Back in October last year, I saw an ad for a Colt M16 A1. Called the seller and we met the same day, locally here in Switzerland.

He was a soon to be retired 57 y.o. Lt. Col. in the Swiss army. He likes his toys, he also showed me a Thompson M1, a Sig 551 commando, G18, Norinco 56, all full auto, and a multitude of other stuff.

He bought the M16 over 20 years ago, shot it FA a few times at the military range, but hasn’t shot it in ages.

Some obvious wear on it, but rifing is strong, doesn’t seem to have shot tens of thousands of full auto rounds.









I haven’t seen those sights before



One broken tooth



Inside



BCG







Hammer



Furniture









The mag seems quite vintage too, with the metal follower







I think serial number puts production in 1972, although the serial number does not appear





Wonder if it saw action in VN. And how the hell did it land here in Switzerland.

Anyway, seller advertised it at 2500, I offered 2 k round figure. We settled on 2100. After a 4 weeks wait for the license, the gun had a new home.