I wonder how many .gov contracts Colt has 
You are right. There are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule. As a general rule though, it is not wise to follow what the FEDERAL Govt buys.
C4
Hard to say. They do hold the TDP though. The other AR manufacturers (less FN) do not. 
C4
Exactly. There are more than enough reports of what amounts to a slam fire that I won’t have one. I’ve shot them. My gun dealer thinks they’re great. They don’t offer enough for me to risk the problems and issues surrounding them.
They are the new contract award winner, but we will wait and see if the Govt actually orders anything. They also might not get the official TDP.
What will also be interesting is to see if SD upgrades their current weapons to meet a higher spec.
C4
Sabres contract is also for M16A3s, not M4s, FWIW.
Right. Generally the way it works is that the company that holds a TDP for certain weapon platform, they do not not share it and will fight to keep it to themselves.
So I think it will be interesting to see if SD actually get’s any orders and if they are ever issued the offical TDP.
C4
I’ve had two RRA TE’s. The first one I bought before they were the “new” hot builder. Ken Hackathorn recommended them at that time. I didn’t know squat about them but got a good deal. It had a chromo barrel which was the only negative other than the damn thing was a tack driver. I shot 2" groups with the irons and 1" groups with a 4 moa Aimpoint. That gun ran like a damn sewing machine. ZERO malfunctions. I only sold it after the ban was lifted and bought another post ban version to replace it. I’ve run thousands of rounds through this one and again zero malfunctions.
You can TDP this and that. Spend $1500 on a rifle and sleep better at night. Push comes to shove I know I can fight with my lowly RRA. It’s been dropped and thrown 5 yards and never missed a lick, never lost zero (aimpoint or irons). BTW that second one came with the black extractor insert a couple of years ago not a blue one like my first, FWIW. The key staking is an issue to address. I like the two stage trigger group. Works fine for me.
I’m not saying they are the best guns out there or that you should buy one. From my experience they have worked just fine. Any given year there are good and bad production runs by (insert company name here). That’s a fact of life.
Part of our training is how to deal with mechanical stoppages. They all stop eventually. Buy the best you can afford and deal with it. Take the steps that ensure higher reliability, such as in Grant’s Bushmaster post.
Back in the day, RRA was the new entry level AR to beat. They did a lot things well (better than they do now IMHO). Same goes for BM. At one time, they were pushing out a lot of quality AR’s I think.
Most lower tiered AR’s run in the $850-$950 range. By my public school math, you can get into an LMT (buying the upper and lower seperate) for around $930. So the question I always have to ask is, why bother with a RRA or BM???
C4
+1 for what Grant said ,a lot of companys start out great than build a name and than strat slipping on the QC. Bushmaster is a prime example . I too would prefer to start out with an LMT or Bravo upper and get a good lower and end up with a better weapon for less . did not know RRA had slipped,sad to hear it .
I’m just getting into the AR scene significantly, so am following this thread with interest. My question regarding the quote is, given that the “gold standard” TDP is secret, how do we know when something is better than it?
While the TDP is technically a controlled document, there are enough of us around that know if something is superior or not to it.
Like for instance, the Noveske N4 barrels. These are superior to the TDP required spec IMHO. VLTOR Forged MUR’s, better than the required spec. Smith Enterprise Vortex, better than the required spec. The list goes on and on.
C4
No way I can argue your logic there Grant. Doing that exact thing with my future SBR build.
I wrote an article on this for my site, based on this thread.