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This article is about AR-15 variants made by Colt's Manufacturing Company. For generic variants, see AR-15 style rifle.

ArmaLite AR-15 with the charging handle located on top of the upper receiver, protected within the carrying handle and a 25-round magazine

1973 Colt AR-15 SP1 rifle with 'slab side' lower receiver (lacking raised boss around magazine release button) and original Colt 20-round magazine.

M16A1 rifle with forward assist, raised boss around magazine release button and a 30-round magazine.

This article describes the many variations of the Colt AR-15 and M16 rifle family of weapons produced by Colt's Manufacturing Company. Weapons patterned on the original ArmaLite AR-15 design have been produced by numerous manufacturers and have been used by nations around the world, some of which created their own variations. The tables here are split in a variety of categories, and provide an overview of different subtypes. For purposes of these tables, bold model numbers are weapons used (or previously used) by the U.S. Military while italic model numbers are weapons for commercial or export sale. See Glossary of terms for an explanation of each column.

The year/serial numbers under Colt SP series was forwarded to me by an individual whose return address I no longer have. Double asterisk (.) under Bushmaster, a person on the internet e-mailed me that he had a lower that was shipped stripped (thus not a complete rifle) in 1991 from Bushmaster with serial #0327XX - ALWAYS CALL TO VERIFY.
COLT MODEL 1903.32 ACP / 1908.380 ACP POCKET HAMMERLESS PRODUCTION. Year: Type: Serial Number (1903.32ACP) Serial Number (1908.380 ACP) Year.
Colt Long Guns top. Berdan (Russian) Model Rifle Berdan (U.S.) Model Rifle Burgess Lever Action Rifle Colt - Sauer Drilling Colt - Sauer Bolt Action Rifle Colt - Sharps Sporting Rifle Colt AR-15 Sporter Colt'57 Bolt Action Rifle Coltsman Bolt Action Rifle Colteer 1-22 Bolt Action Rifle Colteer, Stagecoach & Courier.22 Rifles Franklin Military.
Colt’s civilian line of semi-automatic Colt AR-15 rifles is identified by a four digit code following a specific prefix. Initially all Colt civilian weapons were listed with an “R” prefix, with this changing to “AR” following the passage of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994.

Dec 10, 2016 I just put 'colt serial numbers' in the search box and this was the first hit. But when I called them with the S/N of a Colt pre-ban AR-15, they were able to tell.

1Colt military models
2Colt civilian models
3Glossary of terms

Colt military models[edit]

Colt has been the most visible producer of ArmaLite AR-15 pattern weapons, and the military designations M16 & M4 are heavily associated with the company. Colt has an intricate internal nomenclature system for its models, with a variety of suffixes and prefixes. Colt’s systems have generally followed the times and though its model numbers originally came without prefixes, with the need to separate weapons made for civilian consumption from those made for military and law enforcement use, military models became prefixed with the code 'RO'. For the purposes of this table, the RO nomenclature is obviated as this terminology did not exist in all cases, but it can be understood to be present. Military/LE models are also easily identified by their three digit code in contrast to the four digit codes for civilian weapons.

Colt Armalite AR-15[edit]

The original Armalite AR-15 have the charging handle located on top of the upper receiver, protected within the carrying handle.

Colt model no.	Name	Stock	Hand guards	Fire control	Rear sight	Forward assist	Case deflector	Caliber	Barrel length	Barrel profile	Barrel twist	Bayonet Lug	Muzzle device
601	ArmaLite AR-15 (AKA: XM16)	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.222 REM	20 in.	A1	1:14 (early) 1:12 (late)	Yes	Type 1 Duckbill Type 2 Duckbill
602	ArmaLite AR-15 (AKA: XM16)	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.223 REM	20 in.	A1	1:12	Yes	Type 2 Duckbill

Colt M16 rifle based weapons[edit]

Colt model no.	Name	Stock	Hand guards	Fire control	Rear sight	Forward assist	Case deflector	Caliber	Barrel length	Barrel profile	Barrel twist	Bayonet Lug	Muzzle device
603	M16A1 (AKA:XM16E1)	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	Yes	No	.223 REM	20 in.	A1	1:12	Yes	Type 2 Duckbill or A1 Birdcage
604	M16 rifle	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.223 REM	20 in.	A1	1:12	Yes	A1 Birdcage
605	CAR-15 Carbine	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.223 REM	15 in.	A1	1:12	No	Type 2 Duckbill
605A	CAR-15 Carbine	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	Yes	No	.223 REM	15 in.	A1	1:12	No	Type 2 Duckbill
605B	CAR-15 Carbine	A1	Triangular	S-F-1-3	A1	No	No	.223 REM	15 in.	A1	1:12	No	Type 2 Duckbill
606	CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1 (AKA:Colt Automatic Rifle or Colt Light Machine Gun)	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.223 REM	20 in.	HBAR	1:12	Yes	Type 2 Duckbill
606A	CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1 (AKA:Colt Automatic Rifle or Colt Light Machine Gun)	A1	Triangular	S-1-F	A1	Yes	No	.223 REM	20 in.	HBAR	1:12	Yes	Type 2 Duckbill
606B	CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1 (AKA:Colt Automatic Rifle or Colt Light Machine Gun)	A1	Triangular	S-F-1-3	A1	Yes	No	.223 REM	20 in.	HBAR	1:12	Yes	Type 2 Duckbill
607	CAR-15 SMG	1st Generation	Short Triangular	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.223 REM	10 in.	A1	1:12	No	Type 1 and 2 Duckbill and 3.5' Moderator
607A	CAR-15 SMG	1st Generation	Short Triangular	S-1-F	A1	Yes	No	.223 REM	10 in.	A1	1:12	No	Type 1 and 2 Duckbill and 3.5' Moderator
607B	CAR-15 SMG	1st Generation	Short Triangular	S-F-1-3	A1	No	No	.223 REM	10 in.	A1	1:12	No	Type 1 and 2 Duckbill and 3.5' Moderator
608	CAR-15 Survival Rifle	Tubular	Short Round	S-1-F	A1	No	No	.223 REM	10 in.	A1	1:12	No	Conical or 3.5' Moderator
609	Commando (AKA: XM177E1 or CAR-15)	2nd Generation	Short Ribbed	S-1-F	A1	Yes	No	.223 REM	10 in.	A1	1:12	No	3.5' or 4.5' Moderator
610	Commando (AKA: XM177, GAU-5/A or CAR-15)	2nd Generation	Short Ribbed	S-1-F	A1	No

Colt Ar Serial Number Lookup