I’ve taken a shine to COLT ARs, and have recently renewed my interest in them. I’ve had a COLT AR for years and decided to buy another. I mentioned elsewhere on a Facebook AR group the OEM2 deal you can get and a guy tore into COLT and said they are not “quality” rifles. Is this the common consensus about COLT ARs? He claimed FN now makes most of them for the US Government because their quality is so much better than COLT. Is this true?
In terms of specs and function—Colt makes great AR-15s. In terms of innovation, fit/finish, etc… Colt isn’t great. Just depends what you want out of it.
Perhaps their “fit and finish” isn’t the best. I honestly don’t care about that.
As for FN making mil rifles, that has nothing to do with quality. It’s a function of he lowest bidder. Colt still makes mil rifles.
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Thanks, and hey, big fan of your work on YouTube and have learned a lot, just watched your video on how to built out a COLT OEM2 this morning. I guess I don’t know enough about all these issues but the comments took me by surprise a bit. So, it’s more about “fit and finish” (which doesn’t matter in the end really) and so forth and the fact that Colt is not a “boutique” AR builder/maker.
Yeah, FN got the contracts by beating the price gouging Colt used when they were sole source. Then after FN got the M16 contracts Colt held the M4 TDP hostage for years to keep that contract. While in the Army around 1974 I can remember seeing the price for a M16A1, can’t remember the exact amount but it was between $650-700, I got out in 76 and bought a NIB SP1 for $250.
Colt has a long history of producing “quality” AR’s with oversized front take down pins, oversized fcg pins, receiver blocks etc. Don’t get me wrong, I used to love Colt uppers, just despised their lower shenanigans, but today I really wish they would produce more mid lengths.
My only experience with colt is my 6940 (upper only) and i absolutely love her and i i don’t think its lacking in quality
When i came across her at my local shop i was more into AKs didn’t know a damn thing about ARs but because it was colt i didnt feel any need to hop on my phone and look into it i just scooped her right up
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Colt has many years of experience developing and refining the AR family of weapons. They have the port diameter, spring rates, reciprocating mass, clearances, barrel making and manufacturing processes right. However, they don’t spend many resources protecting the finish of their war rifles.
A word about fit & finish. Fit and finish is specified and important to function. Parts must fit together correctly with the proper clearance. Finish is important so parts that come in contact with each other do so without excessive friction. As far as I can tell, the fit & finish of my Colts is within allowable limits. Of course that means they had crunchy-ticky triggers, but grease and accelerated dry fire took care of that problem. What this means is, most people complaining about fit & finish only look at cosmetics without knowing how fit & finish actually affects function.
For the money Colt is the standard for what a rifle needs to be. There are other manufacturers that are going above and beyond what Colt is doing as far as upgraded parts like triggers, safeties, rails etc but with that comes cost.
I know I can take a 6920 out of the box, throw an optic on it and beat the hell out of it. It’s not as pretty as the Daniels Defense and other rifles of that quality but I’d never get buyers remorse over buying a Colt.
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I concur with all of this.
I’ll just add:
Colts are very accurate. I used to be a BCM fanboy, but when I put two different Colts alongside two different BCM’s, the Colts were clearly more accurate.
Colts seem to hold their value better. Hold onto a Colt for ten years and it may appreciate in value, especially if it’s a discontinued model, or Colt changes the serial number prefix, or something. Other brands may or may not even be worth what you paid for them unless there is something truly special about a particular one. Every time I’ve sold or traded an AR, the first thing out of the other person’s mouth it seems is, “Is it a Colt?”
The bad: Colt makes a huge volume of rifles. Sometimes they forget small things, like staking a bolt carrier key or something. It goes with the territory that you should look yours over thoroughly. Sometimes a Colt will have little scuffs or other cosmetic issues that another brand might not. I bought a NIB Colt and the mag catch had fine rust spots on it right from the factory. Since the rest of the rifle was perfect and unblemished, I’m guessing that part was allowed to get some pitting on it in the parts bin and Colt installed it anyway. It doesn’t affect function, but some people may wince at minor cosmetic issues like this.
I’ve had people ask me what AR I recommend and my answer is always “I build most of mine myself, but if I wanted to buy a complete AR off the shelf today for less than $1000, I’d get a Colt”.
If you want to spend more you can probably get a “better” rifle, but most people looking to get into the AR game aren’t going to want to drop really big money initially.
Most people who recommend Colt’s recommend the 6920, with good reason, but I personally would lean toward the 6720 myself. But that’s just a personal preference thing.
Anthropomorphize much?
Good post. And I concur as well. Over the past 10 years or so, I have become a Colt junkie. This includes 5 OEM factory rifles (3 6920 one being a “restricted” rollmark, 1 6960 CCU, 2018 M4A1 SOCOM). I also bought 3 Colt complete M4 lowers from Brownells. One has a custom built Colt SOCOM upper ordered from Grant on it, and one is awaiting a stamp to SBR it, and the other lower is a spare. I also have a Colt M4 lower from several years ago that has been an 11.5 SBR with a LOT of rounds through it.
I have to say that my experience with Colt quality and reliability has been excellent. I have never had any significant issues with things like missed staking etc… For most, I think the “fit and finish” issues are actually cosmetic issues as stated. For the most part, cosmetics have been great for me too. A few minor handling marks on a couple rifles (including the new M4A1 SOCOM I dropped $1500 on) but that matters for about two range outings and they blend right in with the others I put on them.
Sure, there are more desirable features and options out there now from other manufacturers. I have other AR makes and models including mid-length with full rails etc. But I always seem to find myself enamored by the Colts and they have always been accurate and reliable which is the most important. And they are proven.
We’ve been over the Colt quality deal time and time again.
I bought a Colt lower and it is by far the worst finished lower I have. Criminently, the poverty Pony guys can even get their roll marks straight.
And, as mack7.62 mentioned, Colt for years bent us, the taxpayers, over on m16 pricing. That and their bankruptcies are more a function of management rather than production. Although, with all their financial problems one has to wonder whether they are keeping up tooling as well as they should.
Nonetheless, as several have mentioned, if I was to purchase a complete rifle for less than $1,000.00 it would be a Colt. At this point in time I’ve yet to buy a complete AR, part of my fascination with the AR is due to their lego-like quality.
I was first issued the original COLT M16 A1 and A2 hand me downs from the government for police work. They have been carried routinely by our patrol guys for decades and are still in use today. They seem to hold up great and look good as new although slightly worn. For the last year I have carried the LE6940. It certainly has taken a beating over daily carry/use with not as durable of a finish. As far as operation, I have never had a problem with its function (failure to fire, fail to extract, or a fail to feed). The gun has ran flawless since new with currently 1,800 rounds through the barrell and has proven to be quite accurate. Although the finish isn’t the most durable compared to it’s ancestor, my only complaint is the heavy proprietary forend which sent the rifle back twenty years instead of conforming with today’s standard of a lightweight rifle.
… I like turtles
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FN and Colt make military rifles to military specifications… called TDP (Technical Data Package). Both companies make IDENTICAL rifles because both have to adhere to the TDP. All materials have to be the same. The difference is in name only. IF SW made a AR for the military it would also have to be identical to FN and Colt.
FN and Colt also make rifles for civilians. Those rifles don’t always adhere to the military TDP.
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While the Colt and the FN both meet contracted requirements, milspec and parts are interchangeable, they do not use the same TDP and while the materials may be the same, they do not have to be. It depends on the contract. For example, 4150 CMV is not the milspec. It’s one of the steels that can be certified as meeting the milspec.
The TDP not only includes the specifications for the goods and services provided under government contact but also defines how the company will do business, meet safety standards and the relationship between the company and government.
I will add this. I have six Colt ARs, the youngest being a 2008 LE6920 and the oldest being a 1977 SP1 Sporter. I am not too crazy about any newer Colt ARs. To me, they are not the Colts of old and do not have the same quality and reputation built into them. Unfortunately, Colt has changed over the years due to their financial issues, investors, and management. The fact that they are getting priced cheaper is an indication that they are now trying to compete with some lesser priced ARs on the market. For instance, my 2008 LE6920 was $1300 back then. Even up until a couple years ago, they were over $1000. Colt is merely just another name brand these days and not the standard as many think. So many other manufacturers have stepped up they game to where they are competitive with Colt and for less money and others have truly escalated beyond Colt in quality, fit, finish, and performance with a small price increase over comparable Colts. Personally, for a newer factory AR, I prefer BCM, LMT, KAC, and DD over Colt. I much prefer building my own over buying. I am not a fanboy of new Colts. I am a fanboy when it comes to pre-2010 Colts, primarily pre-ban Colts.
Are you saying their quality is less than it used to be? I’ll admit that I think the finish isn’t quite the same. I remember the old gray Colt AR finish. There was nothing like it.
I’ve got a 6920 right now that is downright purple in the bright sunlight with a little oil on it.
But I hate, and I mean HATE the way Colt used to mess with part specs in an attempt to make it hard to convert the gun to full auto. I doubt very many people who bought a civilian-legal Colt even attempted it. Screw front hinge pins, oversized FCG pins, receiver blocks, half-moon bolt carriers. It got to the point in the 1990s that I just bought Bushmaster because they didn’t have all that nonsense. I would have never bought a Colt in recent years except for this forum showing me they didn’t do all that nonsense anymore. I didn’t even care anymore otherwise.
How many buyers were/are looking to convert to full auto?
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