Tag Archives: NoDakSpud

H&R is delivering when it comes to throwback ARs

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The reformed Harrington & Richardson Arms, now with a very NoDakSpud flavor, is chugging right along to bring black rifle collectors all the things.

As I covered last year from SHOT ’23, the modern H&R with NoDakSpud founder Mike Wetteland as CEO is back and ready to make some extremely sweet guns that just ooze old-school cool.

Growing from three throwback models last year– a basic M16A1 clone, the H&R 635 9mm, and H&R 723 carbine– the company has in the meantime added a gray or black XM16E1 complete with triangular handguards and 3-prong flash hider with options for either a trap or no-trap stock, an A2 rifle with a 20-inch barrel and round handguards, an A2 pencil profile carbine with a CAR stock, an XM177E2 clone, and an Air Force 604 model with a 1:12 twist barrel– and they are only getting warmed up.

I stopped by the booth at SHOT ’24 last week and spent some quality time with Wetteland where he gave us the rundown on the entire current and planned (possible) future H&R collection.

It includes:

An “Aberdeen Brown” maple wood stock A1 variant, which is man cave-worthy. These will be available within the next month both as complete rifles and furniture sets. There will also be a distressed walnut version.

Reminiscent of the early 1980s DMRs, check out this resto-mod flat top. Wetteland says this is inbound shortly, scope not included, and advised to ignore the RRA mount.

An early 1990s Delta-style JSOC tube gun, Wetteland said this is a throwback to the days before the arrival of the quad rail mafia and was an armorer-level hack that high-speed guys did to allow them to mount lights and lasers. He stressed that, while H&R may not make this as an all-up gun, uppers, and parts are likely to be made to allow home builders and collectors to steal this look.

And this…

More in my column including a 10-minute interview with Mike, over at Guns.com.

Colt M16A1 Export Guns Turned into retro parts kits…

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A decade ago, you could get surplused GI M16A1 parts kits for about $200. Back then, nobody wanted them as these fixed stock, 20-inch 1:12 twist guns, complete with Vietnam-style carry handles and saw-ridge plastic handguards. They were so 1970s at a time when everyone was building or buying an M4 style carbine with a flattop, 16-inch (or smaller) barrel, and a handguard that had MLOK/Keymod or Quadrails.

Now, the bus has fully emptied, and everyone has an M4orgery of some sort, heck PSA sells them for $500 all day.

The hot new thing in the past couple of years, ironically, is “retro” builds. Basically, everyone wants a Vietnam-style M16A1. NoDakSpud, Brownells, and now, PSA with their H&R subsidiary, have all been cashing in on the trend.

With that in mind, when I saw that Atlantic had surplused Colt M16A1 parts kits, cut from retired overseas rifles and shipped in, my interest was piqued as to the price these days.

As detailed by Atlantic:

These parts are military surplus rated NRA Fair condition and finish will vary from kit to kit.

Parts will show usage & character. They are surplus but serviceable. The butt plate may be cracked and/or may have a small piece chipped off or missing small parts.

Beware, the price is four times what it used to be just 10 short years ago…

The two Coolest things at SHOT Show

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You know, if you told me 10 years ago that the two coolest items across the 13.9 miles of aisles and 2,500 companies exhibiting at the 45th annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas would both be at the Palmetto State Armory booth, I would not have believed you.

However, it happened.

The company has brought back two icons: H&R M16A1s and a centerfire U.S.-made Sturmgewehr 44.

The H&R brand comes as a reboot of the old circa 1871 firearms company that PSA picked up for pocket change in Remington’s 2020 bankruptcy sale. Turning the refreshed brand over to NoDakSpud founder Mike Wettleland, they will be making classic M16A1 as well as Colt 723 and 635 models. The former were made by H&R as a Colt subcontractor in 1968-71.

The H&R M16A1 retro rifle is hand-crafted from proprietary forging dies with 1960s vintage government markings. As the guns made for the Army back in the Fortunate Son era were in the 2-million range, the new H&R will mimic that although will be distinctive in the fact that they have West Columbia, South Carolina rollmarks rather than the Worchester, Massachusetts marks of the original. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

This brings us to Hill & Mac Gunworks of Alpharetta, Georgia, a small gunmaker that had been working on an updated semi-auto Sturmgewehr clone made with modern techniques complete with a threaded barrel, a long stroke piston operating tilting bolt action, an HK style trigger pack, wooden furniture, and the possibility of being chambered in 5.56 NATO, 7.62x39mm, .300 AAC Blackout, or the original 7.92 Kurz– the latter is still in production by Privi Partisan in Europe.

Well, while HMG did sell some generationally similar CETME-L builds a few years back and marketed some reactive steel targets, their Sturmgewehr never made it to serial production and by 2020 the project largely fell off the radar after the company went radio silent.

Until now.

Popping up at Palmetto State Armory’s booth at SHOT Show last week was Mac Steil, the “M” of HMG, with news that PSA had stepped in to bring the project across the finish line. Advancing to the production stage, HMG customers that had preordered it from them back in the day will still get their HMG-marked gun while new guns for PSA will be under that company’s new “Battlefield” series.

The StG will still be offered in all four HMG calibers, use a STANAG mag pattern, and still runs an HK trigger pack. Caliber can be swapped by the user via a mag, barrel, and bolt change. There will also be things such as BFAs for reenactors, folding stock models, and more planned for the future.

Palmetto State Armory Retro H&R M16

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Ran into this at SHOT:

The company that owns PSA grabbed some legacy gun maker names from the Remington Outdoors federal bankruptcy sale, including Harrington & Richardson (H&R). While this sparked a lot of folks to think PSA would be making break-action shotguns for the budget market, they have apparently gone a whole new direction.

You see, back in the 1960s, H&R made early M16 rifles for the Army during Vietnam as Colt needed some help filling the needs of Uncle Sam. Relax, the company was involved in fulfilling small military contracts for the Army for almost a century.

H&R was one of only four manufacturers (along with Colt, Fabrique Nationale, and GM’s Hydramatic Division) to have ever made an official M16 variant for the U.S. Military. Due to their relative scarcity, all H&R military weapons are considered highly desirable by collectors. This vintage transferable H&R-marked M16A1 went for $40K at a RIAC auction.

Well, using NoDakSpud’s retro black rifle know-how (PSA recently acquired NDS) they are sending a classic H&R-marked AR throwback to the market. Receivers and barrels are available this spring. Complete rifles available later in 2022. No price was mentioned.