In May of 2000 the Fulton Armory webmaster spent a day in the Ministry of Defence Pattern Room in Nottingham, England. He was doing research and photography for his "The AR-15 Complete Owner's Guide," from Scott Duff Publications.
Here are some of the pictures he brought back:
Part of the second floor
These are all machine guns!
The rack of early Armalites to be examined
AR-10s, AR-15s, and every manner of M16s!
A very early "Colt ArmaLite AR-15," S/N 266 (the 165th manufactured)
Note the green furniture and early charging handle!
The first design AR-15 flash suppressor, on Colt Armalite AR-15 S/N 0266
Ever seen one of these?
Recoil Absorbing Buttstock
This is the same rifle with the recoil absorbing buttstock above
Forged for forward assist, but blanked!
Here's a very early detachable handle!
A Closeup of the flip-up rear sight
On the above early detachable-handle receiver
The flip-up front sight
From the early detachable handle upper
What that detachable handle receiver looks like underneath the handle;
Compare to the later style underneath
Note the hex-headed nut on the pivot "pin";
A UK Veteran informs me that this was SOP in the British Army (first users of the AR-15, he avers) to keep a given upper & lower together, as the upper is not serialled to the lower.
Is that a Drop-In-Auto-Sear I see?!
Another IRA field expedient?
And now for something a little different...
A Canadian C8!
A full view of that Canadian C8...
Complete with grenade launcher!
The original Colt shorty...
Compare with Fulton Armory's Millennial!
Who knows what this variant is?
It's a Norinco "CQ";
Loosely interpreted & transliterated, CQ = 16!
The Ministry of Defence Pattern Room at Nottingham
| Parts & Accessories | Rifles & Shop Services | Important Information |
| AR-15 Fans, START HERE: AR-15 Parts Section! Parts, Accessories, Books, Tools, More! | AR-15 Fans, START HERE: AR-15 Rifles Section!
Uppers, Lowers, Rifles, Services, More! |
AR-15 Fans, START HERE: AR-15 Introduction |
| M14/M1A Fans, START HERE: M14/M1A Parts Section! Parts, Accessories, Books, Tools, More! | M14/M1A Fans, START HERE: M14/M1A Rifles Section! Rifles, Services, More! | M14/M1A Fans, START HERE: M14/M1A Introduction |
| M1 Garand Fans, START HERE: M1 Garand Parts Section! Parts, Accessories, Books, Tools, More! | M1 Garand Fans, START HERE: M1 Garand Rifles Section! Rifles, Services, More! | M1 Garand Fans, START HERE: M1 Garand Introduction |
| M1 Carbine Fans, START HERE: M1 Carbine Parts Section! Parts, Accessories, Books, Tools, More! | M1 Carbine Fans, START HERE: M1 Carbine Rifles Section! Rifles, Services, More! | M1 Carbine Fans, START HERE: M1 Carbine Introduction |
