The rifle’s barrel measures 20-inches in length and includes its original front bayonet-lug sight and rear carry-handle flip-up peep-sight. The factory colt parkerized finish is in good condition but does have two small blemishes on the right-hand side of the lower receiver. The rifle’s plastic furniture is holding up remarkably well and only has light wear from storage and handling. These features make them sought after by collectors as they most closely resemble the M-16 rifles issued to infantrymen in Vietnam. This is an early “slab side” (there is no reinforcing rib on the magazine well) rifle that has no shell deflector or forward assists.
COLT SP1 SERIAL NUMBERS 209307 SERIAL NUMBER
It was manufactured sometime in 1977 and has the serial number SP168320. It’s in great shape for its age and looks to have been barely handled or shot. This solid stock has a hard rubber buttpad, a sling swivel instead of a fixed loop, and no provision for storing a cleaning kit.You are considering a vintage Pre-Ban Colt SP1 Semi-Automatic 223 Rifle. The fixed stock appears to be the same as seen on later variants, but it’s still different. The rear sights are only adjustable for windage. Gone are the forward assist and shell deflector making this a slick side upper receiver. Outwardly, the rifle looks like most AR-15s, but as one comes closer the differences are apparent. In the handsĪlthough this is an AR-15 rifle, it is a bit different from what most shooters are familiar with these days.
Though it may sound strange, the AR-15 was not once the universally accepted rifle that is today. Armalite also offered it’s AR-180 as an alternative. Additionally gun buyers were more than content to purchase new or surplus M1 Carbines or Bill Ruger’s newly introduced Mini-14 instead. Others were more familiar with the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine and the AR’s appearance turned off many shooters - the rifle was simply too different and ugly to add it to their collection. Yet many still remembered the rifle’s poor initial showing and shunned the AR-15. The markings also indicate the upper was forged for Colt by Kaiser Aluminum. Yet many collectors want the real thing - and will pony up the cash for a genuine example of the original “black” rifle.
Perhaps they already have a tactical carbine? Perhaps simplicity appeals to them? Or perhaps they’re simply driven by nostalgia they find their answer in the past.įor these folks it’s not uncommon to build a replica of an early generation AR-15 out of a variety of new and/or surplus parts. Today we have a dizzying array of “black rifles” to choose from and still, there are shooters who shout (sometimes angrily) that people should “just build their own AR.” This underlines a point - a discerning group of shooters have decided that this current crop of AR rifles simply aren’t for them. Forty-one years later and this Colt is now considered a collector’s piece. Jimmy Carter was elected president and my Colt SP1 AR-15 left the factory in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Red Army at the Spectrum. Apple Computers was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. In 1976 the United States celebrated its bicentennial. “I’m still in a dream, Snake Eater!” (Photo: Francis Borek)
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