History
The M16K was produced by La France beginning in 1982, subsequently a highly modified variation of this gun was developed which was designated the M16K-45 which was chambered for the .45 ACP round and utilizing 20 or 30 round Thompson submachine gun magazines. Except for the magazines this firearm was entirely manufactured by La France and not just a modification of an existing firearm as was case with the original M16K. In the 1990s agreement was entered in to between La France Specialties and NAIT to distribute La France Specialty products. La France Specialties was acquired by Surefire, LLC in 2004, and all La France products are still available.
The M-16K uses the early Colt AR-15 upper receiver, and therefore lacks the forward assist and shell deflector found on A1 and later upper receivers. The rear sight consists of a metal tube welded onto the carrying handle in place of the original adjustable sight, creating a quasi-ghost ring sight. The handguards are shortened versions of the original triangular handguards. M-16Ks make use of the stainless steel twin-tube La France gas system, which greatly increases reliability using the short barrel. The lower receiver is a standard M-16 select fire unit. M-16Ks are quite rare and very collectible.
The later M-16K .45 variant was produced using proprietary upper and lower receivers designed by Timothy F. La France specifically for the .45 ACP round. Both are forgings. The M-16K 45 was produced in both a fully automatic Title II version with a short barrel and a semi-automatic version fitted with a 16" barrel to allow it to be sold as a Title I firearm. The barrels are compensated to reduce muzzle climb in fully automatic fire. Production delays resulted in the semi-automatic version not being ready for civilian sales until after enactment of the Federal Assault Weapons law in 1994, which impaired sales. When the Federal Assault Weapons law lapsed, M-16K 45s again became legal for sale.
Fully automatic and semi-automatic versions of the M-16K .45 may be obtained from North American Integrated Technologies (NAIT) in Texas, which provided the funding for development, testing and production of the M-16K .45 variant. The fully automatic versions are post-May 1986 machine guns, and may only be transferred to available to persons and agencies permitted to have post-May 1986 machine guns under the National Firearms Act. The semi-automatic versions are available for civilian purchase to qualified buyers.
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