I recently bought a new in bag but old (2001-2003) Colt upper from someone else.
Looked good but upon inspection the feed ramp alignment is awful. Pretty sure it’s legit Colt since it came in a sealed bag, and it has C marks on the upper and the barrel.
Is this something to worry about?
If it is, can I get Colt to fix this? It was originally purchased as an upper only. And if not Colt, this is fixable by a competent gunsmith right?
You got F*cked. Not sure where you got it, but if it wasn’t Colt Dealer, it’s authenticity is questionable.
Post a pic of the upper markings, barrel markings and entire upper if you wouldn’t mind.
Your barrel should be marked something like C MP 1/7 NATO 5.56. As noted the upper will have a large C on the side near the forge marking. I have seen this before, but it’s pretty rare. This is one of the reasons why people should pay close attention to checking components. Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done. I would be concerned about the barrel extension not being installed or torqued properly.
Since you bought it 2nd hand I doubt that Colt will look at it, especially considering the age and it’s not a complete firearm.
Gents, he said it has a “C” on the upper and barrel and you can clearly see the “4” on the right side of the barrel extension.
Regarding whether it’s a problem or Colt can fix it, I don’t know. I suppose the OP can contact Colt and see what they say. Worst case scenario, you run it as is.
I doubt it can be fixed. I suppose that they can sort through multiple uppers until they find one that matches, but I doubt they will do that. You also can’t simply remove the barrel extension and install a new one.
I missed that, my bad.
I wouldn’t use it; I would get my money back ASAP.
Thanks for the help so far guys. Here’s a photodump of the markings on the upper but I don’t think it’ll be necessary to look at:
Anyway, I’m wondering where the flaw is. Is it with the upper or the barrel assembly? If it’s with the barrel assembly, I’m thinking about getting an identical spec BCM barrel. Would that fix the alignment issue, barring a double dose of bad luck?
And if that works I’ll probably use the Colt bbl as a beater barrel then. Forgive the dumb question, but there’s no risk of a kaboom with misaligned ramps right? Only feeding issues? (which would be a non-concern since it’d only be for plinking when the Colt bbl is on)
From the pics it appears to be the receiver and not the barrel that’s misaligned.
Is the FSB canted relative to the upper receiver?
If the extension was off-center that much, wouldn’t it block the bolt because it would hit the lugs?
So if it actually is the receiver that’s off a bit, could you “fix” it with some careful dremel work?
Before doing anything, take a BCG and run it in & out to see how the bolt lugs line up with the barrel extension. If it fits fine, it may be possible to fix the ramps.
Nobody knows if Colt will warranty the upper or even work on it except Colt. We’ve seen many fine examples of manufacturers stepping up and taking care of their customers. Contact Colt and ask them what your options are. They might pleasantly surprise you
Mis-aligned pretty bad! I would be unhappy with it. But with that said, I’ve always been under the impression that m4 feed ramps really aren’t “needed” on a semi-auto. I’ve read about people swapping m4 ramped barrels to rifle uppers without dremeling extended ramps into upper to match barrel. I’ve always heard it explained that the bullets when loading will rarely hit the extended ramp anyways. Whats you guys thoughts on this?
I would try to remove the barrel from the receiver and then go with a known good quality upper receiver and see where the ramps on the extension are in relation to the new known receiver. If GTG, leave the new receiver on. If not GTG then it’s the extension that is FUBAR and at that point I would try to shoot it. But maybe get a no go guage just to check and make sure that bolt is fully seating through the lugs. Agreed with up above, I would think if it was the extension that was torqued too far, the bolt would not lock.
As for the post above mine, no ramps on a rifle receiver with feed ramps on the extension are good to go. It’s when the extension ramps protrude past the receiver that doesn’t have the M4 ramps, is when you’ll run into problems.
To me it looks like the receiver is fine, the barrel/extension looks like it’s off. That being said, if it locks up OK it will probably shoot just fine. Something like that would really bother me, being a perfectionist and all. You could fix that with a dremel.
Send a PM to member bjt72, Brent Turchi is Colts Custom Shop and Customer Resolutions manager. He can point you in the right direction.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
By eyeballing the feed ramps for both the extension and receiver, placement for the ones on the receiver do not look to be centered with the bottom lug for the pivot pin, I may be wrong though. If that’s what it is and if they won’t take care of it, at least a new stripped receiver is cheap, Good luck.
Colt has never sold upper receiver groups that came in a bag. This upper either came on a carbine or as an LE6920CK in a blue box.
More than likely, the index pin was not installed in the correct location on the barrel extension. Pull the hand guards and see if there is a 0, G or different letter stamped into the chamber swell. This will tell us if it is a Colt manufactured barrel or a Colt contract unit. While the hand guards are off, look and see when the barrel was manufactured. I’m guessing it was manufactured over a year ago as Colt is no longer shipping carbines with carry handles.
Agreed, and I’d think that would be good news!
Not sure what you mean by this statement.
Colt has sold plenty of conversion kit uppers from the mid 1980s until now that came in a brown cardboard box with the upper inside the box in a sealed bag.
The blue presentation box ones from 2010 to 2011 are just more recent.
The upper in question in the OPs post is just a case of less than stellar workmanship. This upper probably has a C AF forge code?
I agree Leaveammo but if it’s a real Colt upper you expect more. kwg
