G&P U.S. Navy Mk.23 mod.0 (Stoner 63A)

Introduction

There are those rare moments in life where even the most practical among us has an emotional, even spiritual reaction to a thing.  To others, it is just another amalgamation of metal, wood or stone, but to those that are chosen, it speaks to them.  Some designs draw cult-like followings, though for all but a select few admirers, it is a purely vicarious relationship.  For instance, only six Shelby Daytona LeMans Coupes were ever made, with the latest to appear at auction fetching $7.25 Million.

The Stoner 63 is such a thing.  Rare.  Revolutionary.  A combination of form and function that speaks to some gun enthusiasts- especially those with a weakness for beautiful things largely lost to history.   At price tags circling $72,000, the remaining Stoner 63s are out of reach for most of us.  That makes the new G&P replica something worth waiting on pins and needles for, which is exactly what I did.

Real-Steel History

The story of the Stoner 63A has it all: a legendary 20th Century firearms designer, (alleged) government conspiracy, war, one of America’s most well-known clandestine forces, and ultimately, obscurity.  The Stoner’s story, regardless of where you begin, or how many details you include, is fascinating.

Long before California’s garages spawned silicon valley billionaires, they spawned firearms entrepreneurs.  In the early 1950s, George Sullivan, chief patent counsel for Lockheed Corporation, teamed with Paul Cleaveland and Eugene Stoner at ArmaLite, which began as a subsidiary of Fairchild Aircraft.  After some early success in designing niche firearms for the military, ArmaLite, and Stoner, shifted their focus to the Army’s biggest prize:  the contract to replace the M1 Garand.

The AR-10 was like nothing the military had ever seen:  it was so revolutionary, in fact, that the Army couldn’t bring themselves to award ArmaLite the contract, and the M1 was replaced by what came to be known as the M-14.  Many believe the Army’s tests were rigged, demanding the AR-10 fire ammunition for which it wasn’t designed.  Frustrated, ArmaLite sold the 5.56 version of the design, known as the AR-15, to Colt.  Stoner was a man so far ahead of his time that he ended up designing one of the 20th Century’s most iconic weapons too early, and for the wrong company!

Stoner left ArmaLite and joined Cadillage Gage Corp. and began another revolutionary design, eventually referred to as the Stoner 63.  The Stoner 63 was, in many ways, the evolution of the AR-10  weapons system.  Designed not just as a rifle, but a weapons platform with a suite of interchangeable parts for various missions, the Stoner 63 could be used as a carbine, battle rifle, light machine gun, or even a vehicle mounted machine gun.  One of the remarkable features of the rifle was its invertible receiver:  by turning the receiver over, the Stoner 63 could be converted from an assault rifle to a belt-fed light machine gun!

The military was impressed, especially the Marine Corps and the Navy.  They requested a few minor changes to the design, including a move of the shell ejector from the right side of the rifle to the left while configured as an LMG, and a stainless steel gas tube.   Both changes were incorporated into the Stoner 63A.  Approximately 1600 Stoner 63As were produced and delivered, primarily to the Navy, where the rifle was designated Mk.23.  Unfortunately, the Army deemed the design too complicated for the average G.I.  In its role as primary procurer of small arms for all three branches at the time, they refused to order more.

Meanwhile, the Stoner 63 had earned a reputation among elite soldiers as a versatile, dependable weapons system.  Unlike the direct impingement gas system of the AR-15, the Stoner 63A employed a piston system (similar to the AK-47) that many believed made the gun less susceptible to malfunction, especially in combat conditions.  The Stoner became a favored weapon of the Navy SEALs in Vietnam.

The rifle’s reputation for quality and durability motivated the Vietcong to offer a $500 bounty for an operational Stoner 63A.  At the time, especially in Vietnam, $500 was a lot of money – more than five times the average Vietnamese annual salary!

The Stoner 63A hung around for a few years after Vietnam, until the introduction of the M249, when most of the remaining rifles were ordered destroyed.  Only a few Stoner 63As survive today.

Movie and T.V. Appearances

The Stoner 63 has made surprisingly few appearances on screen, despite the production of dozens of Vietnam films and T.V. shows and still more flashback sequences.  Odd, for instance, that none of Thomas Magnum’s Vietnam memories contained a Stoner, especially since Magnum was a Navy SEAL.  In fact, the Stoner 63 has made only one fictional appearance, good for a preposterously difficult trivia question:

Yep, that’s Scott Bakula, with a Stoner 63A almost identical to the G&P replica discussed below.  Life is full of surprises, isn’t it?

The Stoner 63 has been featured in several video games of recent vintage, most notably Call of Duty: Black Ops.  Unfortunately, the producers of the game didn’t do their homework, and the rifle is depicted in assualt rifle configuration with the receiver inverted, which is inaccurate.  Another trivia tidbit.

The Replica

Inside the heavy cardboard box emblazoned with G&P’s logo, the Stoner 63A sits within custom-cut high density foam.

The attention to detail and quality is exceptional.  I don’t even know anyone who’s seen a Stoner 63 in person, and a side-by-side comparison is out of the question, but this replica is so solid and substantial it is hard to believe it varies much from the real deal.  If I had to guess, based on the photographs of Stoner 63s I’ve seen, the paint/finish is the most notable difference.

The revolutionary nature of the Stoner 63 seems to have motivated G&P to create a revolutionary AEG.  Rather than simply drop a Version 2 gearbox and other M4 components into slightly different outer body, or do the same with SAW components, G&P developed a completely new support weapon design.  The box mag is constructed of plastic (as was its real-steel counterpart’s), with a metal frame that cradles the box and secures it to the receiver.  The frame is also removable, but removing it isn’t necessary to remove to change/refill the box mag, which holds 1200 bbs.

The feeder mechanism is powered by a 9 volt battery, and small fold-down doors provide access to both the battery and the main ammo compartment.

Performance

Conclusion

Performance:  5/5

Quite simply, this is the best airsoft gun I’ve ever fielded.  It has no weaknesses out of the box.  None.

External Design:  4.5/5

The only knock on this rifle is that the finish does not appear to precisely match the finish of the real Stoner 63A, and G&P has not yet made a historically accurate flashhider.  Minor details.  The gun is beautiful.

Value: 5/5

Overall:  5/5