C8

lerch641 said:
Exactly that, for when the Elcan came into the system.
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Not quite. The C8A1 didn't appear until 2003, well after the Elcan. It showed up in Kabul for OP Athena and came with an EoTech 552. Surefire classic weaponlights with barrel mounts were also issued in theatre. A1 isn't official nomenclature as the lowers were simply stamped C8. It appears to have been a stop gap measure until the adoption of the C8FTHB. I don't know what ever happened to them. They only appear to have been used in Afghanistan and were passed from tour to tour. That is they weren't held by the units.

It had a very short service life, rarest of all the C8 variants in CF service.
 
Leg said:
Could be. My example goes a little deeper so it's a perfect circle. Interesting upper you have. It looks like it was anodized after it was restamped? So maybe it never made it to Diemaco and Colt stamped the R in so they could use it?

I was thinking along the same lines. Up close the circle is a little clearer but I agree it looks like it was either stripped and re-anodized or stamped by Colt. I had a M4LE lower where Colt did the same thing. They milled off the original rollmarks on the magwell and re-stamped it M4LE, or they made a mistake and did that to fix it. Gotta recycle and save those pennies!
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Leg said:
Not quite. The C8A1 didn't appear until 2003, well after the Elcan. It showed up in Kabul for OP Athena and came with an EoTech 552. Surefire classic weaponlights with barrel mounts were also issued in theatre. A1 isn't official nomenclature as the lowers were simply stamped C8. It appears to have been a stop gap measure until the adoption of the C8FTHB. I don't know what ever happened to them. They only appear to have been used in Afghanistan and were passed from tour to tour. That is they weren't held by the units.

It had a very short service life, rarest of all the C8 variants in CF service.
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Yup, they weren't a real carbine with a designation. They basically took C7A1 uppers so that they could use optics for Afghanistan, then we got the C8FTHBs and finally the C8A3s.
 
Might be a dumb question, but what finish is on these uppers? Anodized? I really like the deep black and smoothness compared to the CC lower, which is more of a grey and 'rough'.

On another not, I ended up building my first lower for this upper, really enjoyed it even though I buggered the bolt catch pin the first time. Saved myself by buying the proper wheeler punch and it went in perfectly. Used a Dlask M16 LPK I had kicking around and an SJ hardware buffer/extension kit. Diemaco black butt stock of the EE.
 
Finish is the same as CC. Abuse the hell out if it for 30 yrs and your CC lower will be smooth and more glossy too. Just like people want "glossy" CAR handguards not realizing that it's from years of rough handling in the field that makes them that way.

Try some 0000 steel wool with CLP and it will likely smooth out the finish.
 
Leg said:
Finish is the same as CC. Abuse the hell out if it for 30 yrs and your CC lower will be smooth and more glossy too. Just like people want "glossy" CAR handguards not realizing that it's from years of rough handling in the field that makes them that way.

Try some 0000 steel wool with CLP and it will likely smooth out the finish.
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Thanks, thats pretty much what I figured. Time to put it to use I guess. Planning to get it out to the range on Sunday.
 
Leg said:
Not quite. The C8A1 didn't appear until 2003, well after the Elcan. It showed up in Kabul for OP Athena and came with an EoTech 552. Surefire classic weaponlights with barrel mounts were also issued in theatre. A1 isn't official nomenclature as the lowers were simply stamped C8. It appears to have been a stop gap measure until the adoption of the C8FTHB. I don't know what ever happened to them. They only appear to have been used in Afghanistan and were passed from tour to tour. That is they weren't held by the units.

It had a very short service life, rarest of all the C8 variants in CF service.
Click to expand...

So I'm missing something. Is this C8A1 you talk about a flat top upper or carry handle. If flat top would it of been weaver with a skinny C8 barrel? I'm only asking because I have a prototype Diemaco upper that has a glued on Weaver rail and am wondering if this is what it might be from. It has no forge codes as it was a carry handle upper that had the top milled off to put the rail section on.
 
colt-diemaco-c8-carbine.jpg


Note the barrel profile.
 
derrob7 said:
So I'm missing something. Is this C8A1 you talk about a flat top upper or carry handle. If flat top would it of been weaver with a skinny C8 barrel? I'm only asking because I have a prototype Diemaco upper that has a glued on Weaver rail and am wondering if this is what it might be from. It has no forge codes as it was a carry handle upper that had the top milled off to put the rail section on.
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Just like the photo that fenceline posted. I believe that one is Danish. Elcan was never part of the scale of issue on the CF C8 until the EoTech 552 was pulled from service last year.

What you have is likely a very early C7A1 prototype or a bubba job. The C7 flattop with Weaver rail was issued around '91 or so. The C8 flattop didn't exist for a full decade and change after that.
 
derrob7 said:
So I'm missing something. Is this C8A1 you talk about a flat top upper or carry handle. If flat top would it of been weaver with a skinny C8 barrel? I'm only asking because I have a prototype Diemaco upper that has a glued on Weaver rail and am wondering if this is what it might be from. It has no forge codes as it was a carry handle upper that had the top milled off to put the rail section on.
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Experimental C7 upper. Every collector needs one.
 
Well I need an experimental upper with my Diemaco experimental M4 14.5" HB. :)

Thanks again Leg, good to know the timeline so I can confirm it was a C7 prototype, no bubba present. Lol.
 
Post some pics. I'm sure people would be interested in any Diemaco develop parts. Hard enough getting info on some of the regular stuff yet alone oddities.
 
Some pics of a proto type C7 flat top Weaver Upper and a 14.5" non-m4 feed ramped M4 prototype HB.

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Interesting photos.

That HB barrel is odd. The M203 notch is in the wrong spot, wonder if they were messing around with a different mount for that as well. Or is the FSB in a different location?
 
Here's another shot of it now that it's home on its lower.

CJgs7LC.jpg


Build list:

  • Surplus C8 Upper, bolt and ch
  • colt canada stripped lower and butt stock
  • Dlask M16 parts kit
  • S&J buffer tube kit
 
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