Markings on AR Uppers

Originally Posted By: WindyhillAnyone better than other or ones to look out for ?

yes some are better than others. they will come with special markings like $150 or $300 etc. try and find the ones with the lowest consecutive numbers lol
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seriously they should all be fine. supposed to all be built to the same specs. find one you like with a good price and go for it.
 
Those are foundry marks. They denote where the receivers raw forging came from. The key hole denotes it came from Cerro Forge foundry. The big difference is who machines the uppers or lowers for that matter. Many companies use same foundry but its the finished product that counts. Example of this is out of spec rails, pin holes, width Nd location of lugs , ETC. Forging markings are useless in ID'ing finished AR's. You defiantly get what you pay for with AR upper or lowers.
 
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Make a copy.

Upper receiver forge markings:

Offset Square is: Brass Aluminum Forging
LMT is: No Forge Marks, but marked LMT or L is: LMT
AF is: Alcoa Forge
C AF is: Colt Alco Forge
A (splintered) = Anchor Harvey Aluminum
C MB is: Colt / Mueller Brass
Cardinal’s head (stylized bird head) is: Cardinal Forge
CH is: Colt Harvey Aluminum
Crosshairs w/"AR" is: ArmaLite
CK is: Colt / Kaiser Aluminum
CM is: Colt / Martin Marietta
D (stylized) is: Diemaco
DK is: Diemaco / Kaiser Aluminum
E is: Emco
EK is: EMCO/Kaiser
E MB is: EMCO/Mueller Brass
FA is: FNMI / Anchor Harvey
FK is: FNMI / Kaiser Aluminum
FM is: FN/Martin Marietta
FMB is: FNMI / Mueller Brass
LK is: LAR / Kaiser Aluminum
LM is: LAR / Martin Marietta
M "diamond" is: Mueller Industries
PA is: Capco / Anchor Harvey
PM is: Capco / Martin Marietta
Square (symbol) is: Brass Aluminum

M-16 markings:

CAF Colt / Alcoa Forge
CH Colt / Harvey Aluminum (1st Colt Forgings)
CM Colt / Martin Marietta
DK Diemaco / Kaiser
FK, FS, BK, DK, EK, FK, AF, CW, AA, FS Bushmaster
LK FN / Kaiser
LM LAR / Martin Marietta (Army Spares Contract)
“Splintered A” F: FNMI Anchor Harvey“Splintered A” F: FNMI Anchor Harvey
“Splintered A” C: Colt Anchor Harvey
Splintered A Olympic Arms? (Anchor Harvey)


My list of verified upper receiver forge markings used by AR-15 upper manufactuers/sellers


DSA - Cardinal forge
Rock River - Cardinal forge
Delton - Cerro forge, square
DPMS - Cerro
Spikes Tactical - Cerro
Stag - Cardinal, Cerro
LWRC- splintered A
Para USA - ZM
Knight’s Armament - Cerro (keyhole)
Wilson Combat - splintered A
Double Star - Cerro
Smith &Wesson - Cerro
Daniel Defense - Cerro
Sabre Defense - Cerro?
Remington - Cerro
BCM - Cerro, square
Bushmaster - Cerro
Stag - splintered A, Cardinal
J&T Distributing (Doublestar) - Cerro, C
CMMG - Cerro
Colt M4 - Cerro (C keyhole), square, Cardinal (“C“ bird‘s head), C AF
 
I found this but haven't verified.

Anderson Manufacturing AR Lower Receiver which was forged by Cerro Forge and finished by Anderson (Has Cerro Forge "Keyhole" proof mark)
 
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