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LOT 1350
Highly Desirable Cadillac-Gage Stoner
63 Modular Belt Fed Light Machine Gun,
Previously Registered to the Gross Pointe
Shores, Michigan Police Department,
Class III/NFA C&R Fully Transferable
Machine Gun, with Bayonet, Two Extra
Barrels, Magazine Loader and Accessories
- Serial no. 001414, 223/5.56 mm NATO cal.,
20 inch round bbl., matte black/gray finish,
synthetic stock. Offered here is an absolute
legend in the world of machine guns, an
extremely desirable fully transferable Cadillac
Gage Stoner 63 light machine gun, with an
array of accessories. It has an accompanying
old Form 1 registration document indicating
it was previously registered to the Gross Pointe
Shores, Michigan Police Department, with application dated February 5, 1968
and an accepted registration date of February 8, 1968 by the ATF, and shows that
the police department originally acquired this “Stoner 63 Automatic Rifle” on January 23, 1968, thoroughly confirming
it’s Curio & Relic status by virtue of age. One of the many notable products of famed American arms designer Eugene
Stoner (of AR-10, M16/AR-15, and AR-18/180 fame, among others), the genesis of the 63 was in the early 60s, shortly
after his departure from Armalite. Working with Cadillac-Gage’s west coast establishment in Costa Mesa, California,
Stoner developed a modular weapon system, intended to be capable of a radical degree of customization at the field
armorer level, creating a receiver that could be reconfigured rapidly for mission and environment; while a number of modern weapons
designs have touched on this sort of flexibility, this was an exceptional capability for the era. Developed with an eye for military sales, the
63/63A was issued on a trial basis in multiple configurations to the United States Marine Corps and select elements of the Navy SEALs
and U.S. Army Special Forces operating in Southeast Asia. The system was not adopted for general use; while it had many virtues, and was
considerably refined with user feedback, it was more complex and maintenance intensive than the M16 rifle. The design found fans among
America’s elite units. While production ended in 1971, the 63 and 63A were retained by the Navy SEALs well into the 1980s, only being fully
retired with the adoption of the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon; the bulk of the Stoners still in inventory are believed to have been destroyed.
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