Butchered feed ramps, Colt 14.5 and 11.5 barrels from Brownell's

[Old Coot]

Thanks 17K. That's astonishing to hear. Disheartening also. The Colts I bought in late 80's early 90's never had that. The Old Coot remembers the old America, when quality was something gun makers took pride in. Heck, my first BB guns had wood stocks and fore ends. Lever action 1894 (forgot the brand). A Crossman M1 Carbine that cocked by grabbing the barrel and pushing it backward till the spring locked. Took a squirrel first day I had it in the field. Another lever action (short barrel) with wood stock.

17K as in climbed it?

[17K]

I don’t know exactly why they do it. I’ve heard it called secondary feed ramps, but not all have it. Maybe it’s to clean up some manufacturing defect/artifact they don’t want.

All I know is that whatever they do to their barrels works and they’ve never been known for pretty…

[Old Coot]

I can't see any way the military accepts Dremeled feed ramps in any of their M4's, etc. Besides being a potential source of feeding troubles, the hardness surface has been broken and the exposed steel is subject to rust.

I'm wondering if these are Colt rejects due to too steep a feed ramp angle. None of my Stag, BCM, or LWRC barrels or firearms have Dremeled feed ramps. Colt has gone down the tubes if this is what they're selling as "new".

[Old Coot]

I don’t know exactly why they do it. I’ve heard it called secondary feed ramps, but not all have it. Maybe it’s to clean up some manufacturing defect/artifact they don’t want. All I know is that whatever they do to their barrels works and they’ve never been known for pretty…

I get the "secondary feed ramp" claim; the secondary, less shallow angle at top of machined feed ramps is to help chambering. Not unlike throating your old Deutonics 1911. But this modification should be part of the machining process, not an afterthought ground out by hand with a coarse Dremel stone. That's my beef with these barrels. As good as all other aspects of these barrels might be, here's the problem with the Dremel work:

1. The Dremeled areas have lost all, most, some of the hardening.
2. The exposed steel is now soft (proven by the Dremel stone marks), subject to corrosion by sand, powder grit, etc, over time.
3. Exposed steel also subject to rust from humidity and salt air.


"This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine...It is my life..."

In a time when the government says if you don't allow yourself to be injected with a medical experiment you must be fired from your job....when the government allows 14,000 Haitians to walk across the border without being injected....and then flies them throughout the country....when nearly everyone on this site is considered a domestic violent extremist and the biggest threat facing America.....when you need to show your papers to go into a restaurant, ball game, and eventually to buy food....when leftists and MSM openly condone rounding up conservatives into camps and forceful injections....every component of your weapon should be the highest grade possible.

But to each his own. If these barrels rock someone's van, I'm not knocking it.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Circle_10]

I got a 14.5” Colt barrel from Arms Unlimited at the end of last year that looked similar, like someone had done some file work on the barrel extension and removed the parkerizing. It is one of the “R” marked Roscoe sourced ones. Like a dumbass I didn’t actually notice until after I’d installed it into an upper a couple months ago, then when looking into the chamber the light hit the ramps just right and I had a “WTF?” moment. It didn’t really *look* to me like it would cause a feeding issue but I mentioned it to the local shop I took it to in July to get the FH pinned, and he tested it on FA and I’ve since put like 100-200 rounds through it myself without issue.
Basically it looks shitty but hasn’t affected function.

[jsbhike]

Not finding it right now, but isn't there a thread bouncing around where another Colt item purchased via Brownells was off in some way?

[scooter22]

I can't see any way the military accepts Dremeled feed ramps in any of their M4's, etc. Besides being a potential source of feeding troubles, the hardness surface has been broken and the exposed steel is subject to rust.

I'm wondering if these are Colt rejects due to too steep a feed ramp angle. None of my Stag, BCM, or LWRC barrels or firearms have Dremeled feed ramps. Colt has gone down the tubes if this is what they're selling as "new".

Because it clearly has no effect on function. Colt doesn't make pretty rifles; they are war horses.

[scooter22]

I can't see any way the military accepts Dremeled feed ramps in any of their M4's, etc. Besides being a potential source of feeding troubles, the hardness surface has been broken and the exposed steel is subject to rust.

I'm wondering if these are Colt rejects due to too steep a feed ramp angle. None of my Stag, BCM, or LWRC barrels or firearms have Dremeled feed ramps. Colt has gone down the tubes if this is what they're selling as "new".

Because it clearly has no effect on function. Colt doesn't make pretty rifles; they are war horses.

[Old Coot]

Because it clearly has no effect on function. Colt doesn't make pretty rifles; they are war horses.

It "clearly has no effect on function". Great. Show me the results of the extensive Crane studies proving that.

"They are war horses". Yes, sir. Which wars have you ridden this horse in?

While you dig out your pics I'll be contacting Colt to ask if this is how their military feed ramps are made; hand grinding with a Dremel after parkerizing. I'll tell them you said they don't make pretty rifles and ask for their comments on that. Will let you know their response.

[scooter22]

It "clearly has no effect on function". Great. Show me the results of the extensive Crane studies proving that.

"They are war horses". Yes, sir. Which wars have you ridden this horse in?

While you dig out your pics I'll be contacting Colt to ask if this is how their military feed ramps are made; hand grinding with a Dremel after parkerizing. I'll tell them you said they don't make pretty rifles and ask for their comments on that. Will let you know their response.

Cool. If you don't like the way they look, send them back to Brownells or send them to Colt. It's not rocket surgery...