Belt fed for AR?

[billphoto]

Is anyone modifying AR’s to be belt-fed (out side of Valkyrie & Ares)? It seems if someone could make a (semi-auto) belt fed upper in the 500.00 range, they would rake in some serious cash.

Perhaps I’ve found a new vocation?

[circuits]

If you can do it, go for it, and rake in that cash.

The market has shown that it required almost $2000 back in the 80's to make it, and it was never a big hit. Nowadays, Valkyrie wants $3700(?), and Ares $5700, last I checked.

No military has ever been willing to buy the beltfed 5.56 uppers, which are based on a 1958 patent from Armalite for the .308 (7.62x51) AR-10. At least the AR-10 was demonstrably reliable, which comes from a bigger energy budget, on the .30 cal modifications. The 5.56 adaptations operate on a lower energy budget, so are more finicky and ammo-dependent, still.

I've heard a beltfed M16 upper described as "the kind of thing you'd expect of a collector with an unlimited budget, but almost no-one else", and I tend to agree.

It'd be neat if practical, affordable, and reliable, but it's none of the above, so subject only to the beltfed jones for bottom-line sales.