Today my department participated in a large training scenario hosted by DHS in several locations around the Denver metro area. There were several SWAT teams from across the front range. Most teams carried the AR platform of some type or another. I saw a few Commandos and mostly M4’s.
While on break, a Denver S.O. team member walked by and I asked to see his rifle. He and his team were all carrying M16’s. A1 flash hiders, tri-angle handguards and no forward assists. They looked great - almost new in fact. The bolts looked like they were chrome plated. The deputy told me the S.O. got them on loan from the government recently. Despite the 20" barrel, he said they’ve been really happy with them, and said they all shot great. In a sea of MP5’s, M4’s and whatnot today, it was pretty cool seeing these old guns being carried and still protecting the community.
Yes they have a program for LE dept’s to get older M16’s. I think it is through DRMO. Actually putting them to use sounds a lot better than meeting a chopping block.
I remember a few yrs ago seeing a documentary on the north Hollywood shoot out, the bank robbery gone awry and towards the end they made mention of the PD acquiring and requiring M16’s for patrol cars, they cut to a scene of officers taking out of and putting in trunks old M16 A1’s
Agreed, I’m sure the departments had them at their disposal(no doubt swat teams had them at their disposal)but probably not a requirement on board patrol cars until this incident as you said proved the necessity. Like '20s and '30s era law enforcement having to better arm themselves to keep up with the likes of Bonnie & Clyde and Machine Gun Kelly!
You should see what my Army Reserve unit has in its armory. We received a bunch of Colt AR-15s about 6-months ago and they were in pretty bad shape. These guns are honest-to-goodness AR-15s that were converted to M-16A1s (full-auto) and then subsequently converted to M16A2s (burst).
All they did was stamp ‘M16A1’ onto the receivers. Then they ground out the ‘1s’ from the ‘M16A1’ and the ‘AUTO’ and stamped in ‘2s’ and ‘BURST’ over top. Overall, a sorry state of affairs for a unit that tends to deploy quite a bit.
M16s have been available to law enforcement agencies through the DOD 1208/1033/LESO program for many years. Variants include the earliest variants to the more modern. Some agencies have been shipped guns that should have been placed in museums rather than shipped.
Some put the guns to good use as shipped. They are GI quality, built in spec, reliable, and perform well. Others convert them into different forms or “improve” them, buggering them all up.
A nearby agency received a batch of unissued early guns rollmarked XM16E1. On the training range, their BCGs were sprayed with CLP, and they fired several hundred rounds each.
I carried a 20" A1 type as a patrol rifle for awhile. Not as handy as my current gun, but still serviceable. There are plenty still around.
Yup. The first M16 I ever fired was an M16A1 with A2 hand guards that was stamped “Colt AR-15” when I was a Cadet at Norwich University. I used to have a Polaroid (remember those lol) of it somewhere.
It was not Clinton that prevented the release of F/A guns through CMP. It was done long before he took office.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office received M-16s, mostly A1’s, through this program. Almost every Deputy on patrol and many detectives carry them and yes they are still F/A. Several have had the uppers changed to flat top with shorter barrels (10.3 to 16 inches). This changes were made after the agency received them.
I did, though I never got to shoot it. I was happy though to get to shoot an M14 on FA on a couple of occasions and M16s and M16A1s quite a bit. The M60s they had were also in great shape, and are great shooters. There’s actually a ton of very cool old weapons there. I think the one that took the cake was the 45-70 Colt Gatling Gun they had rebuilt, and was finished my 2nd (and final lol) year there.
