I've been shopping for a 308 for a while. My problem is that I'm deterred by the relatively high prices of top quality rifles like Knight's and LMT, and unimpressed by what you can get for less than $2000. So, I've been saving money and biding my time.
Last month, I handled a Colt CM762-16s at my LGS - it seemed like a decent rifle - ambi controls, nice MLOK rail, VLTOR stock, good charging handle, and Magpul Pro sights. Most important, it's a Colt with a solid BCG and a Colt 1:12 chrome lined barrel. Alas, they were asking $2300.
Around the beginning of the month, Colt finally posted a MSRP on their website - $1799. Previously, the webpage below had no pricing information. So, I went looking on gun.deals and ordered one on May 6 from Grabagun for $1580. I picked it up Saturday.
I cleaned it, installed an ALG ACT (using the longer Colt pins for their odd lower receiver) grabbed a Leupold 4-12x, some old delinked M80, a couple of boxes of Federal XM80CL, a box of Federal GM 168, and headed to the range. It ran perfectly with no problems and very consistent 3-4 o'clock ejection. It was pretty windy, so I roughly zeroed the iron sights at 50 yards, then slapped the scope on. At 50 yards from a rest, it was producing 1-1.25" 5-shot groups from the 149 grain stuff and one hole 5-shot groups from the 168s. Frankly, I was very impressed.
The rifle weighs 8lb 4oz, has a pinned & screwed gas block, a mid-length gas system, a carbine length buffer tube, and a 5 oz buffer marked "308." In spite of recent complaints on this site about Colt outsourcing/quality, the fit/finish is very good.
I'll post a full range report with pictures when we get a calm day for accuracy testing. I am extremely happy with this rifle so far.
The reason I'm posting prematurely is because the MSRP on Colt's website dropped to $1499 sometime in the last couple of days. The prices from the usual suspects on the web are in the $1400-$1600 range. While this may have been a questionable value at $2300, it's a slam dunk for $1400.
https://www.colt.com/detail-page/col...n-161-20rd-blk
Good shooting!
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