My poppa scored this 2weeks ago. He thinks (or told) it was the 1st prototype for S&W. anyone heard of LWS.
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My poppa scored this 2weeks ago. He thinks (or told) it was the 1st prototype for S&W. anyone heard of LWS.
It looks to be a finished 80% lower.
The reason is the manufacturer and address are not on the reciever.
It is also my understanding that would also make it non-transferable. Meaning it could not be sold or purchased.
I'm thinking LWS is sombody's initials.
If it is a leagally transferable lower... I'm thinking.....
Anybody ever seen a Letner/Wiese lower?
I not aware that LW Seecamp made/makes rifles... only pistols.
http://www.seecamp.com/
A phone call could confirm this though.
LWS 001 seems like a customized serial based on someone's initials.
The lower came right from S&W. The lower already transfered to the old man. I think it's just a bad pic, tring to get some better pics. I think it's super cool. Wish it had mp-15 on the side. Thanks for the input.
it looks to me like what ever was originally stamped on the side was milled off for some reason.. but, if it was transfered 'legally' then there is nothing to worry about.. other than it was 'recorded' for future use' by the batf.
Was it made for S&W (CMT/Stag) or was it one of the first made in-house by S&W?
As stated the original M&P's were made by CMT and then assembled in house by S&W. I don't know that there is much to "prototype" with a standard AR15 lower, so I would be suspicious of such a claim.
On the other hand, it could be a blemished lower. They milled off the logo's and sold it to recoup some small amount of profit.
Are there any marks on it that say who made it? There should at least be a manufacturer name, location, and serial number.
it's a red x now
No other markings. It was made for S&W for their 1st mp-15's. Maybe a private CO. tring to get contract, and S&W let it slip out.[Dunno] I delete pic because I was getting weird feeling about it. Sorry, you guys saw it, I'll leave it at that. It is going to be neat O if we can figure out what LWS means, I'm sure it's someone intials.[Bang]
It's not unusual for S&W to use serial numbers that begin with the initials of the project lead. They did this with their 1911s for example.
I tried to look at www.smith-wesson.com to see if any of their big-wigs had those initials, but their website is down. Not a good advertisement for IBM xServe and Apache on Windows, or the corporate admins. ;)
I got a google hit on LWS.
http://www.seecamp.com/companyhistory.htm
Ludwig (Louis) Wilhelm Seecamp (1901-1989), after whom the company was named, was trained as a master gunsmith in the technical academy system of pre World War II Germany. Having survived the Eastern Front in an elite Gebirgsjaeger (Mountain Troops) unit, he brought his family to the United States in 1959 by way of Canada. From 1959 until his retirement in 1971, he was the gun designer for O.F. Mossberg.
But as far as I know Seecamp never made AR15s.
OR:
The Calico submachine guns are somewhat mysterious and quite notorious in both design, concept and appearance. The key properties of Calico firearms were extremely large magazine capacity combined with slim profile and ambidextrous handling. First designs, introduced by the US based company Calico Light Weapon Systems (LWS) circa 1990, were intended for both Law Enforcement and Military markets (in either semi-auto or selective fired form, in 9mm) and for civilian market (semi-auto only, in pistol or carbine form, in 9mm and .22LR versions). Sales of these guns were not so bright, and the US Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, which limited magazine capacity for civilian guns to 10 rounds, further impacted the future of this weapon. Apparently, military and police sales during late 1990s were insufficient, and it seems that the Calico LWS company went out of business.
Cool, I'll pass on the info to the old man.
Seems like your just as curious as I am.[Wink]
Laser Weapon System
;)