Brownells have released California compliant versions of their Retro family of reproduction rifles. As you know, these rifles have a lot of “scary” features such as pistol grips and flash hiders, however, deleting these features or replacing them with featureless parts to make them California compliant would completely ruin the historical appearance of these replicas. That’s why Brownells opted to install Battle Arms Development fixed magazine conversions in their California compliant Retro rifles.

Battle Arms Development fixed magazine conversion is basically a spring-loaded plunger installed into the lower receiver. When the rifle is assembled, the upper receiver pushes the plunger down which locks the magazine release button and makes it impossible to detach the magazine. In order to restore the magazine release button’s function and remove the magazine, you need to pivot the upper receiver open. This allows the plunger to pop up and unlock the magazine release button.

Here is a video showing the California compliant Retro rifles and the way Battle Arms Development fIxed magazine conversion works.

 

The following models of Brownells California compliant Retro rifles are currently available for preorder. Right now the prices of all these rifles are discounted.

• BRN-PROTO® CA 5.56 – Regular Price $1,829.99 (Discounted Price $1,199.99). This is a replica of the AR-15 prototype based on the AR-15 serial number 1.
• BRN-601® CA 5.56 – $1,599.99 ($1,149.99). A replica of the Colt Model 601 rifle that was issued to the US military in the early ’60s.
• BRN-605® CA 5.56 – $1,599.99 ($1,099.99). This rifle is the replica of Colt’s Model 605 which was an early attempt of making a carbine version of the M16.
• BRN-10A® CA 308 Winchester – $2,149.99 ($1,499.99). A replica of early AR-10 rifles with brown furniture, 3-prong Dutch-style flash hider and fluted barrel under the handguard.
• BRN-10B® CA 308 Winchester – $1,899.99 ($1,499.99). Later production AR-10 replica with black furniture, Portuguese-style closed prong flash hider and lightweight barrel.

Apparently, the California compliant Retro rifles come with 10 round magazines. I wonder if it is possible to use 20, 25 and 30 round magazines with internal capacity limiting mechanisms – that’d make these rifles look even better.

If you want to learn more about Brownells Retro rifles, take a look at their model timeline page.

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Images by Brownells

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