Brownells Colt 605 repro up for pre-order

[Renegade04]

Here was the reply: “The 605 was done in two variants, the 605A (the model we're emulating with the forward assist upper) and the 605B, which had a M16A1 style upper, but the forward assist machined off. We don't plan on producing the 605B style upper.”

I sent Paul Levy the following reply:

In the VickersGuide AR-15, Vol. 1, page 171, Augee Kim states,

“Some Model 605s, such as this example, were built with unusual upper receivers – though the upper receiver assemblies did not have forward assists, the “hump” in the location of the forward assist is clearly visible and has been milled flat. This style of upper receiver has been colloquially, but incorrectly, referred to in the enthusiast circles as the “605” upper, because of its use on some Model 605 carbines. In fact, this style of upper receiver was used by Colt primarily to manufacture M16 (Model 604) rifles for the Air Force. Because the M16A1 was being manufactured in far greater numbers than the M16, Colt obtained permission from the U.S. Government to use M16A1 receiver forgings, and to simply mill off the forward assist “hump” during the machining process in order to expedite deliveries when the M16 upper receiver forgings were in short supply or not available.”

Differences in the Model 605A and 605B are as follows:

Model 605A - 3-Way Fire Control Group (Safe, Semi, Auto)
Model 605B - 4-Way Fire Control Group (Safe, Semi, Burst, Auto)

Colt Model 605 Upper Variations:
The Colt Model 605 was built using both a Standard Slickside Upper, and a Colt model 603 Upper which had the Forward Assist machined off leaving a raised hump on the receiver where the Forward Assist should have been.

The VickersGuide picture showing the Model 605A with a forward assist may be a prototype version. If the pictures of the 605A and 605B are from Reed Knight’s collection, they could be prototypes as I suggested.

Trust me, to have the BRN-605 using the slickside upper would be correct. Anyone looking for a 605 wants it to look correct and to have one with a 603 upper with a forward assist is not correct. Augee knows his stuff when it comes to vintage M16s and carbines.

When I undertook the task of building my 605 clone a few years ago, I did the research to make sure I did it as right as I could. I used an original M16 (Model 604) upper receiver and an original Colt 1/12 barrel. The barrel assembly was worked by John Thomas (Retro Arms Works). The stock, handguards, pistol grip, and many internals are all original Colt parts. It does have a Nodak Spud partial-fence lower receiver.

No production 605s (A or B) had a forward assist.