Colt LE6920 quality

[The Godevil]

Would've been good to take a pic and post up, before fixing


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pics added

[Iraqgunz]

Additional information for those that are curious.

All 3 of the 6920 barrel nuts were removed with little effort. If they were at 30ft./lbs. I would be surprised. In fact I was able to get them to the next tooth with some additional effort (although not terribly difficult). The taper pins were some of the easiest I have ever removed. A few whacks with the large punch and the Brownells standard gunsmith hammer and I was home free.

Dates of manufacture on barrels were 10/12, 12/13 and 01/14. All three gas ports came in a .062 with a Meyer pin gage.

6933 upper was previously worked on by ADCO (Jenner FSB special) and the barrel nut was re-torqued by them. It was definitely harder than the 6920's.

Gas port was measured in at .074 which is smaller than ones I have seen in the past. This is a newer production item and it has the Colt CAGE stamped on the barrel. There was no identifiable date stamp.

IMG_20161227_172505442.jpg

[dc202]

Bought mine new in September and I am very happy with the reliability and accuracy. I have two other ARs that cost more than twice as much and I would just as readily and with full confidence grab the 6920 in an emergency as I would the others.

[Kdubya]

I agree with some others in that there are a laundry list of AR brands that, in general, should be perfectly servicable out of the box. However trusting ANY firearm for a defensive purpose, straight out of the box, is an exercise in gambling with ones life. I don't care how highly regarded a mfg., or how great a company's QA/QC is alleged to be. Any and all can, and do, make mistakes.

Keeping with the topic of this thread, I'll stick with Colt as an example. They've got a solid track record, the TDP, have seen plenty of tours in combat, etc. What more needs to be said that hasn't already been mentioned thousands of times across this site. When Colt is mentioned, there's always an outpouring of "GTG" praises. Essentially, there's nothing wrong with that. But, for all the new firearm and AR owners we're seeing join the community, simply saying any rifle is GTG is doing them a disservice. It's never an absolute, but is often conveyed as one. I don't see enough GTG comments being prefaced or preceded by, "you need to go shoot it". Trust, but verify.

In reality, a large majority of people buying ARs may simply load it up, tuck it away, and think it'll be ready to rock and roll if called upon in the middle of the night. Sure, we could criticize those that have this false sense of security. Saying they should know better. But, the fact is that many new to firearms don't. Truncated affirmations from experienced shooters, inferring guaranteed reliability, don't do the neophytes any favors.

Alright, tying all this back to the example of Colt. Say Joe 6-Pack comes to the forum looking for advice on his second AR purchase. His current rifle is a DPMS that he'd picked up during the fallout of Sandy Hook. He wasn't an avid shooter at that time, but was worried pending policies would eliminate his opportunity to purchase an AR in the future. The DPMS is all he could find, so he bought it. Fast forward to today. What started as an insurance policy now is turning into a hobby. The DPMS has only seen about 1,000 rounds, but has been trouble free. Still, the gettin' is good now for ARs, and he's got the itch to pick up his second. In perusing the forums, he's seen that DPMS isn't viewed all that favorably, while Colt is consistently touted as a great rifle. He asks about recommended models, and someone will inevitably tell him something to the effect of, "yeah, ditch that DPMS and pick up a 6720/6920. They're battle tested and GTG." Seeing that commentary as a common theme, he heeds the advice. Upon receipt of his new Colt rifle, he tosses the DPMS into the safe, loads up a mag for the Colt, and sticks it by his bedside. He isn't really a "shooter" yet, so he doesn't know this is a big mistake. His limited experience with a poorer quality AR was flawless. Everyone told him that the Colt was a much better rifle. His experience and other's comments come together, and he faithfully expects that there couldn't possibly be any issues with putting the new rifle into defensive service. If it turns out that he'd purchased this 6720, the consequences could be serious.

Yes, this is purely hypothetical. It's not meant to degrade Colt or praise DPMS. It's simply a realistic scenario for which any brand names could be inserted. Many here, including myself, take for granted the understanding that a defensive firearm must be put through its paces before entering service. Yet, that reality is lost on the Joe 6-Packs of the world; and there are a lot of people that fall into that category. Maybe it's just me, but I wish that those who know better would be a bit more cautious in throwing out definitive statements of quality and reliability. Expound a bit. In the scenario above, instead of simply dropping "Colt's GTG", how hard would it be to say "Colt makes a great rifle but until you've run it a while, stick with your known quantity for HD; in spite of it being a lowly DPMS."

One doesn't even have to travel beyond this thread to find examples of "top tier" rifles that make it past QC with flaws or errors. Yet the prevalence of definitive GTG comments indicates many ignore that reality. Yes, it might be rare. Yes, it should probably go without saying. Maybe I'm alone in this pet peeve and am nitpicking. But I still think we can do a better job in creating realistic perceptions for those new and inexperienced firearm owners who are observing on the sidelines.

Sorry for the long post. I'm sick. New baby is sick. And we're already a month into some serious sleep deprivation.

TL:DR - No matter what your experience with firearms. Trust but verify with any defensive weapon. It's a risk to assume any brand is GTG out of the box. Things get missed. Mistakes happen. Your confidence in a weapon should come only with hands on testing.

[JC5188]

pics added

Damn. Thx for posting.


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[26 Inf]

TLR - No matter what your experience with firearms. Trust but verify with any defensive weapon. It's a risk to assume any brand is GTG out of the box. Things get missed. Mistakes happen. Your confidence in a weapon should come only with hands on testing.

Saved bandwidth by deleting some. Good analogy. As an old guy I am now going to try to find out what TLR means......

ETA: found out. nothing is too long for me to read unless it is boring or drivel. Let's see if the semi-colon gives me a wink - TL;DR

[Jesse H]

All 3 of the 6920 barrel nuts were removed with little effort. If they were at 30ft./lbs. I would be surprised. In fact I was able to get them to the next tooth with some additional effort (although not terribly difficult). The taper pins were some of the easiest I have ever removed. A few whacks with the large punch and the Brownells standard gunsmith hammer and I was home free.

I know that FDE upper, as my coworker and I bought ours at the same time. Mine has a C4 rail and between 1000-1500 rounds with lots of time getting banged up on SWAT training and use and fortunately no issues. It's now a safe gun, but thanks for sharing.

[Scorpion]

@KDubya: I don't know about lately, but I have heard that here before, with the caveat that you learn about your rifle, go shoot the rifle, and do what is necessary to bring it up to spec. Less likely to need to apply the third part with GTG brands, but you'll determine that through the initial inspection (once you know what to look for) and through shooting the rifle.

[Kdubya]

Saved bandwidth by deleting some. Good analogy. As an old guy I am now going to try to find out what TLR means......

ETA: found out. nothing is too long for me to read unless it is boring or drivel. Let's see if the semi-colon gives me a wink - TL;DR

Thanks! Glad to hear my actual point came across and it didn't spark a brand war.

I'm not really young. But also not that old. Somewhere in the middle, but at least I'm not one of these Millenials!

Fairly recently, I got into a heated exchange with some young SJW. About firearms nonetheless. Absolutely destroyed her with a thorough and reasoned argument. All I got in return was TLR and a series of expletives as she fled off to her safe space. So don't feel bad, as I had to go look up what the hell that meant too.

@KDubya: I don't know about lately, but I have heard that here before, with the caveat that you learn about your rifle, go shoot the rifle, and do what is necessary to bring it up to spec. Less likely to need to apply the third part with GTG brands, but you'll determine that through the initial inspection (once you know what to look for) and through shooting the rifle.

There are certainly times when advice stating one needs to go shoot the rifle is conveyed. But, it's often omitted. Overall, I see a heck of a lot more "GTG" type comments than "you need to go shoot it" advice. I agree that proper inspection is vital, hopefully with much done before the purchase. But the frequency of comments explaining the value of inspection are even more sparse than the "go shoot it comments."

[Scorpion]

It's said a lot less often than it used to be. I think it's just that it's implied at this point because it had been repeated for years.