pstidan

The 639s where manufactured circa '72 for import. All were made to XM177E2 specifications including the moderators. They were released for domestic sale during one of the many Colt bankruptcies in the '70s/'80s when the need for cash became pressing. I have heard two stories about them. One story said they were made for the Shah of Iran and the other story said they were destined for some South or Central American country. In either case, Uncle Sugar refused to allow Colt to export them. They went back into Colt's inventory and forgotten about. Here are my notes that I have scraped together over the years: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FWIW, I have done some extensive research on 639s and I (personally) am convinced that there are at most about 100 guns that were ever roll-marked “MOD. 639” by Colt’s and that this is one of the last in the S/N range. You are free to read my rationale below and judge for yourself. Regarding genuine 639s, here is what I know: • I've identified 10 different guns that have sold or been advertised for sale or been publicized or for which owners have sent me details that are roll-marked "MOD. 639". ALL 10 are in the range 4,790,015 to 4,790,100. • I’ve received confirmation regarding 3 additional guns that are "within that range", but for which the owners would not disclose the actual S/Ns. • I’ve received confirmation of S/Ns for two skids of 639s (41 guns total) that were delivered to Aeromarine (Birmingham) in the early 70s, for commercial sale. ALL 41 are in the range 4,790,015 to 4,790,100. Only a few of these are known to be transferable (i.e. can be legally owned by a civilian). • I’ve also identified a number of guns that have been advertised over the years as “639s” that were not roll-marked as such. Apparently, the sellers referred to their guns as “639s” because they had short barrels and XM177 moderators – without the gun being factory roll-marked “MOD. 639”. So, buyer beware of guns merely advertised as “Colt 639”. Maybe they came from the factory as true XM177s or maybe they simply had a short-barrel upper and XM177 moderator added later – it’s anyone’s guess. In summary, 51 guns are “accounted for” (to my knowledge) as genuine 639s and all are in the S/N range 4,790,015 to 4,790,100 (a range of 86 guns). Statistically, that means that it is very unlikely that more than about 100 true 639s were ever made. My personal belief is that Colt's made S/Ns 4,790,001 through 4,790,100 in 1972 (100 guns total). When 1975 came around and they still had dealers with unsold 639s and they also had to recall all the XM177 moderators, they decided not to make any more "MOD. 639" guns and just used spare parts from then on to make generic short-barreled M16s (for the commercial, non-military market), with no special roll-mark or special designation, and with a bird-cage flash hider instead of an XM177 moderator. That's purely conjecture on my part, though. Here are a few pcis of mine with a Rick Keuhl .22lr upper show above it: BTW; Rick Keuhl made a dynamite .22lr conversion. It runs like a champ.

Here is how my 639 was shipped from Aeromarine back in the day: I did some inter-web investigating, and the person who the box was originally sent to was the Sheriff if an east Texas county. I found that very interesting.

Is the lower feed arm newly manufactured? Original? Re-weld? Is it for an MG08 or MG08/15 feed block? Any pictures?

HP head stamp = Hirtenberger Patronen-, Zündhütchen-und Metallwarenfabrik A.-G., Hirtenberg, Niederdonau, Austria Please post pics of the links.

The market price on a Spitfire is currently over $6000. Why would anyone sell one for $3500? http://machinegunpriceguide.com/html/us_subguns_17.html

Very impressive! If you had this conversion for an MG34, I would jump on it.

I have had this funky bolt carrier for some time and have yet to identify it. It has large diameter recoil rod holes and fits a full auto stock. It has no serial number or any other markings. The carrier body is blued and not parkerized. Also, the carrier body has no upper rear hump or roller and seems to be lightened. Any ideas about what it is? Thus far Pete Athens has not been able to identify it. It was definitely well used before I got it.

You need to get an Aussie 5.56 stripper clip type setup if nothing then just for show. You also need to get a see through bikini scope cover too. It too is cute and somewhat useless. Get a bunch more of 9mm mags for your conversion. As I indicated above, spend the fifty bucks and get an MPi-69/81 mag loader from Pete. The MPi-69/81 magazines are identical to the AUG 9mm magazines, but without the last round bolt hold open capability. They work perfectly with an AUG 9mm conversion.

Did you say AUG? I don't know about AUG sear guns, but AUG receiver guns use all factory FA parts. I own the Die Hard AUG which is a Wilson receiver gun owned by Stembridge. From experience these are some of my findings. The 3RB is cute but after a few minutes I put the shifter in FULL mode and just left it there. The 14" SMG barrel is a crowd pleaser with great muzzle flash. The funnest setup is a 9mm conversion, but you will need the Steyr factory magazine loader. The 24" bipod laden heavy barrel is also cute, but too heavy. Forget the Beta Mag as it's too big and awkward. I can't get my hand around the hand grip correctly with a Beta Mag inserted.

The above picture was taken on October 31, 2005. If I remember correctly, when I needed to relate anything to Pat, I needed to speak to Litha about it. Pat would never take my calls. She would write down my information and then give her notes to Pat. Here's Dolf instructing my Buddy's wife, Gina, on the correct way to shoot my Vickers. I was running 8mm at the time.

Here's a picture of Pat Tomlinson on the day he completed my Vickers build. It is a US Balloon Buster side plate gun using a mint '42 Aussie parts kit. I must admit Pat was especially nasty to deal with. He was always pissed off about anything and everything. If Dolf had not intervened on my part, Pat would not have completed my build. Pat has since passed away. Too bad. Pat insisted I do a Form 3 transfer to him for the side plate prior to doing the build. That's exactly what I did, but he then did a Form 3 transfer for the completed weapon back to me. So, I now have paperwork provenance that Pat did indeed do my build. In the long run, I guess, it was a good thing we did it this way. My Vickers eats everything that I feed it; .303, 8mm, 30-06, .308, 54R. .

#8 above sure looks like a front sight for an LMG 08/15.

While a loader will help you load these drums, one isn't really needed. You can load it by hand easily. Give it a try.

You need to contact user L999here over on 1919 A4 dot com. He should be able to assist you.

A few years ago somebody was modifying these drums to fit MG34 feed trays so they could be used with MG34 .308 conversions. For the life of me, I cannot recall who that was.