Rare Stoner 63 Recalls Military History

Eugene Stoner is among the greatest firearms designers of all time. Many are familiar with his M16 design, but one of his guns that might not get as much coverage is the Stoner 63 rifle. We came across one of these at the SAR West Gun Show in Phoenix last year from BNT Tactical Sales of Texas and knew it had to be captured on camera.

Stoner 63 rifle — Released in 1963, this version of Eugene Stoner's modular battle rifle was dubbed the Stoner 63. (All photos: Ben Philippi/Guns.com)

Before the Vietnam War, the military was looking for a battle rifle that could be modular and changed quickly in the field. Stoner was the perfect person to sink his teeth into this design. He released the first prototype, originally chambered for 7.62x51mm, in 1962 – hence the Stoner 62. In 1963, he released another variant chambered in 5.56x45mm and called it the Stoner 63.

The gun can quickly be converted from the rifle configuration into a top-fed Bren-style machine gun or a belt-fed machine gun with minimal tools. Remarkably, the lower, magwell, and sights all can unpin from the gun. After doing so, the barrel would come out and the receiver would invert. Then just change a setting on the bolt group, and you have a top-fed or belt-fed machine gun.

Stoner 63 rifle barrel — A closer look at the flash hider.

The gun, while innovative, was deemed too advanced and complex for most troops in Vietnam, thus never seeing widespread adoption. The end of the war further reduced interest in adopting a new firearm design. While it wouldn’t see general use, it did see action in the conflict with some Marines testing the platform and special forces and the Navy SEALs as the Mk.23 Model 0 belt-fed light machine gun configuration.

A Navy SEAL carries a Mk 23 5.56mm machine gun (Stoner 63) as he makes his way ashore from a boat through deep mud during
a combat operation in South Vietnam in May 1970. (Photo: National Archives)

The specialized group of fighters made lots of their own unique modifications to the gun, which would then be called the 63A or 63A Commando. Again, this just shows how modular the gun was and how it could be adapted to fit the needs of a specific unit.

Stoner 63 magazine — The proprietary magazine is a bit different from a typical AR mag.

Not only was the gun unique, but the magazine was proprietary. At first glance it may look like a typical AR mag, but upon further inspection you can see that there are three divot points on the magazine, as opposed to the single point on an AR magazine. In addition, you see the Stoner Manufacturing stamp on the bottom of the mag, increasing the cool and collectible factor.

It’s estimated that between 3,500 and 4,000 Stoner 63 weapon kits were produced between 1962 and 1971, making this gun rare and collectible.

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