Colt LE

[Edisto]

I was in ATP yesterday they had maybe 20 AR-15's, at least 4 were colts.

[leadslinger]

here is a good one

rock river arms National match A2 , just got mine. OMG iI can circumsize a nat at 100 yards. SWEET weapon

[bgtexas]

Rock River Arms

I have two of these and have enjoyed both of them. One is a 20" and the other is a 16". I have not used any other brands... they may be great also.

regards,
bgtexas

[cwconnertx]

Can anyone who owns a Colt (or just knows about then) confirm this?

What I heard is that Colt AR15s are the only ones with civilian lowers that are not interchangeable with other makes. My understanding is that their lowers are not mil-spec and will not fit a standards AR15 upper.

If that is true I would avoid one. I was told they make the military and civilian models differently to avoid interchangeability.

If this is true, I don't understand why.

[Mags]

Lots of info here I don't agree with but I can't let the "Colt not being Mil-Spec" slide. Colt is the standard.

Following is from Rob S, first link to chart and explaination of chart. There is more info here than you'll prolly ever need but it should shed a lot of light on some myths and misconceptions. Please make sure you check out the comparisson section at least! Look where most of the brands mentioned previously ended up, all the way to the right of the chart. Who's spec now bitches?........

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA&hl=en

Rob's web site, http://www.tacticalyellowvisor.net/


Keep looking for the Colt!!!!!!!!!!!! or a few other brands that no one mentioned here. I'm a snob but I'd stay away from most of the ones mentioned previously.

[neverknow]

yeah colt bitches!!;)

[Bayou Blaster]

Colt Civilian Lower Receivers

Can anyone who owns a Colt (or just knows about then) confirm this?

What I heard is that Colt AR15s are the only ones with civilian lowers that are not interchangeable with other makes. My understanding is that their lowers are not mil-spec and will not fit a standards AR15 upper.

If that is true I would avoid one. I was told they make the military and civilian models differently to avoid interchangeability.
If this is true, I don't understand why.

Cwconnertx

Sorry no one has answered this question for you to date.

What you are referring to concerning civilian Colt lower receivers not being mil-spec is true:

For all intensive purposes Colt’s CIVILIAN AR-15 lower receivers are manufacturer to a mil-spec standard. HOWEVER: Once the civilian lower receiver is forged/milled, an additional hole is bored into the right side of the receiver above the selector. This hole does not protrude through to left of the receiver above the selector.

Once the receiver has been finished and anodized a sear block is added to the receiver and thus pinned in place. This pin is made of grade 4140 chromoly steel. This modification is to prevent the installation of a full auto sear and bolt carrier. Additionally some Civilian Colt AR-15 Lower Receivers employ a forward mating screw instead of the common/preferred pivot pin used to hold the upper and lower receivers together at that point. This would prevent it from being interchangeable with standard mil-spec uppers.


Hope this help clarify things.

[HileTroy]

gkim4107, don't know if you are a real lefty or not, or even prefer to have an AR that has the ejector port on the left side for those of us who fire from the left shoulder. I have a DMPS AR that is made for left handers like me. Although I shoot from the Left, I qualified just find in the Military and own other Right handed models that don't pose a problem. A left ejector is rare out there I have found out, and agreed, it does take some getting used to when a person is used to right handed models of all sorts. What is my point? Only that there is that option and my DPMS model and Bushmaster AR have gave me no problems ever.

[Bayou Blaster]

gkim4107, don't know if you are a real lefty or not, or even prefer to have an AR that has the ejector port on the left side for those of us who fire from the left shoulder. I have a DMPS AR that is made for left handers like me. Although I shoot from the Left, I qualified just find in the Military and own other Right handed models that don't pose a problem. A left ejector is rare out there I have found out, and agreed, it does take some getting used to when a person is used to right handed models of all sorts. What is my point? Only that there is that option and my DPMS model and Bushmaster AR have gave me no problems ever.

Stag Arms manufactures Ar-15 variants with left hand ejection ports. Additionally the incorporation of the brass deflector in later model right handed AR-15 variants helps the left handed shooter. Ambidextrous selector switches are available as well.

[cwconnertx]

Cwconnertx

Sorry no one has answered this question for you to date.

What you are referring to concerning civilian Colt lower receivers not being mil-spec is true:

For all intensive purposes Colt’s CIVILIAN AR-15 lower receivers are manufacturer to a mil-spec standard. HOWEVER: Once the civilian lower receiver is forged/milled, an additional hole is bored into the right side of the receiver above the selector. This hole does not protrude through to left of the receiver above the selector.

Once the receiver has been finished and anodized a sear block is added to the receiver and thus pinned in place. This pin is made of grade 4140 chromoly steel. This modification is to prevent the installation of a full auto sear and bolt carrier. Additionally some Civilian Colt AR-15 Lower Receivers employ a forward mating screw instead of the common/preferred pivot pin used to hold the upper and lower receivers together at that point. This would prevent it from being interchangeable with standard mil-spec uppers.


Hope this help clarify things.

I didn't know about the sear block, it is the forward screw in place of the pivot pin I was thinking about. I have nothing against colt but like to keep my options open.

[hemichuck]

I have about 18 AR's from various manufacturers and I can tell you from experience that its not worth the extra bucks for the Colt.I have Colts,Stags,Rock Rivers,Dpms's,S&W M&P15's,and several others you have never even heard of.I also have several different calibers .556,7.62 by 39,.545 by 39,.50 Beowulf,and a couple of .22 cal conversion kits. Any of them will preform as well as the rest if they are properly broken in or maintained.Now I'm not saying jump right out there and buy the cheapest one you can find because there are a few brands that I would stay away from like Century,Vulcan,Hess and a couple of others. You should be able to pick up an AR for around $750 at a gun show.I have been building my own and they are running right under $600 to build,of course I'm not a dealer so I'm not getting the parts as cheap as some people but I am pretty good at shopping and wheeling and dealing.Most of the older Colts didnt have the block in the lower reciever(mine doesnt)I think that was a post ban thing.Check out Gunbroker.com there are always a bunch of cheap AR's on there.Good Luck

[Bayou Blaster]

Colt Lowers

Some Colts don't utilize the sear block anymore; they just don't mill out that area entirely anymore. Serves the same purpose as the sear block. Don't care to own a full auto anyway, so I don't loose any sleep over it. Waste of ammo as far as I'm concerned. Additionally barrel life and accuracy suffers as well.

[hemichuck]

I'm with you on that. At the 600 rounds per minute rate I could deplete my whole ammo stockpile in less than 20 minutes.You would have to own your own country to be able to afford that. I'm more of a one shot-one kill kind of guy.Even when I use my shotgun I'm so used to shooting a double barrel that when I shoot a semi auto I only shoot twice. When I was young and ammo was cheap I would sometimes go out and shoot a couple of thousand rounds for fun, but these days I only shoot enough to break in a barrel or sight in a scope(usually use a laser bore sighter to save ammo).Thats why I picked up the .22 conversion kits(and the 5.45 upper)so my kids can shoot enough to be familiar with the gun without spending a mint.

[Xzed]

Second question: I have always known colt to be a great mfgr. Any others out there that are among the same level in the AR field. (I know

everyone has their opinions on what is best and so forth.) All I am really looking for at this point is a very dependable AR style

rifle.

If you are looking for a Colt LE, then you may have the money in your budget for Noveske.

http://noveskerifleworks.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?cat=3

Not too many people "in the know" will argue against Noveske to be some of the best quality AR15's on the planet. However, be prepared to pay for that quality. At the same time know that its worth every penny if you can afford it.

Next high end choice would be Lewis Machine Toll (LMT)

http://www.lewismachine.net/catalog.php

I do have another quality option for you that you might consider which may be considerably more practical: Anvil Arms.

http://www.anvilarms.com/c-19-lower-receivers.aspx

I bought a Anvil Arms lower through a group buy on a firearms forum. I was surprised by the quality. I will likely build my next AR15 on another Anvil Arms lower. The trigger is pretty darn good too. You can even get a logo laser etched for free. See the NES logo in my pics below.

I put a Troy Industries CQC upper on my Anvil Arms lower and its a great weapon.



More pics:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t9/nx1z/GUNs/xzed%20m4gery/IMG_1977.png

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t9/nx1z/GUNs/xzed%20m4gery/IMG_1966.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t9/nx1z/GUNs/xzed%20m4gery/IMG_1989.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t9/nx1z/GUNs/xzed%20m4gery/IMG_1976b.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t9/nx1z/GUNs/xzed%20m4gery/IMG_1929.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t9/nx1z/GUNs/xzed%20m4gery/IMG_1988.jpg

My 2 cents.

/John

[kenno]

It's Purty
Too dern purty!