The very first AR15 rifles submitted to US government trials were extremely light weight, with an assortment of interesting features that did not last long. They had top-mounted charging handles, one-piece hand guards, very thin barrels with plain muzzles, and a different safety selector configuration than became normal later one. Updates and modifications were made to virtually all of the original rifles, but today we have a chance to look at serial number 6 in the Springfield Armory collection – which is still in completely original configuration.
Thanks to the Springfield Armory National Historic Site for giving me access to this truly unique specimen from their reference collection to film for you! Don’t miss the chance to visit the museum there if you have a day free in Springfield, Massachusetts:
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The thing about the prototype that immediately won Ian is the FAMAS-like charging handle.
I don't want to imagine that someone might have had a single digit issue of an iconic weapon and then mod it like some mall ninja, so I am guessing these were all done by soldiers or testers or the other weapons are lost. That is what is going to make me sleep at night, regardless of what the truth may be.
😩
to the armoury Checking online I see that entry to the armoury is free.
I also see that it’s currently CLOSED due to the Government Shutdown
😂😂😂
This was a particularly wonderful presentation. Didn't much about the foundations of the first gen M16 I carried way back when. Thanks, Ian!
Very cool! When I was in basic training in 91 they dug out a bunch of old M16A1s packed in cosmoline for god knows how long for us to use after we qualified on M16A2s and my M16A1 was an H&R. My buddies was a Turbo Hydramatic and one guy got one that was so old it did not even have a forward assist on it. Not even our oldest Drill Sgt had seen an original M16 without the forward assist on it. A lot were still marked as AR-15s with a stamp below it saying M16 ( the Colt ones).
Very cool.😊
Guess who made their assault rifle with 25 rounds magazine too , oui oui 🇫🇷, it’s almost identical to the FAMAS one . Great video BTW!
💥💥💥🔫🦅🇺🇸🙏
This video has been removed because it violates YouTubes polices against firearms regulations….😂😂😂 cool videos Ian keep them up
No doubt you could put this in the hands of anyone familiar with modern ARs and they could run it without issue. Pretty amazing rifle right out of the gate.
I still don’t understand why .270 isn’t a good bullet of choose for a soldier. Ian you explained the reason for that in a past video. You said is was because of the ability to fill with or create different types of ammo. Please make it make sense. How .223 is more accurate for anyone. And not the round that shoots flat at 300yrds. Weight?? BS they love .308. Ballistics. BS. Iv yet to find a real answer. Recoil?? You don’t even shoot an AR-15 full auto in combat anyways. You waste ammo. Make it make sense
I volunteered at the Armory museum when I was in high school, born and raised across the river in West Springfield.
Both of my paternal grandparents worked there during WW2.
During a spell in Cambodia in 1994 myself and a friend found thousands of these in crates in Pursat province. The royal army blew them up. Must have a hard decision. Someone made the call.
@ForgottenWeapons Maybe the best video you've ever done. Probably the most important too. Great comments also.
In 1969, after 5 weeks of training with the M14, half of the company was pulled out for "additional training" with the M16. The company commander (clearly a lying SOB) took pains to assure us that this did not mean we were going to Vietnam. The six-pound weight was astonishing. There was great deal of one-handed waving around, and everyone discovered the catchphrase, "You can tell it's swell – it's Mattell!" For those out of the loop, Mattell was a major toy company.
Amazing to see this in original garb!
Being in the UK i can only watch these videos without getting the chance to handle any. Thanks Ian for bringing these guns to those of us in countries with stupid gun laws..
I like the technical and historic backgrounds you research for your videos very much. Great video, as always.
Still have my 222 savage
Shoots true at 300 yd all day
Love it
Would it be possible for you to make a video on the agar coffee grinder gun?
I like that charging handle better than the modern one.
This is epic
I love those bolt split pins. They are strong and insert much easier. A few companies make them today.
FYI…I’m a gun owner and have been all of my life
I do not want your content in my feed
I have notified YouTube of this and they INSIST on putting your content before me
That’s doesn’t help you because I’m reporting you every time I get your content for any reason YouTube allows
TAKE IT UP WITH YOUTUBE 👍🇺🇸
I want one…I want THAT one!
Why was the "carry handle" kept when the charging handle was redesigned? Was it always intended to have that hole to mount optics to it?
I saw AR-15 #000008 on display last year! I just happened to be in Springfield and had the chance to look at the collection. There's so much cool stuff there!
Ah here it is, the precursor of everything that lead to how every single standard issue rifle for western/nato militaries is now an AR-derivative.
They should have gone with an AR-10 because nothing says fk u like 30 rounds 7.62×51/ .308
👁️👄👁️
And yet all they needed to get better hit probability was add an optic with a single point of aim. Just goes to show the people in charge of figuring this stuff out are usually the people who were printed well past any level of competence they may have had years ago.
Super cool
She looks pretty and sleek in her original prototype phase, new AR 15s are like women with too much plastic surgery, make up and a $15,00 hand bag. Don't get me wrong new ARs are nice but you can't beat the look of the OG.