Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles New Colt quality?

Any worries?

I see they make they make the a4 version again….

They've been making the A4 for a good while. When I tried to buy one about ten years ago, I spoke with the Colt PR guy about the difficulty in finding one. At the time, he said, "only the old guys want one; we sell fifty 6920s for every one A4". Whether that was an exaggeration or not, I don't know, but they were very hard to find. Apparently, A4s are easier to get now.

Hmm I must be getting to be an old guy then 😆

I was only in my mid-'60s when I was looking for one. I bought three Colt ARs and quickly lost interest in them after developing some accurate loads. I haven't shot any of them in a good while and I'll probbaly eventually sell them. If I was to keep one, it would be the A4 since it has a practical-length barrel on it and a real buttstock. I don't see the attraction or usefulness with the 16" barrels.

As crowded as the AF-15 field is today with exceptional rifles, not sure that the premium paid for a Colt is worth the $$$$. Others of course will disagree.

I don't want to pay for nostalgia.

I don't want to pay for nostalgia either. My three Colt ARs are very accurate, trouble free, and hold value well. May not be true for the copies. We all buy and shoot what we want and that's the way it should be.

I have no need to buy a "New" Colt. Plenty of old ones rattling around in my safes that just plain shoot.

Have a BNIB LE 6920 with Magpul Kryptek Highlander furniture ratholed in one of my safes I might sell. Bought back when Colts did what they were supposed to do and their reputation was solid because of that.

I would be interested in knowing how CZ has improved the testing on the new Colt ARs, if they indeed have done so.

I see PSA makes about the same model for about $400 less.

Got a link?

my take on it i have 2 colts and i cant see what a grand is buying me over a psa other then impressing people if that matters to you. my 16 in psa guns actually outshoot my colts. now my cmmg is a shooting sob. its a 16in 9mm and when i worked up loads i had a 3x9 on it and shot many groups in the 1 1/8-1 1/4 for 5 shots at a 100 yards using my CAST BLLETS. id post group sizes for my 145 flatpoint gas check mold but nobody would believe it and i wouldnt blame them. im still not buying another 1000 dollar ar but if i was id take a cmmg over a colt anyday

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-20-classic-a2-rifle.html

Try that.

I see no chrome lining in the barrel, that is one thing Colt does very well. But most hobbyists think the Melonite or whatever coating is just as good as and can be more accurate to boot.

I very leery of anyone who uses “made by a mil spec manufacturer”. Cause I have 3 lowers like that that 2 won’t let a mag drop free and the other one was partially machined after anodizing.

I’m not saying the PSA won’t work cause it more than likely will. I have parts from them and I like them. I’m just giving an example of a known quality vs unknown.

The $400 difference has more to do with dealers cashing in on the name than Colt actually being that high. Learn what to look for and take your chances or buy a known quality. Choice is yours.

Have 3 older 6920’s, a bunch of old Colt pistols, a couple colt light rifles and no desire at all handle, much less own, a “new” colt.
PSA comparisons are pipe dreams.

Wife's gun is the new CR6920. Have an older LE6920 from around 2010. For the reg receivers have a drawer full of A1 and A2 takeoffs, 20" and 11.5". Couple M4 14.5s.

Watched the videos detailing the cosmetic differences between the CR and LE guns. Wish I could have the time back. For the life of me I can't see any differences that matter.

Have one 11.5" w/around 20k, just about all of it mag dumps. Still does 4.5" or so for 5 at 100 yds w/bulk M855.

FWIW, wife's CR is slightly more accurate than my 6920.

Pipe dreems!! id like to know the many ways a colt is better than a psa. ive only got 2 colts and have a cmmg and the rest of my guns were all built by me mostly with palmetto parts. all on milspec lowers and uppers just like my colt. i have 16 ar's and have probably built another dozen. ive yet to have a psa part fail and my idea of a bay at the range is 3-500 rounds which is more than many shoot in a year or even a lifetime. ive got them in 556, 300bo, 6.5 grendel and psa lowers on my 300 hmr and my beo. matter of fact other than early pos oly my colt is the least accurate of all of them. dont get me wrong its not a lemon. both will shoot around 2moa with a scope but even my cmmg with cast bullets will beat that and i have yet to see a 16+ inch psa that with some load development wont shoot moa or better. so what am i missing? what makes a colt worth over twice as much for a complete rifle or 3 times as much as one you put together?? that cute horsey on the lower must cost them a pile. i can go all out and buy a better bolt than a colt has for 200 bucks and a drop in trigger that puts a colt to shame for another 150 and ive just addressed what could go wrong with an ar (and never does) for $750 and still have enough left for a decent red dot unless your going to say the only good one is an aimpoint or tijicon. kind o reminds my of the guy that claims his gmc is better than a chev when there made with the same parts. colts no different than psa. that contract out parts. difference is from what i heard is psa only uses made in the US parts and colt doesnt.

by the way cmt makes colts lowers not colt

Nobody asked about PSA. Why bring them up?

As far as differences, PSA is sourcing parts from the lowest bidder. PSA doesn't do much quality control and leaves that up to the consumer. I've had some very low-quality parts come from PSA, Anderson, and the like.

Differences?

First of all, Colt rifles are built to spec and QC is performed on each part whereas PSA batch tests things like barrels and bolts. Materials of many of the parts of a PSA are not, including receiver extensions, coatings, small parts, etc. Most PSAs have huge gas ports, lack chrome-lining and so on. Whether or not they are "good enough" for you is another story. If PSA is good enough for you, fine, but don't pretend they are the same.

A friend of mine worked in a machine shop that produced AR15 parts for many of the big names you've heard about, from low-tier budget brands all the way up to the big boys that get contracts. He told me that the way contracts for those parts are written is a night and day difference. The actual mil-spec companies demand material testing, dimensional variance, and tooling/tooling changes at rates that command significantly higher cost. Meanwhile, low-tier commercial guns may allow their dimensional variation to be huge and wouldn't care how long tooling was used before being changed. Cost is the driver for those types of bids, not quality.

Pat, I'd like to buy a paragraph for $600.00.

like i said ive built more then 20 psa guns. have probably put well north of a 100k throug them and have yet to have one part break. buy what you want but im not wasting my money i can use to buy powder primers and bullets with. my guns arent for show or to impress there for shooting and i mean lots of it. your allowed to spend yours on what makes you smile too