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 used the Commando in Call of Duty Black Ops he wanted one of his own.

U.S. Navy SEAL with Colt Commando

Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Mark Blasen, member of SEAL Team 4 in a training exercise.

April 1985

USAF Combat Control Team member with GAU-5A/A

Member of 1st Special Operations Wing USAF Combat Control Team armed with a GAU-5 rifle, in a training exercise.

April 26th 1981

What is a CAR-15/XM177/Commando?

The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 or CAR-15 is a family of M16 rifle–based firearms that was marketed by Colt in the 1960s and early 1970s. However, the term "CAR-15" is most commonly associated with the Colt Commando/XM177.

The CAR-15 name was an attempt to re-associate the AR-15 name with Colt, since the AR initially stood for Armalite the original manufacturer of the AR-15.

The Colt Commando was an outgrowth of the CAR-15 Military Weapons System, as a result of interest by the U.S. Army for a fully developed weapon. It was introduced by Colt's in 1966 in response to the US military's desire for a shorter M16. Colt engineer Rob Roy designed a simpler two-position telescoping tubular aluminum buttstock to replace the complicated extending triangular version. The triangular handguards were replaced by reinforced round handguards. Each half of the round handguard is identical, simplifying logistics by not requiring a top/bottom or left/right pair.

The XM177 uses a unique flash suppressor sometimes called a flash or sound moderator for its 10-inch barrel. This device is 4.2 inches long and was designed primarily as a counterbalance measure as the shorter barrel makes the weapon unwieldy. This device reduces flash signature greatly and sound signature slightly, making the normally louder short barreled carbine sound like a longer barreled M16A1.

After the Vietnam War, Colt abandoned the CAR-15 Modular Weapon System concept, but continued to develop short barrel carbines.

Why build one?

Ever since Ente first played Call of Duty Black Ops as a boy he has been a big fan of the weapons of the Vietnam & Cold War era, he also watched a lot of the History Channel growing up. After researching and building his M16A1 he has been interested in the CAR-15. Maltz spoke with Ente about building a Commando or XM177E2 and Ente drew up a parts list for Maltz. Maltz changed his mind and went with a modern M4 Carbine with free floating handguard that Ente had purchased and rebuilt. Since Ente had made a parts list and reproduction and new parts are available he decided to build one for himself.

The Commando in Black Ops was a flat top receiver with a flip up iron sight and no long flash suppressor. Ente decided against building that version, for now, as he wanted a close to historically accurate buddy for his M16. Maybe one day he will build another upper for the lower as he has a few flattop receivers kicking around but for now he prefers the carry handle drip.

Ente built his CAR-15 for less than $900 USD with new & reproduction parts.

(Tools not included in that price.)

How did he do it?

If you have read the ‘M16A1 Build Log’ then some of this next information will be familiar to you.

Ente went RangeTool who has been amazing to work with, Ente ordered another M16 upper receiver for the CAR-15 build as it is based off the M16 platform.

After ordering the receiver he still needed the rest of the rifle, after some more searching around he went back to Linemount, He sourced the handguard, pistol grip and flash hider from them and their quality is top notch.

Ente went to Duramag and ordered their Jungle Tiger 30 Round Magazine.

Ente went to KAK to get the lower parts kit.

For the rest of the build he decided to go to Palmetto State Armory for a majority of the remaining parts. He went with the PSA Stealth Lower Receiver, and a Harrington & Richardson CAR-15 Buffer Tube & Stock assembly. He also got a PSA Carbine Length Gastube and a PSA AR-15 10.5" Barrel. Lastly he got the PSA Charging Handle and Toolcraft Bolt Carrier Group together as a bundle.

Upper Receiver RangeTool $125

Barrel Palmetto State Armory $120

Gas Tube Palmetto State Armory $13

Handguard Linemount $25

Muzzle Device Linemount $40

Bolt Carrier Group Toolcraft $80

Charging Handle Palmetto State Armory $10

Lower Receiver Palmetto State Armory $50

Fire Control Group AS Designs $250

Lower Parts Kit KAK Industry $28

Pistol Grip Linemount $9

Pistol Grip Plug MLLL $5

Stock/Buffer Assembly Harrington & Richardson $100

Magazine Duramag $30

Total: $885

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

Accessories

Ente originally was going to go with an M16 standard issue style sling but after doing some more research on the CAR-15 and MAC-V SOG Forces that worked behind enemy lines in Vietnam, he found they fashioned their own slings. The MAC-V SOG would make their slings out of Canteen straps and 550 Paracord. Ente got a USGI surplus general purpose strap, removed the metal clips and used paracord to finish his sling. Ente also got a pistol grip plug to store a batteries for his light.

Stock Buttpad John Masen $18

Cleaning Kit DevilDogDepot $19

Buttstock Sling Adapter Viking Tactics $20

Sling USGI GP Sling $20

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 CAR-15.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

-Ente & Maltz

Founders of Functional Reserve Militia