M16A1

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Comparison Of Old Style M16A1 To A Modern AR-15

November 14, 2018 by 3 Comments

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One of the YouTube channels I enjoy watching is from a guy who calls himself Garand Thumb. Despite his resemblance to Travis Haley, he is not his son. Mike Jones (his actual name) is, however, an active duty USAF SERE Specialist. His videos have a lot of equipment testing reviews.

One of his most recent videos examines an old school M16A1 versus a more modern AR-15 SBR with all the bells and whistles. As I’ve accumulated most of the parts to build my own retro M16A1 – though, of course, semi-auto – I was very interested in his impressions. He ran a variety of shooting drills with both rifles. With the exception of having to move around a barrier, they were very comparable. One thing he noted was how well balanced the M16A1 was in comparison to his SBR and to an actual M4 carbine.

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Interesting Test Of Pencil Barrels

July 27, 2017 by 6 Comments

The original M16/AR-15 from Colt was produced with a pencil barrel. Later iterations of the rifle and carbine had a heavier and thicker barrel because it was found that the pencil barrel would flex when it got hot. The barrel flexing resulted in a change in the point of impact. The practical effect of this barrel flexing for the military was that shots ostensibly on target were missing the enemy at longer ranges.

You can see the difference in thickness between a pencil barrel and a “government” profile barrel in the pictures below. Both of these barrels (and the pictures of them) are from Faxon Firearms.

Faxon 16″ pencil barrel

Faxon 16″ M4 government profile barrel

Ian and Karl at InRange TV are doing a series called “What Would Stoner Do”. The latest in their WWSD series tests the effect that heat can have on pencil barrels and the point of impact. They tested both a modern Faxon barrel and an original Colt SP1 barrel. Faxon claims that their proprietary method of building in stress reliefs mitigates the significant change in point of impact caused by heat. Part of Ian and Karl’s reasoning behind testing pencil barrels is that a pencil barrel is a quick way to reduce the weight of the rifle.

I found this highly interesting as I am in the process of assembling parts to make a lightweight AR using this same Faxon pencil barrel. I got a great deal on one at the recent NRA Annual Meeting and decided that I “needed” another AR. I am also in the process of putting together a retro styled clone of the M16A1 using a mix of original and modern parts. This latter rifle uses a 20″ barrel from Green Mountain Rifle Barrels which has the original 1 in 12″ twist. My dad qualified Expert with such a rifle back in the 1960s and the build is partly meant to honor him.

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Going Old School

May 29, 2015 by 10 Comments

I came across this comparison of the Colt SP1 and the Colt Sporter Target Model today. Basically, it was a shooting comparison of the A1 versus the A2. This interests me because I am gathering parts to put together a retro semi-auto version of the M16A1 using a combination of new and vintage parts. I also have a Colt A2 upper that I plan to build on later. More on those in a later post.

The video below is from the Military Arms Channel. They were trying to determine which rifle would give tighter groups with 55-grain 5.56 ammo. The SP1 (aka A1) had the 1:12 twist barrel while the Sporter Target Model (aka A2) has the 1:7 twist barrel.  They were using Wolf Gold ammo.

I wonder if he would have gotten better results if he had used something like American Eagle/Federal XM193 5.56 ammo.