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My 80% lower "Mattel M16A1" build

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  • Daezee

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    Finally got an email that the replacement end mill has been packed and will be shipped tomorrow.

    Meanwhile, thanks to friends and forum members, the other parts are coming together. Picked up a slightly used 20" pencil bbl with a very nice set of triangular hand guards yesterday from kanaka. A guy on a machine-gun forum I've been a member of for many years is sending a very nice D stock and a duck bill flash hider. I decided to make my Mattel similar to the Mattel Marauder toy M16 with its duck bill flash hider since Sawman posted that picture. Got a nice M16A1 upper with parts coming from a guy in Michigan. Brownells is suppose to deliver an A1 buttstock screw and aluminum black Wednesday.
     
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    Daezee

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    WOw Can you send me the link to where you found the but

    Ah, No. It's coming from a guy on a machine-gun list. He'd been saving it, but offered it to me along with the duck bill when he read of my Mattel project (I'm loaning him the 80% jig and tool set when we are done with our receivers). He only had the one stock and duck bill. However, I was gonna order from here: http://www.gunnyssurplus.com/gun-parts.html, as the D stocks sounded OK (VG to EXC) and were cheaper than others were listing. If you go to order from them, let me know before hand, as that is where I want to get the A1 grip and rifle buffer tube from and might get a new right hand triangular hand guard for $5 for my son-in-law to experiment engraving/lasering a small Mattel logo on. They had the lowest price on A1 grips and good price on the rifle buffer tube. They didn't, however, have an A1 front sight post that I need.
     

    B52

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    Ok Thanks. See you at the range
     

    SAWMAN

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    BRUCE, To ensure the build is "correct" to the ones that were a special issue item to the conscientious objectors that were hanging around the officers club in Binh Thuy, your build has got use one of them MARAUDER lowers as in the link in your post #26. --- SAWMAN
     

    Daezee

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    It's a little known fact (VERY little known) that Mattel first made the M16 Marauder toy rifle, then an executive of Mattel decided they would make a few (about 10; so far no one has found the exact number made, the highest serial number observed was 10) M16 Marauders in 5.56 modeled after the toy Marauder to see if Mattel could do it.

    Mattel then made a short run of M16A1's in 5.56 since the U.S. had by then finalized the M16A1 design. "Short run" is undefined in the available Mattel records as to exactly how many; current Mattel leadership has failed to cooperate with outside requests as to exact numbers and dates of manufacture. The words "short run" were found in the minutes of one of Mattel's meetings. Also unknown is how many were registered in the 1968 GCA amnesty. The hope was that the U.S. would followup with large orders, which never materialized due to the stigma of issuing a rifle made by a toy company. It is thought that Mattel just wanted to put the whole "we made 5.56 M16's and M16A1's" experience behind them.

    A few of the first Mattel M16A1's used some leftover parts from the M16 5.56 Marauder experiment (based upon the two photos existing), hence my use of a duck bill flash hider would be correct for an early Mattel 5.56 M16A1 along with the non-trap door stock even though the receiver is marked M16A1. The Mattel M16A1's had chrome bores; unknown about the barrels used in the M16's.

    It's hard enough to find correct parts for a Mattel M16A1, let alone the Mattel M16, so for this project, I'm sticking with an early Mattel M16A1 in 5.56 and improvising where I have to.

    Sawman, based upon what you posted (I never went to Vietnam, but was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC) it appears at least 1 of the Mattel M16's made it to Vietnam, not including the M16A1's that troop said they were issued. Slowly we are filling in the pieces of the Mattel puzzle.
     
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    Daezee

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    YEAH, the replacement end mill arrived today, and it fits! Ordered a BCG and rifle buffer tube, so have all the parts or they have been ordered. Plan to start milling Saturday.
     

    SAWMAN

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    Re. that Mattel . . . Check with Frank. I believe he said that it was issued to him in Cam Rahn Bay. --- SAWMAN
     

    SAWMAN

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    I distinctly remember seeing a rack of them in the douche room at the Tiger Lady Bar in Vung Tau. I came to find out that they were traded for a "I love you no shit,short time". They most likely came home with them "do gooder" Green Berets when they came home.
    Check the pawn shops around Ft. Benning. ---- SAWMAN
     

    B52

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    OK It's Saturday.. How long will we have to wait for Daezee to post his freshly milled Mattel lower
     

    Daezee

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    Start milling about 10am. First my son in law comes over to test his computer printed AR lower pistol at 8 this morning.
     

    Daezee

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    DSCN3410.JPG
    Pilot hole drilled in my "practice lower"

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    First milling pass. I made all cuts at 1/2 depth...took longer to mill, but I'm a beginner and wanted to go slow to not break anything.

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    The practice receiver done. Inside milling looks Much better in person now that I've got the inside clean.

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    My Mattel after milling. The inside and outside looks better in person, nice and smooth. I see a few pieces of aluminum shavings on the receiver. I hooked up some high pressure air and got all the loose pieces off. There are some oil smears on the outside left from the cutting oil splashing.

    1st took me about 3 hours, including figuring out how to get the receiver situated so I could use a drill press for the holes and adjusting the router so the depth setting wouldn't slip. 2nd one, the Mattel, took about 2 hours. I'd do each milling at half depth in order to get a smoother finish and because I'm a beginner (per the instructions). Full depth milling for each pass would have cut the time. I also figured it'd be less stress on the end mill. The left side trigger hole and left side safety hole in the Mattel have a small partial raised area where the drill bit came out. The first is covered by the safety, and I might touch up the outside of the trigger hole with a small round file so nothing can be felt. In the pic they look much worse than in person. The blackening of all the holes will make that look better in pics.

    Tomorrow my project will be to apply aluminum black to the holes and inside the receiver and see about darkening the engraving marks on the receiver. I may start putting the lower parts in. Still waiting on the rifle buffer tube and D stock to arrive. The M16A1 upper receiver is due to arrive Tuesday. I found 2 selectors in my parts that do not have the right side notch (right side notch points to markings on the right side which did not exist at the time of Mattels) to try.

    Looking at my uppers using iron sights, I found my complete A2 upper had an A1 front sight post. I swapped that post with the A2 post that was on my pencil bbl 1 in 12" twist Colt bbl that will be used on my Mattel to make both bbl's more correct. Up to this time, I'd not paid any attention to that detail.

    PS Anyone doing this, wear some type of safety glasses. Even with a shop vac hooked up to catch aluminum shavings, pieces would fly all over. I also wore earmuffs, as the sound of the router combined with shop vac was loud.
     

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    B52

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    They look fantastic. They are very professional.
     

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