Today seemed like Christmas came early! A very good friend mailed out a few items to me, and 2 of them are M40xx related, so I thought that I'd share them here. I have no idea if there's a specific M40xx parts thread somewhere, or if this thread is for rifles and parts, I've just been dropping random M40xx parts in this thread for a while now.
The first item was used on an M40A1, and it's legitimately worth it's weight in gold (seriously, the price on this small piece of steel is $4,500!). I've been collecting guns, especially M40 stuff, for a little over a decade now, and this is the first time that I've ever had an opportunity to acquire an original USMC used M40A1 simrad cap! It's the real deal, and it took a long time to acquire, so I'm very happy about finally tracking one down.
This simrad cap has already been owned by 3 of my friends, I'm the 4th owner that I actually know of. That's how ridiculously rare these things are, known examples trade back and forth between collectors, just so that everyone gets a chance to own one at some point, lol. I'll keep this piece around for a while, at least long enough to have it properly photographed and documented.
Here's the original USMC used M40A1 simrad cap, both loose and on an original USMC used M40A1 Unertl scope mount. Original USMC M40A1 simrad caps like this are extremely rare, and are very rarely ever seen. So, if anyone needs any specific photos or measurements, please let me know. If LRI completes the Unertl mount project, then maybe some replica A1 simrad caps with dimensions taken from this artifact will be next up.
The second item is something that I've never seen before, and I had no idea that they even existed until my friend got one. This is a LaRue LT840H-34-0 QD scope mount, that's actually cerakoted in LaRue's Urban Dark Earth (UDE) grey color over the original black anodized finish (the black anodizing and UDE cerakote were both done by LaRue)! I've been trying to research LT840H scope mounts that were made in various colors, and I can confirm that LaRue made them in UDE and FDE in extremely small limited edition runs. It's rumored that a few of these LT840H mounts were also cerakoted OD Green, but I can't find any photos or other proof of their existence. If anyone here has an ODG LT840H, please post some photos!
When my friends and I first saw this UDE LT840H mount, we assumed that it might have been a prototype piece for the Marine Corps. After doing some research, we discovered that this mount isn't a prototype piece for the Corps, but instead it's most likely a limited edition piece that came on a very small number of color matched PredatOBR rifles! I've seen LaRue advertisement photos of limited edition PredatOBR rifles cerakoted UDE and FDE with color matching scope mounts, but none of the mounts in the photos are an LT840H mount.
I'm including this UDE cerakoted LaRue LT840H-34-0 scope mount in this thread because this exact model mount (black anodized) is currently used on USMC M40A6 sniper rifles. Even though this isn't a black USMC LT840H mount, I still might use it on a USMC M40A6 clone build! I originally purchased this UDE LT840H mount with the intent of mounting it on an A6 clone (since we thought it was a USMC prototype), but now I'm certain that it was UDE cerakoted and mounted to a color matched limited edition LaRue PredatOBR rifle. If this specific UDE color LT840H mount was originally paired with a limited edition rifle, then there should be more of these UDE LT840H mounts in private collections.
I'll have to contact LaRue next week and see if I can get any additional information from them. It would be really interesting if LaRue did submit any colored LT840H scope mounts to Crane NSWC or to any military units. Here's some photos of the loose LaRue UDE LT840H. Some of the photos below show this UDE LT840H mount alone, and some photos show this UDE mount next to a black military issued version of this LT840H mount (this black mount has 20 MOA of elevation built into it, and has a prototype NF Mil-Spec ATACR 4-16x scope in the mount)
Here's a UDE cerakoted SPR mount, but unfortunately I can't find any other LT840H mounts in this color. The last 2 photos were found in forum threads, and show actual FDE cerakoted LT840H scope mounts on LaRue rifles!
