It’s mainly due to my wife being more familiar with the basic M4-style of rifle. She’s former active duty/current reserves, and although not in a field that normally handles them outside of qualifications for deployment, she likes to stay in practice. At some point the SR-15 will take its place, and I will have my 6920 as the ‘knock around’ rifle. She hasn’t even fired the SR-15 once yet, so I don’t want to change things up until she has some experience with it.
Makes sense. Does reliability play a factor in your decision to switch to the SR-15 from the Colt, or does it have more to do with the superior ergonomics and shooting characteristics?
It’s the latter, mainly. The KAC lower is fully ambidextrous (although the charging handle was not, I did change that out too. Geissele Black Friday Sale was the main driver there) and the gas system makes for a softer recoil/impulse. The other thing was the E3 bolt. For my age and amount I shoot, I should not have to worry about wearing it out in my lifetime. That said? I still bought a replacement bolt and bolt/firing pin rebuild kit, just in case. Same reason I replaced the FCG in the 6920, just in case.*
I don’t have any doubts about the reliability of the 6920. The first one I have that is coming up on 8 years old has several thousand rounds through it (including 2k of Wolf steel case I got cheap) and has been dropped in mud and sand has not had any failures to do with the rifle itself. One time I suffered a major stoppage from some XM193 that was blowing out primers. An anvil got loose and hid out in the lower receiver, eventually jamming up the FCG. I was able to clear that by taking the FCG out and dropping the anvil out. Another time, I had some old ammo (like 20 years old) that my father gave me. I didn’t realize how old it was and how long it had been in the mag. A few of the rounds were slightly corroding where it was touching the inside of the magazine, something must have got in it at some point. I learned this after it FTE the case and it was a motherf$%^er to get out. I de-loaded the mag and saw a few more rounds like it, ditched those in the unfired rounds container, no more issues. I had one mag with bent lips from being dropped that caused some feed issues, but otherwise, outside of maybe a few ammo-related failures that just required yanking the charging handle back and popping in a new round, I don’t recall anything that made me question the rifle’s reliability.
*In regard to the notched hammer concern: I have a Colt 6550 (pre-ban 20" A2 ‘Government’ model, small pin FCG, big front pivot pin, no bayonet lug) from the late '80s that my dad handed down to me that has the same type of notched hammer as well as the ‘neutered’ carrier of the day. I can’t tell you how many thousands of crappy gun show reload/re-manufactured ammo we dumped through that thing in two decades, but nary a problem with the FCG.
Good to hear. Like I said, I bought the 6920 because of it’s reputation for reliability. I’ve never heard of this notched hammer issue though. What kind of problems have people reported with them, and what’s the cause?
^This is exactly what I’m thinking. The Colt 6920 is considered by many as a gold standard for what a basic AR is supposed to be in terms of reliability, durability, etc…Lots of folks depend on much lesser quality rifles everyday and they lose no sleep over them. Less is more. For a basic, reliable AR, I believe the 6920 is just about as good as it gets in terms of value. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The 6920 is a fine rifle. Count your blessings. Things could be much worse. Shoot it until it breaks. Good luck with that…
The concern was that the notch could somehow bind up with the carrier/cause too much friction, or something along those lines. I’ve never heard of a case where that has actually happened myself, but at the time (8 years ago?) I figured it was better safe than sorry. It has just been a habit since then. With as many 6920s in use in both civilian and LEO hands, I think if it were an actual concern we would have heard horror stories long before now.
I do. All 3 are stock. In fact all my firearms are. I despise playing with accessories. Buying, trying…etc… if I can’t get my hands on one to try first I don’t buy. Can’t stand spending hundreds on something I may not like then having to try and sell it and loose money.
Just want to shoot.
Ah, I see. Well, for me, changing out the hammer is something I’d do if I wasn’t afraid of messing up the FCG more than the notched hammer potentially causing issues. Thanks for filling me in.
I can sympathize with your second guessing but you are getting good advise here. When I was new to fighting ARs I reaserched the hell out of everything and ended up with a 6920 about 8 years ago. My prior experience with firearms was heavily focused on custom 1911s. I learned real fast ARs are nothing like 1911’s. If you buy a good off the shelf one they just run.
I used to use different lube on my target pistols based on the weather. For my ARs red axel grease and synthetic model 1 works fine. After about 500 rounds my original 6920 felt like the bolt was on ball bearings. I grease things that slide and oil things that turn. Also, because Colt used the smaller mil spec gas port the gun runs smoother than many other brands.
I worried about mid length until I ran it through a few classes and realized it doesn’t matter. The gun ran well and ate every type of ammo I gave it. Just buy good mags…but that goes for any gun.
Slip 2000 EWL is a great lube, btw. Non-petroleum based, non-toxic, doesn’t smell, doesn’t burn off, withstands high temps, and doesn’t gum up in storage. G96 is what BCM uses for that “new gun smell” but they’ve included free Slip 2000 EWL the past couple times I ordered uppers from them. Grease is okay on the charging handle and trigger contact points but on a bcg you risk it forming a thick paste when too much carbon fouling mixes with it, whereas an oil lube stays viscous and even washes away some of the fouling.
Past several years IME. I love that smell.
https://classic.motown.com/story/supremes-stop-name-love/ Record sounds broken?
:stop: this thread or I will have to buy a dead horse to whip.
You don’t have to be anal about detail cleaning it after every use either. Google filthy 14. I use G96 but most any lube will work fine. Just stay away from frog lube which will gunk up and cause issues if your gun sits for a while.
I lube my BCG really good before shooting and wipe it down every 1k rounds or so. Tim a bore snake through every once in a while and never had an issue. Abuse the rifle a bit and you will see it has capable of more than you thought
Think I’m gonna go with this advice for now. It’s worked fine thus far.
Let’s help this guy out.
Ok combat vets, show of hands: how many of you, in the middle of a firefight looked at your M4 and thought “damn it, I knew I should have grabbed the midlength at the armory!”
You can always just build another. Nothing wrong with the colt as a first rifle. Use what you’ve learned and start stockpiling parts.
KISS mutt
I only read the first 2 posts so forgive me if this has already been said. I.G. Nailed it in post 2.
In Central America (1984-1985) I carried a worn out CAR-15 (XM177) in my aircraft. It must have been 1960’s vintage. It always would shoot, but had a tendency once in a while to pop off two rounds when on semi-auto. Probably a worn disconnector. OP, you can’t go wrong with any of the AR’s mentioned. I personally own Colt and LMT. My oldest is an AR15-HBAR from 1988. Never had any kind of failure. Buy it, shoot it, enjoy it and don’t worry. If by rare chance it does fail you, use it as a club and then whip out a revolver and shoot the bad guy.
What kind of shooting schedule did you have with that? Also, the LMT MRP CQB 16 upper is my primary consideration whenever it is I happen to buy another upper.
I had it tied down in my aircraft most of the time when flying, and close at hand when not flying. Otherwise just a rotation of ammo in that humid climate of Honduras and southeast from there. Used to pop off a round or two into the trees once in a while 50 to 100 feet above the jungle tree tops to make sure it still worked. Different times and different world situation.
I just received an LMT MRP CQB as well but have not installed it on my lower. Took advantage of the Christmas Special they had. First AR piston set-up I have owned.