Colt going-ons...Co is changing

[SteyrAUG]

Ahhh memories....

The above was my childhood. I even scored my first Swiss Army knife (a Wegner) from an Oshman's in the mall. They had a better price than the tobacco / cutlery shop. Before the internet, the average bea got their info from gun rags and guys like Col. Cooper and Mel Tappan.

Tappan lauded the Mini-14 over the Colt AR for the reasons you mentioned. My dad being a young working class father at the time couldn't afford the Colt and went with the 91. Looking back from today's market it's crazy to think one could acquire an imported HK for less than an AR. He then picked up a couple of Mini's and being a kid I thought they were cool thanks to The A-Team lol. Fast forward to when I was a young man and got married (the first time oops) during the ban I received a Colt MT6731 as a wedding gift. It came with a LW neutered barrel, sans bayo lug, A2 upper, A2 stock, big hole lower with front screw pin, and sear block. I swear, with that A2 stock the thing would have made an ideal boat oar.

I never drank the 6920 Kool-Aid as I don't have need for a 16" govt profile barrel with M203 cut outs, I think flare launchers are homo and I'm not a clone dork. Prior to the last Obama panic I acquired and squirreled away several 6720s for future generations, to me they are the ideal Colt / kiss carbine.












As late as two years ago I was scoring NIW (new surplus) OEM "paratrooper" G3 five packs for under $5 a mag. These were still in the wrapper with German writing on them and date stamps from the 60's/70's. Now these have even all dried up.

If you ever want to part with that Hensoldt scope and claw mount shoot me a PM.

I actually did several posts from Shotgun News showing wholesale / dealer prices for 1985 and 1986. The bottom dollar HK91 was about $350 however a Colt SP1 was typically $100 less.

People were buying HK91s because Colts still had a reputation for being "jamomatic poodle shooters that failed everyone in Vietnam."

[pinzgauer]

I actually did several posts from Shotgun News showing wholesale / dealer prices for 1985 and 1986. The bottom dollar HK91 was about $350 however a Colt SP1 was typically $100 less.

With all respect, I can state as fact: the HK91A3 was cheaper retail in 1979 / early 1980 than Colt CAR-15's. I don't doubt that changed by the mid-80's.

Maybe Oshmanns had a better deal with Interarms than Colt. Or had a sale. Or it was the effect of the improving exchange rate.

I bought my first Mini-14 in '78 or so. And remember when they were first released around '75 or '76. (Was major topic of discussion at the FFL/Bike shop I worked for and their LEO cronies.)

I went to my first SHOT show in 1981. Still have some of the brochures. Including some rare ones that I'll never get rid of.

So I know full well what the relative prices were back then. And in many cases, small FFL prices in Shotgun news. My CMP buddy's dad was an FFL, and I did buy commanders and similar from him starting around '80. But I always had a fresh copy of SGN. Bathroom reading for me since '75 at the bike shop. Picked it up at newsstands. You could buy an MP-40 parts kit for almost nothing. (lust lust) :-)

People were buying HK91s because Colts still had a reputation for being "jamomatic poodle shooters that failed everyone in Vietnam."

Likewise, a buddy and I shot my HK91A3 and his CAR-15 side by side extensively with cheap ammo around that timeframe.

The CAR-15 was simply more finicky, ammo, mags, etc. The HK shot anything you fed it. (including Win Silvertip hunting ammo, which I shot my first deer with before I started reloading again)

I'm pretty sure any remaining CAR's from that era have been thoroughly debugged by now, but the reputation for finickiness was not just VN era "poodleshooter" FUD.

My analogy was the CAR-15 was a Porsche. The HK was a Mercedes, heavier, not quite as refined, etc. When the Colt ran, it ran great.

And my buddies CAR was not the only finicky one. Another college buddy was very active in CMP then. They were just exploring allowing the AR's in competition. (Until then it was just Garands and issued semi M-14's). One of the core issues was reliability, capability to finish the match. And early on, reliable mag availability. M1A's were available, but rare.

Everyone keeps forgetting about how badly Colt neutered the AR's back then. It was not just the pin. Bad, stupid BCG.

And that it was not a high point in Colt mfg quality. SOP for any Colt 1911 (and I had multiple ones) from that era was polishing out the tool marks on the feedramp. You could catch a nail in them, and they would stop many JHP's of the era before they started rolling the jacket over the cavity.

Colt was not civvy friendly on the AR's, nor distributor friendly in general. Mags were hard to get before quality surplus and aftermarket started surfacing. (You could take a chance on ex mil issue culls. But the mil culled them for a reason)

All this has changed. But at the time, there was a reason S&W ruled LEO (except for hand fitted pythons, diamondbacks, and similar)

[Moose-Knuckle]

I actually did several posts from Shotgun News showing wholesale / dealer prices for 1985 and 1986. The bottom dollar HK91 was about $350 however a Colt SP1 was typically $100 less.

People were buying HK91s because Colts still had a reputation for being "jamomatic poodle shooters that failed everyone in Vietnam."

I remember your SGN threads, I was a child then so don't recall numbers but when I asked him my dad always told me that he couldn't find a Colt cheaper than an HK.

He also said he could never find a Valmet cheaper than an HK.