There are three goals I usually keep in mind when adding any replica to my collection. However, a semi-auto rifle is not an actual US Military issued M16 and will always be just a replica. Luckily, there are several semi-automatic versions of the Vietnam era M16 which are much less expensive and easier to obtain. Also waiting a year or more to take possession of a rifle is not attractive- not to mention the various legal considerations that come with machinegun ownership. Needless to say the above excludes buying an original M16 because $23,000 is not what I consider “cost effective”. For example, an original sold at the Morphy auction house in October of 2015 for $22,425.00, (not including tax and fees).* Buying a machinegun in the US also requires a $200 tax payment and a 9-13 month waiting period for the weapon to be transferred to your name by The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (commonly referred to as the ATF).
Owning an original full auto M16A1 is not possible for me due to the tremendous cost of legally registered machineguns in today’s market. In simple terms, the M16 is a machinegun. The original M16 that young men carried in Vietnam was a select fire weapon, which means that you can select to fire single shots per trigger pull or unlimited shots for as long as the trigger was held down. But I will make exceptions when an original item is too difficult to procure or downright too expensive. I feel that original items inherently tell a better story of history than new made items. This deserves an explanation because the vast majority of my collection of weapons and equipment are original historical items rather than reproductions. Hopefully this article will help others navigate the world of the “Retro AR” while also serving as a starting point for the upcoming series of articles detailing my journey to build a replica M16A1.įirst and foremost I should explain why I am not even considering purchasing an original M16A1. The article will also answer the question of why I chose not to buy one of the available reproductions on the market and act as a basic buyers guide to those considering a replica M16 for their own collection. This article will explore my process of how I came to the solution to build a semi-automatic M16 replica. But the path to fulfilling that goal is not as straight forward as it may initially seem. For this reason I want to add an example of an original “retro” Vietnam era M16 to my firearms collection. It was the rifle that has proven itself to be the pinnacle of modern weapons development and continues to be the current issue weapon for the United States, albeit in an updated form.
Glossy black plastic handguards, triangular front sight, distinctive carry handle…. Perhaps one of the most iconic weapons of war of all time.
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