Did Brownell's really sell me a legit Milspec/OEM Colt part?

[scottryan]

@pomyc

scottryan,

I’m simply asking the question for my own education from you as a Colt expert…

Is the issue of no C marking more of a quality assurance comfort or secondary/ resale one?

I own several Colts and all have the C mark on the carrier. However, as previously posted in this thread, I just took delivery last Friday of a brand new Colt SOCOM 14.5 complete upper from a very reputable source and it did not have the C marking on the carrier. The bolt is MPC marked with the white dot, the extractor spring is the copper variety. When compared to the other C marked BCG from my other Colts, the gas key staking is in fact better than a few other and overall quality seems very much on par with the others.

Put a few rounds (100) through it this weekend and was very happy with the initial run.

Curious on your expert perspectives. Thanks.

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I don’t think these carrier are any less quality. They just aren’t marked with a C. I have pulled about a dozen of these from NIB factory guns and uppers in the past few months.

It is difficult trying to use these for sale or use them in customer builds; because I cannot convince the buyer the item is actually Colt due to the lack of marking.

I have also become very agitated about the trajectory of Colt in general.

All these projects Colt was coming out with to get them out of bankruptcy have been botched or haven’t come to fruition.

[Paladinius]

@Hammer_Man

I think a better option for a BCG would be BCM. It checks all the right boxes, is marketed by a known quality supplier, and costs less.

Ditto. I’ve had less than a warm fuzzy about Colt parts for awhile now. I buy BCM and never give parts quality another thought.

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[hollowpoint2003]

I think the darker non marked carriers, as pictured in the first post, are manufactured by AO Precision (who’s website lists Colt as a customer). I base that on these data points. I bought an Expanse HB. The BCG is dark. The entire setup matches the description of the CDNN Colt Competition BCG. the part number they list, when googled, brings up a complete BCG made by AO Precision. I also bought a recent 6920 (Trooper). It had the same dark unmarked carrier that matches the complete Expanse (AO) BCG perfectly. The only difference is the 6920 has an MPC bolt (visibly different from the MP marked Expanse/AO bolt).

Final theory. Colt has a bunch of Expanse/Competition Carriers made by AO. They’re putting in the Colt MPC marked bolts and calling it a day. I haven’t been able to figure out the “T” marked extractor yet.

[Leonidas24]

scottryan I’m sure you can answer this; the vastness of the internet has stumped my google fu. The OP has a photo of three BCG’s side by side, one that was visibly darker, rougher, and had a sparkly tinge to it. The other two were dull grey, and had a smoother finish to them – this is what I’ve come to expect from Colt. What is the dull grey finish and why can’t I find it on other makers’ carriers anymore? I have a fully marked Colt BCG in a rifle I just made that has that dull grey smooth finish, and an old carrier I bought from G&R with the same finish. Are they both just variations on manganese phosphate?

[hollowpoint2003]

@Leonidas24

scottryan I’m sure you can answer this; the vastness of the internet has stumped my google fu. The OP has a photo of three BCG’s side by side, one that was visibly darker, rougher, and had a sparkly tinge to it. The other two were dull grey, and had a smoother finish to them – this is what I’ve come to expect from Colt. What is the dull grey finish and why can’t I find it on other makers’ carriers anymore? I have a fully marked Colt BCG in a rifle I just made that has that dull grey smooth finish, and an old carrier I bought from G&R with the same finish. Are they both just variations on manganese phosphate?

I’m not ScottRyan, but I recently bought some phosphate Toolcraft BCGs from Right To Bear, and I’d say side by side, the carrier is AT LEAST a 95% match to the real Colt carriers. The Toolcraft finish was a little smoother, if you can believe that.

[scottryan]

@Leonidas24

scottryan I’m sure you can answer this; the vastness of the internet has stumped my google fu. The OP has a photo of three BCG’s side by side, one that was visibly darker, rougher, and had a sparkly tinge to it. The other two were dull grey, and had a smoother finish to them – this is what I’ve come to expect from Colt. What is the dull grey finish and why can’t I find it on other makers’ carriers anymore? I have a fully marked Colt BCG in a rifle I just made that has that dull grey smooth finish, and an old carrier I bought from G&R with the same finish. Are they both just variations on manganese phosphate?

They all have mag phosphate finish. There has probably been 10-12 different shades of brownish gray parkerizing used over the years. I wouldn’t put much worry into this.