The Story

Ente has always been a firearms enthusiast and interested in history, especially World War I, World War II and The Vietnam War. Ever since he first saw the iconic profile of the M16A2 he wanted one of his own.

U.S. Army Capt. John Arthur, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment

U.S. Army Europe's Best Junior Officer Competition July 25th 2012

Grafenwoehr - Germany

Why build one?

Well first of all, cost. An actual M16 can cost a pretty penny. Ente built his for less than $800 USD with new & reproduction parts.

(Tools not included in that price.)

Also after Ente built his M16A1 he figured it needed a friend, one is none right? He also enjoyed the M16A2 in Call of Duty Advanced Warfare & Black Ops Cold War. He also really liked the look of them in Black Hawk Down.

How did he do it?

Building the M16A2 was quite easy when it came to sourcing parts as they are still prolific and the rifle is still in service today.

Ente went to RangeTool again to get the A2 Upper Receiver. Then He went to Palmetto State Armory to get a Stealth Lower Receiver and an A2 Freedom 20" Rifle Kit. He went to AS Designs and purchased their ARC-Fire Forced Reset Trigger.

Ente went to Duramag to get a M81 Woodlan 30-Round magazine.

Ente also went to Echo 93 to get an original handguard set.

After sourcing all the parts Ente had to remove the barrel from the A4 receiver and got to building. He ran into an issue part of the way through, his PSA parts kit came with 2 Hammer Springs and no Trigger spring. Luckily he had other parts kits around for other builds and after robbing one he soldiered on. PSA customer service was great and sent a replacement for the missing spring. After getting the rifle assembled he oiled all the friction surfaces and fire control group.

Parts Kit Palmetto State Armory $400

Handguard Echo 93 $40

Lower Receiver Palmetto State Armory $50

Fire Control Group AS Designs $250

Magazine Duramag $30

Total: $770

After it was completed he used headspace gauges to check the chamber clearance to ensure the rifle was safe to operate.

Accessories

After sourcing all the rifle build parts Ente wanted some accesories and after a little searching found a Surplus NOS(New Old Stock) M9 Bayonet to install on the barrel for display purposes. Ente also got the USGI Buttstock cleaning kit to store in the stock and a pistol grip plug to store a small bottle of CLP. Ente went to Viking Tactics and purchased a Top Sling Buttstock adapter in Black then He went to Ebay and purchased an M1 Seatbelt Sling in Black to use while carrying the rifle during training drills.

Buttstock Cleaning Kit DevilDogDepot $22

Buttstock Sling Adapter Viking Tactics $20

Sling USGI M1 Seatbelt Sling $20

Bayonet USGI M9 Bayonet $120

After a few months of research, careful planning, sourcing parts and tools, the build was finished.

A list of parts and tools used can be found below. For those who want to build their own M16A2.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

-Ente & Maltz

Founders of Functional Reserve Militia