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Thread: Introduction; John Thomas of Retro Arms Works

  1. #1
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    Introduction; John Thomas of Retro Arms Works

    Gents

    It's time to let you in on a little secret I recently discovered - searching other forums and various places on the Internet I happened to stumble across the guy we have all been waiting for ; the Neo or Chosen One for Retro AR's

    His name is John Thomas a recently retired career Air Force veteran ( which is fitting due to that service being the first to adopt the AR15 in sizeable numbers ) and his business is Retro Arms Works

    He builds museum quality replicas of early AR's - and trust me when I tell you museum quality; I have seen several of the guns he builds clones of in the KAC collection ( the worlds finest AR collection) and John's clones are superb

    I am going to highlight Johns work on TacTV next season as he is building me a clone of Armalite AR15 serial number 000003 from the Black Rifle book ( pages 76,68, and 69) - I'm confident it won't be the only early replica he builds for me

    Expect John to pop on here soon to post pics- stand by cause his stuff is dynamite

    Enjoy the view.....

    LAV

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    Larry, thanks very much for the kind words, and for steering me to this group. It is greatly appreciated, but don't get too carried away, you'll make my head swell up.

    Anyway, some photos of my work follow, but I can't take the credit for all of the work. I'm fortunate to have a great engraver that helps me out tremendously on my projects. Beyond that aspect, I anodize, parkerize, mount front sight bases, pin/weld muzzle devices, shorten/thread barrels, reprofile barrels, modify and make parts in the spirit of the early rifles, apply the mottled brown finish to stock sets, apply "601 green" to stock sets, and a lot of "custom-type" request work.

    Enjoy the photos, and if you have questions, you can contact me at: jntmjt1@yahoo.com

    (Just as a side note, everything pictured below is non-NFA, what appears to be an auto-sear pin is actually just a circle stamped in the surface of the lower)



































    Last edited by jntmjt1; 12-15-12 at 19:22.

  3. #3
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    Very cool. I look forward to seeing more of your work.
    FUNDAMENTALS: A crutch for the talentless

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    I'm very happy to see you here. I've followed your work elsewhere and it's nothing short of impressive.

  5. #5
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    Excellent work for sure. Looking forward to that episode.
    Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force. - Oliver Wendell Holmes.

  6. #6
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    Beautiful work.

    What model does the "Shop Test Only," L1A1 carry handle rifle replicate?

  7. #7
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    Wow, absolutely gorgeous work. I think I will be in the market for some of your work.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KalashniKEV View Post
    Beautiful work.

    What model does the "Shop Test Only," L1A1 carry handle rifle replicate?
    Thanks very much. That rifle you ask about is just a "concept" rifle I made up. No such thing ever existed. I call it (and engraved it) an "AR-14". I made it up in the spirit of some of the early AR10 designs. Fun stuff! That rear sight elevation knob is a G3 cocking tube end cap.

    John Thomas
    Last edited by jntmjt1; 12-16-12 at 11:53.

  9. #9
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    Where did you engrave your info on those guns?

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    Quote Originally Posted by ccosby View Post
    Where did you engrave your info on those guns?
    My information is engraved in front of the trigger on the underside of the lower. You can see the engraving if you look closely at the photo below:

    John Thomas

    Last edited by jntmjt1; 12-16-12 at 13:55.

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