forearm,this has a better grip over the two forearm pices.Whit this later slip ring,a tool may be needed to slid it back as in the one used in the #000004,the slip ring could be manualy slided back.

The  #000002 used some of the same innovations used in the  #000004 as the two pice forearm/spring operated slip ring/rear operated charging handle,could the diferent forearm in the #000004 be a atempet to have easy to operate slip ring then the ones used in the  #000002 and  #000003?

The #000002 and  #000003 use the longe slip ring,but the one in the #000002 as a diferent surface then the one in the #000003.



In the same way the slip ring in the #000003 was made to work better then the slip ring in the #000002,was the slip ring (and forearm) in the #000004 made to work better then the one in the #000003?

...AR-15 #000001-#000002-#000003-#000004,this may make some evolutionary sense.

Note that the forearm in the #000003 as a long rear section,this so the slip ring can fit over it,the forearm in the #000004 as a rounded rear section (as the Dutch) and the slip ring is shorter.

Eventually,the #000004 lower receiver was fitted with a new upper receiver,a closed upper receiver with the charging handle at the rear whit the new triangular two pice forearm with the longer slip ring and presented as a Colt (armaLite) AR-15.

New Army Rifle 1963





THE END...

IIRC, this is the configuration #000004 is currently in, as it is in the Knight's collection in Florida. #000001 is also there.

In this Guns Magazine october 1959 article "Shooting Test of The ArmaLite AR-15",the test was done using the AR-15 #000001,sended to the author.

The AR-15 #000004 was owned by Bobby Macdonald,he worked for Cooper- Macdonald that was dealing the deal between ArmaLite (Fairchild) and Colt.
Booby and E.Stoner went around the world with this AR-15 #000004 and the AR-10A,as the  #000004 was owned by someone that acted as a salesman it was used as a technology showcase so having the early upper receiver configuratio or the later configuration it makes sense,if when Booby and E.Stoner went around the world the #000004 had the early or later upper receiver configuration it is unknown (i think) but it was using the later upper receiver configuration by the time Colt was making brochures for the Colt AR-15 ( #000004 in the lower receiver).

Well..some of that stuff is not that out of place today, funky brain bucket with nods attached, body armor, various electronic gizmos.

And take a note of the two nozzles out of the rocket belt jet pack.

Wonder if it was made by my former employer, GenCorp Aerojet?

What comes to the triangular two pice forearm with slip ring in this #00001 type upper receiver,i have no idea,this could be one assembled from factory or the forearm could be a replacement pice as it usual for ArmaLite to send replacement parts and the army tests were good to show the new things ArmaLite was working on.



Most of the AR-15 units seen tested by the military,as far as i can see,have the #00001 type upper receiver assembly with the top charging handle/one pice conic forearm,apart from this the only difference in the ones tested is that some have the bypod ring welded to the front sight (#00001) as others dont have it (#00008) apart from this they all use the basic #00001 upper receiver assembly.
There is also the possibility that armalite sended only the #00001 type upper receiver units to the military as the type #00002 (rear charging handle/two pice forearm) stayed at ArmaLite as they are ony prototypes and that one of the #00001 type units fited with a new slip ring conic forearm two pice forearm was sended for testing,for the military,as this was the final forearm model (as the one in the image...

...then again,this is just speculation as this could just be one image of the many variations of the AR-15 units tested at the time.

...but same of this changings also came from ArmaLite as L. James Sullivan said that the charging handle change from the top to the rear as heat made it unpractical as the pice got hot as it worked over the gas key and that this was a change that they worked on in the #00002 (this is correct) but if this was a change done by Armalite as a common sense assumption or if asked by the military i have no idea as the Dutch also did the same to the c.handle in the one of the Dutch AR-10 prototypes (the same with the two pice forearm).

"004 Armalite Letters

Armalite Letter. May 21, 1960. To the president of Colt. Discusses why Ordnance turned down the Armalite for tests. Why the .223 DOES meet Army needs. AR-15
Improvements. Handguard redesign. Charging Handle redesign. Trigger group redesign. Etc."

...or the one in the image is just a #00003 and i need glasses...

ArmaLite was working in the AR-15 a the same time that the Dutch worked on the Dutch traditional models and as ArmaLite (Fairchild) and Artillerie Inrichtingen (AI) had a interchange of ideas no wonder that some of the inovations from the Dutch landed as part of the development of the AR-15.
As we have seen,the forearm got a bit of work as they attempt to solve some of the practical (or unpractical) technical problems,the last AR-10A (itself a upscaled version of the AR-15) also capitalized with some of these technical solutions,it had a two pice forearm with a slip ring,the charging handle was at the rear and operated from the right side only (this was done by the Dutch in one of the traditional model prototypes),the lower receiver magazine port was at a diferent angle,the sling went from undes the front sight to the pistol grip as with the AR-15,the top of the receiver was covered unlike the  AR-15 #00001 and #00002 type upper receivers and charging handles.
The AR-10A as a lower receiver with a section in the left side (over the magazine catch),this did not came in the AR-15 prototypes but later it was used in the Colt AR-15,it used a rear sight with elevation as to the two position flip rear sight in the AR-15.

"Weapon can not be charged wile wearing winter mittens.The charging handle as been redesigned and relocated,permiting easy operation wile wearing mittens."

This,and the heat transference,explains the reason to relocate the charging handle.

"Handguard gets too hot in sustained fire.Handguard redesigned.(Also redisigne makes barrel acessible without removing front sight."

This explains the reasons to change from a one pice forearm to a two pice forearm.

From Aberdeen Proving Ground came the conclusion that the AR-15 was not equieped with acessories to make it versatile (apart from the bipod ring welded to the front sight).

"Provision for telescopic sights.

Bipod.

Grenade launcher and grenade launching sight.

Bayonet attach lug and suitable byonet."

One other mechenism that needed improvement (after complaints from the military) was the trigger mechenism,in this 1959 patent the hammer no longer as the older but a new geometry,this patent came before the two pice forearm patent.

One other thing,when at service for ArmaLite,the #00004 had the Fairchild Pegasus logo,when at service for Colt,the #00004 had no Fairchild Pegasus logo,but later on  the #00004 got the Fairchild Pegasus logo once again.

Was this the last AR-15 to come out from ArmaLite,did Armalite have all the work developing the AR-15,finding solutions based on shortcomings found during tests with the prototypes that preceded this final variation while Colt payed the bill so that it could later on produce a already developed unit?

EVALUATION OF SMALL CALIBER HIGH VELOCITY RIFLES

On the photo where the logo is missing, You can kinda see a light circular artifact on the photo where the logo should be. I suspect that the logo was airbrushed out of the photo for publication in that case.

Interesting.  The logos, except the serial number, might have been just painted on the early prototypes, as opposed to roll marked.

That's an interesting possibility. In the photos that lack the Pegasus logo, there also does not appear to be any white paint in the engraving like there is on other photos.

In this image,when the #000004 was owned by Bobby Macdonald,the Fairchild Pegasus logo the AR-15 designation and the #000004 code look smudged.

Chalk is used to highlight engravings and roll marks because it can be easily washed away without harming the finish. That's why it looks smudged.

The logo is missing in the Colt brochure because the photo was airbrushed over. Airbrushing is a very common trick in advertising to hide what you don't want to be seen.