Is Colt still good?

[Doc Safari]

So do PSA's if you read the thread.

And, Doc, you little rascal, weren't you one of those who was worried in the Colt Outsourcing Everything thread?

Not worried, just trying to see both sides of the issue. I can see if the Colt Expanse was sort of the way Colt was testing the waters to downgrade quality on everything, but I've come to believe that's not the case. I also debate if Chris Bartocci is getting good information or just sour grapes from former and current Colt employees. It's too easy to dismiss any of his knowledge not based on personal experience as "hearsay." Kind of like if you work for Coca-Cola and they cut back on your hours you could put out a rumor that there is bat urine in Coca-Cola or something.

[Zirk208]

So to recap, we have a guy claiming he shoots 3-4 inch groups at 400 yards with an unmagnified red dot , another guy evaluating milspec triggers at 25 yards and claiming his 25 yard “battlesight zero” is the same as a 200 yard zero , and oh yeah it turns out that Colts are still meeting TDP specs despite a lot hand-wringing.

This thread reeks of TOS...

Don't forget the guy who claims the Springfield XD is the best handgun out there.

[SouthwestAviator]

Not worried, just trying to see both sides of the issue. I can see if the Colt Expanse was sort of the way Colt was testing the waters to downgrade quality on everything, but I've come to believe that's not the case. I also debate if Chris Bartocci is getting good information or just sour grapes from former and current Colt employees. It's too easy to dismiss any of his knowledge not based on personal experience as "hearsay." Kind of like if you work for Coca-Cola and they cut back on your hours you could put out a rumor that there is bat urine in Coca-Cola or something.

But does the bat urine come from Coca Cola itself or is it outsourced? These are the important questions.
Seriously though, even Chris begrudgingly said that current 6920's are "probably" combat grade and reliable. It almost seemed to pain him to cede that. Right after he said he'd never buy a new Colt.

There's Colts from the olden days with Green Mountain barrels and other outsourced parts. I'm not sure why it matters now.

[Doc Safari]

Colt does have a long and storied history of doing goofy shit. During the 1990's I swear I couldn't get a Colt without a rusted spring on it somewhere.

I bought a brand new 6720 in January that the assembler had kinked one of the bolt rings so I had to replace it right away. I replaced all three just because.

One more time: The experiences of Colt durability at the Vegas rental range close the book for me on Colt's quality. Yes, as 26 Inf pointed out they aren't the only quality AR, but we're not debating other brands either.

Bottom line: Buy a Colt. Be prepared for it to not be "perfect", but it will serve you well.

[Sry0fcr]

There's Colts from the olden days with Green Mountain barrels and other outsourced parts. I'm not sure why it matters now.

It doesn't matter. Someone well respected presented his opinion as fact and the less critical thinkers among us took it as gospel without much in the way of actual evidence. People have a poor perception of "outsourcing" because they don't really understand it and assume for some reason that all manufacturing is vertically integrated or something. It's the same with "lowest bidder", they conveniently leave out, "that can meet requirements."


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[crusader377]

I think Colts are still very good rifles. True they might not have the best cosmetic fit and finish but they do have a very good reputation for reliability and have very good accuracy for a service grade rifle. Here are a few things to consider.

1) Colt still sells thousands of rifles per year to the U.S. Military and these rifles do need to meet TDP standards for the M4.

2) Colt has a strong foreign military sales record. Many of these rifle/carbine competitions Colt faced strong competitors.

3) Colt rifles and carbines are battle proven world-wide

4) The M4 is a popular rifle in U.S. military service and the bulk of M4s in the military are Colts.

5) Most civilian owners seem to like their Colts and have little or no problems with them.

Given these five truths, It stands to reason that Yes, Colt still produces a good rifle.

[veeklog]

I think Colts are still very good rifles. True they might not have the best cosmetic fit and finish but they do have a very good reputation for reliability and have very good accuracy for a service grade rifle. Here are a few things to consider.

1) Colt still sells thousands of rifles per year to the U.S. Military and these rifles do need to meet TDP standards for the M4.

2) Colt has a strong foreign military sales record. Many of these rifle/carbine competitions Colt faced strong competitors.

3) Colt rifles and carbines are battle proven world-wide

4) The M4 is a popular rifle in U.S. military service and the bulk of M4s in the military are Colts.

5) Most civilian owners seem to like their Colts and have little or no problems with them.

Given these five truths, It stands to reason that Yes, Colt still produces a good rifle.

My work rifle is a Colt and a solid shooter. I own many AR’s, and most of the uppers I put together exclusively using Colt parts. I have two complete Colts rifle, both solid shooters. I will admit I have not purchased any Colt parts since 2017 when I built my last Colt SOCOM upper. The upper and the BCG had the “C” markings, and only the barrel had the CAGE code markings. So I cannot possibly say in 2019 if the quality has dropped off.

Even though I really like Colt, I have assembled different AR’s using quality parts made by Daniel Defense, Sionics, FNMI, BCM, Noveske, LMT, and Toolcraft. Besides the Colt rifles, my only factory made uppers are LMT and a HK MR556 I had rebuilt by IGF. My point in rambling is this: For the average range shooter, LEO, or a even high level shooter that runs his guns hard, if you own a rifle built with quality parts that are built by Colt or one of the fine makers that are as good/better than Colt, and service the firearms regularly, chances are they will last a very long time. But like anything mass produced, you might get a lemon here and there just like a Mercedes I bought that was at the dealer more than I drove it. I like Colt, and have not had one that failed me yet, especially the monolithic uppers or SOCOM barrels, and will continue to use them as long as I could afford them.

[Glock9mm1990]

Cris also said in a Q/A video awhile back that he likes G2 RIP ammo in his .380. So I wouldn’t believe everything he says as gospel.

[SouthwestAviator]

Cris also said in a Q/A video awhile back that he likes G2 RIP ammo in his .380. So I wouldn’t believe everything he says as gospel.

This. Chris also has said that straight pins for pinning the gas block are inferior to mil-spec taper pins... Apparently unaware that LMT uses straight pins for their gas blocks, a company he constantly dotes on as being top-notch and better than Colt in every way. He doesn't know everything and holds opinions that directly contradict each other.

[JoshNC]

It’s 2019 and we have people talking about the subjective quality of mil spec fire control groups in ARs. Mil spec FCGs are place holders for Geissele FCGs.