In 1963 Colt made a gold plated XM16E1 rifle, the 50,000th produced (Serial number SN# 050000) as a gift intended for US President John F Kennedy.

However, Colt was not able to present the gun to JFK due to his untimely assassination in November of that same year. The gun would instead be donated to the Springfield armory collection in 1966, where it sits in storage today.