What's so great about LMT rifles?

[CPM]

Which Colt model would most directly compare to a Defender 2000 Standard Model 16?

Dude literally any of them. Mostly a 6920.

[rushca01]

Long LMT owner, I SBR’ed two defender lowers 11 years ago and they are bullet proof. I have 4 MRP setups, 2 pic in both the CQB and rifle and the m lock in the same configuration.

My only gripe is the consumer market is only like 10-15% of their business model which is annoying. They have a very active FB group and one of the sales guys chimes in often and he’s been doing instagram live videos and later posts them to YouTube.

Regarding the commercial bolt carrier, I believe I have read they don’t want/sell ANY full auto parts in their complete commercial rifles, however, you can buy one from them and put it in.

[1168]

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Now LMT's enhanced stuff is a whole different story. The Colt heat treat, while very cost effective, is merely a bandaid, whereas the LMT bolts (and by extension KAC's as well) actually fix the problem, albeit at great expense. That said, I've heard conflicting reports as to whether the bolts will last indefinitely on Mk18s, which might be why SOCOM passed them up in favor of the Colts. Who knows. There's not any clear answer how long an enhanced bolt will last in an SBR, if they last longer than Colt's new ones, or if so by how long. They're so much more expensive, and the information is so non specific, I couldn't justify the cost or sacrifice of interchangeability. I hope in the future there will be some solid data on them.

I’ve got two of the e-BCG’s. One has like a case of ammo on it, probably less, so its not relevant yet. In the other, the bolt has done a couple cases in a 16” extended midlength, followed by the entire BCG going 10,000-12,000 rounds in a 11.3”. I changed the extractor springs and ejector springs once (prompted by some stoppages), and I think I changed the extractor, also. Its still running, but not getting shot much. Small sample size, but I think they are pretty durable. Perhaps a regular bolt would work, also.

I wouldn’t worry one bit about interchangability with this bolt.

When LMTs patent expires for the mono upper the entire industry will change forever.

A 13.5” MLOK monolithic Colt with their 16” mid barrel would be ok.

I agree. I’d like to see the mono uppers take off. If one existed with a 1.75”-2” OD in MLOK, I’d probably buy one for a 14.5”. Oh well, URX4 will have to do.

Stick, you nailed it. The longer Vltor concentrates on Keymod, the more people will more or less forget about them. Also, they have always seemed to have a tendency to be OOS, or I would have bought a pic-rail mono upper from them a dozen years ago. If they make a mono upper in MLok, using similar weights, lengths, and widths as KAC URX4 uppers, I imagine they would find customers. As it is, the Vltor website is a cool place to check out great ideas that are hens’ teeth in real life.

I actually had that happen to one. If it ever happens to anyone else, take a 5/32 drill bit and HAND HOLD it, push the detent in with it and gently turn to remove to offending material. The detent will release, then clean up the hole, touch up if necessary. Takes 5 minutes.

I’ve done this trick with another brand lower; not unique to LMT.

[okie]

Colts made in then last two years or so are just mediocre at best. Their customer service is non-existent. Why anyone under 50 would buy one, other than for re-selling it to someone even older than them, when so many other options exist is beyond me.

And you're basing this on...?

[WillBrink]

You would think so, but I don't see the Vltor VIS series flying off the shelves or in pictures. I will point out that I think Vltor needs to quit playing games and start up MLOK production. I don't care how invested they are in Keymod, or how well it works, it doesn't change that MLOK is what is currently selling.

All the monolithic stuff is heavy and expensive. You have to have a real use case for it to make it pay.

What makes LMT monolithic design any better/different than say Colt 6940?

[okie]

I’ve got two of the e-BCG’s. One has like a case of ammo on it, probably less, so its not relevant yet. In the other, the bolt has done a couple cases in a 16” extended midlength, followed by the entire BCG going 10,000-12,000 rounds in a 11.3”. I changed the extractor springs and ejector springs once (prompted by some stoppages), and I think I changed the extractor, also. Its still running, but not getting shot much. Small sample size, but I think they are pretty durable. Perhaps a regular bolt would work, also.

I wouldn’t worry one bit about interchangability with this bolt.



I agree. I’d like to see the mono uppers take off. If one existed with a 1.75”-2” OD in MLOK, I’d probably buy one for a 14.5”. Oh well, URX4 will have to do.

Stick, you nailed it. The longer Vltor concentrates on Keymod, the more people will more or less forget about them. Also, they have always seemed to have a tendency to be OOS, or I would have bought a pic-rail mono upper from them a dozen years ago. If they make a mono upper in MLok, using similar weights, lengths, and widths as KAC URX4 uppers, I imagine they would find customers. As it is, the Vltor website is a cool place to check out great ideas that are hens’ teeth in real life.



I’ve done this trick with another brand lower; not unique to LMT.

I have no doubt they're more durable in general. They should last indefinitely on a 16" and many thousands of rounds in an SBR. It's just that you can get a whole new bolt for the price of an extractor alone, so you can afford to replace a milspec bolt as a prophylactic measure long before failure. I think that's basically where the Army was at when they passed up the e bolt in favor of the Colts. The problem they had was that the old bolts were breaking randomly, some after only a few thousand rounds, so there was always that fear that one would randomly break in a firefight. The new Colt ones gave them that confidence that they would last at least x amount of rounds, and they figured they could afford to just replace them. Which you have to realize they replace the barrels really often, too. These little Mk18 types are basically disposable.

[okie]

What makes LMT monolithic design any better/different than say Colt 6940?

I don't know if it's better. It's different because it's all one piece, whereas the Colt is exactly like the Vltor, where the bottom comes off, giving you access to the barrel nut. The LMT doesn't have a barrel nut, just a few bolts. I kind of doubt there's much practical difference in the end. Heck of a lot easier to change barrels on the LMT though. It's almost borderline modular in that sense. I guess you throw in a couple fix it sticks and a 300 barrel and you could make it into some kind of modular system.

[Straight Shooter]

Which Colt model would most directly compare to a Defender 2000 Standard Model 16? . . . a 6920?

Yes, in my opinion.

[markm]

What makes LMT monolithic design any better/different than say Colt 6940?

I'm not an LMT fanboy, but their mono is friggin BAD ASS! I'm kicking myself for not buying the Brownells contract overruns from a while back.... but I need another AR like I need another news story selling corona virus lies.

[1168]

I have no doubt they're more durable in general. They should last indefinitely on a 16" and many thousands of rounds in an SBR. It's just that you can get a whole new bolt for the price of an extractor alone, so you can afford to replace a milspec bolt as a prophylactic measure long before failure.

Yeah, I doubt they offer an economic advantage to anyone. I just like the idea of throwing a bolt in a rifle when I assemble it, and not concerning myself until the extractor springs need replaced. They seem to last longer, also.

I’m just commenting on longevity of a singular sample.