Match Target HBAR

[Bigun]

I did a bit of horse trading yesterday and wound up with a Match Target HBAR A2 20" with the 1in7 twist barrel non chrome lined, Marked 5.56mm. Neutered front sight= no bayonet lug and no flash hider. Was the 1 in 7 a standard option? as I had only seen these with 1in9 barrels before.

The lower has a hinge pin that reminds me of a friends early SP1 with a slotted screw. The rifle was aquired for use as a target rifle/Collector and I got into it relatively cheap. Traded accross the board for a 629-4 classic that had been a truck gun and showed plenty of wear. So far the only wear I can find is on the bottom of the bolt carrier everything else seems to be in like new condition.

I ran through a couple of 30 round mags without any issues in sub 20 degree weather all off hand so I dont have a base line for accuracy yet but I hit everything I aimed at. Are these worth anything other than as a shooter? I had $650 in the 629 so I am not to worried about being able to get my money back + . Just wondering if it would be worth hanging on to or just using it as trading stock.

I see that ADCO can thread the barrel for a flash suppressor fairly reasonable but with the U cut bolt carrier and a lower with the block behind the trigger I dont know if it is worth adding the flash suppressor and standard A2 sight or if I should just leave it be and use it for target shooting/coyote hunting.

P.S. it also came with 5 30 round GI mags, 2 of the Colt 8 rounders and 300 rds of M855 ammo on stripper clips

[SteveS]

I has a couple of different Colt H bar variants over the years but ended up selling them at a profit years ago. The Colt quality is there.

[masakari]

Wow, you got an amazing deal right there. Bravo, bravo.
If it was me, I would modernize it by lightening and threading the barrel, and adding a retractable/different stock. I would probably get an all new handguard, like a MI SSG2 15" and just cut down the FSB.

[tenpointer]

Yes the 1 in 7" was the standard twist of the match target with the A2 rear sight/fixed carry handle. I purchased a mt6600 in 1994.
I never used it much......the barrel is target heavy, but with no float tube it was not suitable for high power competition, despite having sights more suited for targets. I did not find it particularly accurate. Note: To change the trigger group you need a large pin size, specific to Colt during the time period. I too considered modifying it to government profile barrel with flash hider and bayonet lug via ADCO, but decided the value just wasn't there. I bought a BCM A4 instead to replace it as a general use rifle and eventually sold the Colt after Sandyhook for $1400. As it is currently configured, the rifle is more than adequate for plinking at the range, but with its lower receiver, it is a poor base to modify from.

[Bigun]

I took the rifle to a local smith noted for his custom builds he is adding a flash hider to the original upper and is going to modify the lower so I can use a standard bolt carrier. He is also going to build me a custom upper in 6mm Fat Rat based on the Grendel cartridge. I plan to use the standard upper as a range /target rifle and the 6mmFR as my coyote/Deer rifle. Similar balistics to the 243 win in a more compact platform. I wanted a multi purpose rifle and will have it soon.:D