New addition to my Colt AR collection *UPDATE*

[Renegade04]

That is truly awesome. I do love me some Colt. Is that a 20 inch barrel?

Negative Pappabear. It is a 16" barrel.

[VARIABLE9]

That is correct. This is one of seven that was offered for public sale. There has been some AR6320s popping up for sale every now and then that are LEO trade-ins. These are part of the other 293 that were for police department purchases.

I have a follow up question. The quantity of 7 seems somewhat random, do you know why this is the number of units released to the public? I could see 10 or 20 or something like that, 7 just seems arbitrary. TIA

[Renegade04]

I have a follow up question. The quantity of 7 seems somewhat random, do you know why this is the number of units released to the public? I could see 10 or 20 or something like that, 7 just seems arbitrary. TIA

Personally, I have no idea. It may be that all they really needed was 293 units for law enforcement/Gov't use. There is probably only a few people who were involved in the order and production process that know the real answer.

UNDERSTANDING THE COLT SPECIAL PRODUCTION WEAPONS: The Colt AR6320 Police Patrol Carbine was the first Special Production weapon ever manufactured. It was manufactured as Special Production weapons for law enforcement or government use. In order for Colt to produce a Special Production weapon they require a minimum order of 300 units.

[VARIABLE9]

Personally, I have no idea. It may be that all they really needed was 293 units for law enforcement/Gov't use. There is probably only a few people who were involved in the order and production process that know the real answer.

UNDERSTANDING THE COLT SPECIAL PRODUCTION WEAPONS: The Colt AR6320 Police Patrol Carbine was the first Special Production weapon ever manufactured. It was manufactured as Special Production weapons for law enforcement or government use. In order for Colt to produce a Special Production weapon they require a minimum order of 300 units.

Thanks for the follow up. In racing cars and motorcycles often there are XXX units that must be 'production' for customers required for homologation, then the units actually raced are much smaller more like XX. So in this firearms example it seems arbitrary to simply have such a small number released, i.e. why release any. I wonder if it wasn't so that Colt executives or R&D people could own a piece of their work.

[Renegade04]

*UPDATE*

I received this response from Ken Elmore last night.

There were 300 ordered, but Colt only built 297.
ZERO were produced for civilian sales. You can see the restricted markings on your gun.
That was the LAW in 2002 (1994-2004) – a private citizen could NOT buy that gun at all.

Nice piece of history.

I have 5 or 6 in my collection plus the original proto-type.
I have all the records on these guns. The vast majority went to police agencies.
The State of New Mexico was the biggest single purchaser.
Some went to individual police officers.
We still had a few dozen of the 6320’s in our warehouse when the ban ended in SEP of 2004.

Your gun: LSL004935 came in from Colt on 18 MAR 02
It left SA on 15 OCT 04 – transferred to FFL 56-59872, Hyatt Coin & Gun in Charlotte, NC.
They are still in business.

Enjoy your Colt Carbine.

Cheers, Ken



Ken Elmore
Owner, Engineer, Operations Supervisor
Specialized Armament (1990 - Present)
Instructor, Police & Military Weapons (1988 - Present)
Instructor, Colt Defense (1997-2007)
Sergeant, US Army (1986 - 1990)

Quality Never Quits!

It appears that after 2004, some of the remaining Colt AR6320s hit the market. I wrote Ken back to get a response on manufacturing dates and to clear up the issue on the buttstocks.

[VARIABLE9]

Awesome provenance! Thanks for the information.

[notorious_ar15]

Man, that is drool-worthy to be sure!

Great follow up info as well, thanks!

[ECVMatt]

*UPDATE*

I received this response from Ken Elmore last night.

There were 300 ordered, but Colt only built 297.
ZERO were produced for civilian sales. You can see the restricted markings on your gun.
That was the LAW in 2002 (1994-2004) – a private citizen could NOT buy that gun at all.

Nice piece of history.

I have 5 or 6 in my collection plus the original proto-type.
I have all the records on these guns. The vast majority went to police agencies.
The State of New Mexico was the biggest single purchaser.
Some went to individual police officers.
We still had a few dozen of the 6320’s in our warehouse when the ban ended in SEP of 2004.

Your gun: LSL004935 came in from Colt on 18 MAR 02
It left SA on 15 OCT 04 – transferred to FFL 56-59872, Hyatt Coin & Gun in Charlotte, NC.
They are still in business.

Enjoy your Colt Carbine.

Cheers, Ken



Ken Elmore
Owner, Engineer, Operations Supervisor
Specialized Armament (1990 - Present)
Instructor, Police & Military Weapons (1988 - Present)
Instructor, Colt Defense (1997-2007)
Sergeant, US Army (1986 - 1990)

Quality Never Quits!

It appears that after 2004, some of the remaining Colt AR6320s hit the market. I wrote Ken back to get a response on manufacturing dates and to clear up the issue on the buttstocks.

Wow, That is just awesome! That is a wonderful rifle and a beautiful piece of Colt history. Congratulations on a great find!

[Renegade04]

Wow, That is just awesome! That is a wonderful rifle and a beautiful piece of Colt history. Congratulations on a great find!

Thank you.

[GarandShooter]

Talk about jealous, very cool rifle for the collection!
Even better knowing the history.