Colt m16 buyers guide for newbie?

Hi all,

I am more of an hk guy, but lately I have been getting the urge to purchase a Colt m16a. I've seen prices soften just a little- so It appears as though some good buying opportunities are beginning to present themselves.

I am aware of Reuben, and the safety in making a purchase through him. That said- it appears as though thousands of dollars can be saved by purchasing through others... albeit with more risk.

That said- is there a resource I can find to educate me on what I would need to look for when inspecting a Colt M-16 prior to purchase? Questions to ask?

Thanks

First, congratulations on considering buying a M16; you will love it. The M16 subforum on arfcom is an excellent resource for discussing the nuance of the M16. The signal to noise ratio is quite high in that subforum.

Are you looking for a factory Colt M16a1?

The most important aspect to first thresh out is whether the seller is legit. After that you want to inspect the rifle, look for signs of being refinished, damage, etc. Unless you just must have a factory Colt carbine, I would buy a full stock rifle. This allows you to add a 4 or 6-position m4 receiver extension without forever permanently altering the factory configuration. I would be weary of a gun that saw a lot of 9mm, or at the very least I would very closely inspect the hammer and trigger axis pin holes, looking for signs of these egging out. Look for signs of abuse, like carrier key marks in the rear tang of the lower at the top/forward face. Inspect all pin holes.

On a factory Colt M16 there is not much to look for other than obvious damage, permanent reconfiguration, refinishing, etc.

Thank you for speaking up Josh-- I will look into all of that!

I would only add that subguns.com has a "recommended dealer list" that will usually keep you out of the weeds.

http://www.subguns.com/c2c3/c2c3.htm

I know Reuben personally and know a lot of people who have made purchases from him. A lot of my customers have discovered that paying a little extra to buy from a reputable dealer is worth the money spent.

A very well known SOT sent a customer of mine a HK sear that was actually cracked and had been rewelded with no disclosure of any kind. The same dealer then wanted me to broker the same sear to an alternate buyer directly. I couldn't get out of that mess fast enough, but that is what can happen when you "bargain shop" for high priced items.

I have a dozen other nightmare stories where I handled a NFA transfer for a well liked customer who went shopping on his own and found a "bargain" somewhere. I now have a list of about 40 SOTs that I absolutely will not receive anything from because they tried to screw over one of my guys.

If you are buying online from an out of state dealer and can't inspect the rifle personally, I would absolutely stick with the very well known "good guys." Also keep in mind when you buy from somebody like Reuben, you aren't just buying the firearm. You are buying the firearm from somebody who absolutely will make it right if anything is wrong. You are also buying from somebody who knows what they are selling and can tell you everything you need to know about a weapon platform and more so that you buy what you are looking for the first time.

Can't count the number of times somebody came in thinking they wanted "this" and were told about "that" and realized "that" is really what they wanted in the first place. Getting the right firearm the first time with no fuss can save you thousands of dollars.

Make sure you completely understand the difference between factory original and pre 86 conversion rifles. Make sure you understand the difference between registered receiver, registered sear or other registered conversion parts like "lighting links." Be aware that you can't always depend upon roll marks, as an HK guy you probably know a lot of HK94 have been remarked MP5 and I've even seen clones with HK logos and markings.

All that said, Subguns is generally a safe place to go shopping. They are pretty good at keeping a clean house and flagging suspect listings.