This is a quote from a Ken Breda off the user groups in another forum, dated July 2, 1997.
"Ordnance Design Co. aka ORDCO was a small company in Santa Clara CA. in the1970's
owned and operated by Ed Ryberg (sp). Hence the ER15 modeldesignation. He made sten gun
recievers and other class 3 stuff. Don't knowwhere he is today.
The AR15 reciever he made was an investment casting, cast by a firm in So.Cal. and finished by
him in his shop in Santa Clara,CA. I believe this reciever has the distinction of being the first
reciever (AR type)to be like the M16 externally. The others to this point were very boxy looking,
but had all the holes in the right place for the fire control parts. The only problem I know of with
these recievers (exept for being investment cast) was that the buffer retainer pin hole was not in
the right place and the buffer took a beating by the pin. The hole should be farther forward so the
pin doesn't stop the buffer in it's forward position.The buffer should remain incontact with the
bolt carrier during the entire firing cycle and theretainer should only retain the buffer when the
recievers are hinged open. "
That said, what is the forge code on the upper receiver? Can you post a close-up picture of that, the BCG, the buffer tube locking ring, port door, and the FH? Also, is the buffer tube a 2-position? In addition, the BCG on a Model 629/XM177E2 would be the standard phosphate M16 BCG with the split firing pin retaining pin (cotter pin type). It almost appears that the port door is of the A2 type. It does need an A1 type port door. All in all, the evidence does appear to make this a build by someone at some point in its life. They apparently used what was available at the time. Hard to say when the upper was built or by whom. My guess is that it is a later built upper assembly. Not really sure since I cannot see the AR in person.
Here is the type of port door it should have.
This is my XM177E2 clone I built a few years ago.
"A Bad Day At The Range Is Better Than A Great Day Working"
USMC Force Recon 1978-1984
US Air Force Res. 1995-2004 (Air Transportation)
M16/AR15 shooter since 1978, gun collector and AR builder since 2004
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