Hello all;
Received Colt 14.5" (govt not socom) and Colt 11.5" barrels from Brownells last week. Feed ramps in both barrels have been recut, by hand it appears, after the barrels were parkerized! Anyone else get these awful re-cut feed ramps on their Brownell’s sourced Colt barrels? Did you return or use them?
Thanks…
Are you sure you are seeing what you think you are seeing?
I see a material removal operation in both feed ramps that was done after the parkerizing was done. A 3x loop shows heavy tool marks consistent with a grey Dremel stone. Parkerizing is typically done after all machining operations. Machining operations done after parkerizing are typically to correct machining errors.
What do you see?
Can you post photos of both barrels straight on to get a better look at the feed ramps?
My cell camera doesn’t focus well on close up photos, even with flash. If you enlarge the pic I posted (click once on pic, then click again, then click on the “+” sign) you’ll see heavy tool marks and uneven application of the tool, indicating a hand job (no pun intended). You’ll also see tiny shavings of metal in the locking lugs. That only the edges of the feed ramps are in the white is further evidence this was done by hand.
Will try for better pics tomorrow. Thanks for responses, all.
Colt altering feed ramps after the parkerizing is not new. It’s been happening for at least a couple (or more) years. If you don’t like it, send it back.
Mine show some work done to the ramps, and they run well. One upper assembly was from Brownells, and the others were factory complete rifles purchased elsewhere.
Exchange them for new ones. I’d be curious to see if the replacement barrels had the same issues.
Colt altering feed ramps after the parkerizing is not new. It’s been happening for at least a couple (or more) years.
Thank you for answering my question “Has anybody else had this happen”! I can’t imagine Colt’s operation sheets, their machining instructions, say “Dremel the ---- out of feed ramps after parkerizing”!
If you don’t like it, send it back.
Nobody should “like” or put up with hacked up feed ramps after parkerizing, nitrite, or any other finishing. Having had Title II Colt’s in the late 80’s and early 90’s when a NIB M16A1 was $1700-$2000, NIB M16A1HB about $3000-$4000, and NIB Colt carbine about $2500-$2700 (all of which I owned NIB) I never saw anything like this on those feed ramps.
Nine show some work done to the ramps, and they run well.
S/a or f/a?
One upper assembly was from Brownells, and the others were factory complete rifles purchased elsewhere.[/QUOTE]
Factory complete rifles with hacked up feed ramps? What’s the world coming to? I feel like Rip Van Winkle!
That’s very common.
I have a 6920 barrel marked ‘08 like that. I have about 10 Colt uppers and most have been hit with a Dremel like that.
Put an 11.5" on backorder this evening. Then ordered an in-stock 14.5" govt. I’ll post report on arrival.
Thanks 17K. That’s astonishing to hear. Disheartening also. The Colts I bought in late 80’s early 90’s never had that. The Old Coot remembers the old America, when quality was something gun makers took pride in. Heck, my first BB guns had wood stocks and fore ends. Lever action 1894 (forgot the brand). A Crossman M1 Carbine that cocked by grabbing the barrel and pushing it backward till the spring locked. Took a squirrel first day I had it in the field. Another lever action (short barrel) with wood stock.
17K as in climbed it?
I don’t know exactly why they do it. I’ve heard it called secondary feed ramps, but not all have it. Maybe it’s to clean up some manufacturing defect/artifact they don’t want.
All I know is that whatever they do to their barrels works and they’ve never been known for pretty…
I can’t see any way the military accepts Dremeled feed ramps in any of their M4’s, etc. Besides being a potential source of feeding troubles, the hardness surface has been broken and the exposed steel is subject to rust.
I’m wondering if these are Colt rejects due to too steep a feed ramp angle. None of my Stag, BCM, or LWRC barrels or firearms have Dremeled feed ramps. Colt has gone down the tubes if this is what they’re selling as “new”.
I get the “secondary feed ramp” claim; the secondary, less shallow angle at top of machined feed ramps is to help chambering. Not unlike throating your old Deutonics 1911. But this modification should be part of the machining process, not an afterthought ground out by hand with a coarse Dremel stone. That’s my beef with these barrels. As good as all other aspects of these barrels might be, here’s the problem with the Dremel work:
“This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine…It is my life…”
In a time when the government says if you don’t allow yourself to be injected with a medical experiment you must be fired from your job…when the government allows 14,000 Haitians to walk across the border without being injected…and then flies them throughout the country…when nearly everyone on this site is considered a domestic violent extremist and the biggest threat facing America…when you need to show your papers to go into a restaurant, ball game, and eventually to buy food…when leftists and MSM openly condone rounding up conservatives into camps and forceful injections…every component of your weapon should be the highest grade possible.
But to each his own. If these barrels rock someone’s van, I’m not knocking it.
Thanks for all the replies.
I got a 14.5” Colt barrel from Arms Unlimited at the end of last year that looked similar, like someone had done some file work on the barrel extension and removed the parkerizing. It is one of the “R” marked Roscoe sourced ones. Like a dumbass I didn’t actually notice until after I’d installed it into an upper a couple months ago, then when looking into the chamber the light hit the ramps just right and I had a “WTF?” moment. It didn’t really look to me like it would cause a feeding issue but I mentioned it to the local shop I took it to in July to get the FH pinned, and he tested it on FA and I’ve since put like 100-200 rounds through it myself without issue.
Basically it looks shitty but hasn’t affected function.
Not finding it right now, but isn’t there a thread bouncing around where another Colt item purchased via Brownells was off in some way?
Because it clearly has no effect on function. Colt doesn’t make pretty rifles; they are war horses.
Because it clearly has no effect on function. Colt doesn’t make pretty rifles; they are war horses.
It “clearly has no effect on function”. Great. Show me the results of the extensive Crane studies proving that.
“They are war horses”. Yes, sir. Which wars have you ridden this horse in?
While you dig out your pics I’ll be contacting Colt to ask if this is how their military feed ramps are made; hand grinding with a Dremel after parkerizing. I’ll tell them you said they don’t make pretty rifles and ask for their comments on that. Will let you know their response.
Cool. If you don’t like the way they look, send them back to Brownells or send them to Colt. It’s not rocket surgery…