AR15/M16A2 Windham Weaponry Plastic Trap Door Replaced w/Colt Metal!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- Replaced Windham Weaponry plastic door with a metal A1/A2 Colt "New Old Stock" from APEX. The Windham Weaponry original plastic door rattle is now gone!
I bought 2 of those metal doors from APEX a few months back, put one on a Colt AR-15A4 that had plastic door and plastic latch. The other went on a Colt buttstock I bought from Brownells that had a plastic door and metal latch. Both fit perfect.
There are some differences on butt plates versus trap door fitment and types of trap doors. In some cases it won't work at all if it originally came with a plastic door/latch or plastic door/metal latch. Glad all went well with the all metal NOS Colt trap door and Windham Weaponry butt plate. I had no idea if it was going to work. Glad to hear that both of yours worked as well!
Another beautiful rifle, Pete! I really like the handguards you have on it. I think I like those better than the quad rails everyone puts on the A4. I'd guess they're lighter, also. You have the nicest collection of AR's I've seen, and professionally built by a true master of his craft! Thanks for another fine exhibition, Pete! Also, thank you for the recent dimensions on the tubing for the carry handle to FSP alignment tool. 13" on the 1/2' outside tubing, 10" on the 3/8" inner tubing, along with a 9/64" center locating punch. I saw the sanding of two sides of the outer piece you did on your video, so it would fit inside tighter carry handles, which you opted for aluminum vs. the 4130 high carbon steel used on the inner tube. It's a shame the outer piece is 13" because the tubing is sold in 1', 3' and 6' pieces, and is quite expensive, especially the aluminum tubing. As an optimist would reason, buying a 3' section for inner and outer tubing would enable one to build two complete tools, with only the addition of an extra 9/64" punch costing only $6.68 more! This I could give to a friend as a Christmas present, if only I had a friend! Just kidding on that! Thanks again, Pete, and enjoy your weekend!
Thanks John! I do remember having to buy the outer tubing in the longer length for 13". I'm not sure but you may be able to get away with 12" on both the outer and inner? I must have had some reason for 13" on the outer tubing. I may have been wanting to get as much support as possible when extended for rifle length. I too have enough left over for an additional tool. The Midwest two piece drop in hand guard on this rifle weighs within a half ounce of the MilSpec A2 round hand guards! I remember being surprised by that! I thought for sure the Midwest would be heavier!
Nice build. Thanks for the tip on APEX
Thanks Malcolm! Don't know if this works on all A2 butt plates but it worked out on the Windham Weaponry.
Interesting that the aluminum Colt trap doors fit without rattle for you on those Windham A2 butt plates. I've tried the aluminum trap doors in both the modern Windham and modern Colt A2 butt plates and they were rattle traps. I found that the NOS 90s era A2 butt plates that are available from AR15Sport and Fulton Armory were what I needed to fit right with the aluminum trap doors that I have. As far as the plastic trap doors go, the Windham ones are actually my preference. The latch spring tension on Colt's plastic trap doors makes them nearly impossible to open with your fingers alone most of the time. Also, you are right on when you say that the doors are matched to the butt plates. Interchangeability and backwards compatibility were obviously not a consideration here.
The latch tension on the plastic Windham's are preferable. The NOS all metal Colt doors from APEX that I just installed required more effort but not bad. I have older "all original" Colts from the early 90's that use the type of latch that does not have the protruding tab with no back cut and those are brutal! After installing the remaining APEX Colt doors on my other two Windham butt plates one was snug like the one showcased in this video. The last one was a little loose but not enough to make any noise and still better than what I started with. The Fulton Armory metal door A2 butt stocks that I have been using recently on my other builds look to have doors and latches used for the late A1's or very early A2 butt plates but just guessing on this one. The latches on those doors do not have the protruding tab but do have the slight back cut to help rip your finger nail off! The Fulton's are all snug fitting and rattle free. The whole thing to start with is a poor design! Throw in different variations of doors, latches, materials and butt plates... I got lucky!
Very Cool Rifle and Scope Pete 😀 What Brand Is That Scope 😮 Id Like Too Get One If There Still Around 👍🏼 I Also prefer The Metal Trapdoor 😀
Thanks Chris! Scope is a mid-90's Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10X-50mm Adjustable Objective, Matte, Tactical, Multicoat 4, 3/4 Mil Dot, P/N 49215. Made in the USA using American optical glass. Leupold stopped making this kind of quality a long time ago! Recently purchased a couple of MARK 3's and they're not anywhere near this older one in quality! One example of the newer Leupold MK3 series lower quality is the plastic windage knob!
@@peteregger7928 Thanks Pete For The Info 😀 I’m Going to Wait Till I Find That Same 90’s Version I Don’t Think I’d Like The Newer Ones Your Scope Sets Exactly Perfect At The Level And Hight You Mounted It as Though You Were Looking Thru The Carry Handle sight If One Was Mounted Instead of Your Scope 😀
@@chrischiampo7647 The old school ARM's QD mount and low rings has it perfect! I think you are right and that it's the same height as the carry handle irons. Next time I have it out I'll put a carry handle next to it and see how close it is.
@@peteregger7928 Would Be Interesting I Bet It’s Spot On
So the door ‘frame’ is aluminum?
The butt plate is still plastic. The trap door is all metal now. This is the way the A2's were originally made.
My grandmother would call that gun heinz fifty seven. I had to go look at my A2 stocks and one of mine is plastic yuck I noticed I can open the plastic one with my finger nail not the metal one you need something.
Ha! Ha! I have very few rifles where even half the parts are from the same place! Lol! The original plastic latches/doors on the Windham's were easier to operate than these metal NOS Colt doors. The worst are my "all original" Colt rifles and you will rip your fingernail off on those! Brutal!
@@peteregger7928... Your rifle's are definitely top notch. Upgraded over OEMs for sure. Collecting and and building all original is cool too but, I enjoy franken stuff more, always have their own character. Nice job.
@@Allenmar73 Thanks Allen! Even using the same OEM for parts doesn't mean much anymore other than maybe the QC they perform before rebranding with their own name. At one time Colt made the majority of their own parts but that hasn't been the case for many, many years now. My old Colts are safe queens because of this. Don't mind blasting my Franken builds at all! Not worried if they get dinged... still try not to though!
2:29 it is not a cage code as far as I know. All of the cage codes I have ever seen have both numbers and letters, including my own employeer's cage code. If it was, it's very likely that it would be the company who manufactured it for Colt under subcontract for their .gov contract. At least that's how we package our parts for other companies that have a .gov contract
Most cage codes are numbers only although some have letters mixed in. Colt cage code for example is 13629. The number on the packaging may not be a cage code although it did show up as a government contractor that has a surplus category. APEX also lists the actual Colt P/N on their site along with the picture. The door being NOS Colt may pre-date cage code markings as that is a more recent thing for individual parts and components for firearms especially for Colt. When I was in the military the primary identification besides the actual P/N was an NSN that would usually lead to multiple manufacturers for the same part. Then later on in my career individual parts were listed by cage code preference for a woman or minority owned business. As the end user we didn't care who owned the business and through experience would order the parts we knew actually worked or were going to be reliable. Who made these particular doors for Colt or as a USGI supplier? I have no idea. I think I may dig deeper and contact APEX to see if Colt or whoever made the part. Trying to nail down an actual manufacturer these days is not an easy task for those of us outsiders. Thanks for the comment and more exploration out of curiosity on my part forthcoming.
@peteregger7928 APEX may not even know. Most contracts in manufacturing include a non-disclosure agreement, so it's not necessarily information that Colt would give out
@@ryanthede4689 Definitely hard to nail down that's for sure!