What to do with this Colt HBAR

Thanks to all for the opinions generally, and for the specifics. It's especially a treat to get some drive-by official SOTAR knowledge.

My main instinct, as mentioned in the opening post after thinking it through, is to leave it alone and just find or replace that handle and let her be. The fact that the lower's vintage opens the door to some other options is seductive, but it does feel unseemly to put spinning hubcaps on this nice old ride, only driven to church on Sundays and whatnot.

This is a great venue to confuse matters and then eventually clarify them. Thanks!

Occam said:

Thanks to all for the opinions generally, and for the specifics. It's especially a treat to get some drive-by official SOTAR knowledge.

My main instinct, as mentioned in the opening post after thinking it through, is to leave it alone and just find or replace that handle and let her be. The fact that the lower's vintage opens the door to some other options is seductive, but it does feel unseemly to put spinning hubcaps on this nice old ride, only driven to church on Sundays and whatnot.

This is a great venue to confuse matters and then eventually clarify them. Thanks!

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It's your gun, your decision.

Lots of people get their Colt Match AR's threaded.

Some people have muzzle devices pinned to meet other states ban compliance or so they can use muzzle devices to meet a need.

No one bats an eye when this is done and the gun is resold. They make the gun more desirable to those that actually use the gun.

Regardless of the opinions of others, none of the work I mentioned is bubba work. Its not going to be detectable when done right nor will it kill the value of the gun. The work is simply removing neutering features of a preban Colt AR.

All of those unique Colt Ban Era Features are downgrades except the larger hammer and trigger pins. The larger hammer and trigger pins are stronger than standard .155 pins.


Ask the guys saying my suggestions are bubba if they have ever removed a sear block, installed sleeves in the pivot pin bores, threaded a barrel, or replaced a FSB that had the bayo lug removed. I have, hundreds of them.

I have never seen a person looking to buy a Colt turn down buying a Properly Converted Colt that had the Sear Block and Large Pivot Pin converted. Sold a bunch in my time too. It's actually more desirable, just as Colts that are had no thread target barrels, that have been threaded.

If you are a Colt Collector then it may make sense to leave it as is, but if you want to shoot you gun with another lightweight pre 2013 upper, then my suggestions make it what it should have been from Colt in the first place.

These are features that some Colts have that are undedesirable:
Unshrouded Carriers (Exposed Firing Pin causes damage to the firing pin and causes drag)
Notched Hammers (wears the carrier and causes drag)
Large Pivot Pins (Limits installation of other Uppers unless Converter Pins are used, and they are unreliable)
Tooled Pivot Pins (Requires a Screwdriver to remove the Upper)
Sear Block (Prevents installation of most aftermarket Triggers and prevents the use of some AR15 Carriers and ALL M16 Carriers)
Removed Bayonet Lug (No changes in performance)
Target Crown Barrels with no threading (dumb unless it's s strictly target gun)
Large FCG Pins (Limits aftermarket Triggers but it a reliability upgrade)


Good luck. Colts are great platforms to build on.

Please know that I wasn't referring to your work as Bubba work.

I was simply pointing out that many gun owners have a pension for altering original rifles.

It goes back to my C&R Bubbafication thread.

clandestine said:

It's your gun, your decision ... Good luck. Colts are great platforms to build on.

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A great brain dump for me! Thanks, man.

Melnic said:

BTW, i'd not be doing anything to it that could not be undone.

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And I would not thread the barrel either. If you want something like that, then get another upper.

[edit] Well if it does not jeopardize the value of the firearm - then I guess that would be ok. If it were me, I would not worry about it, but that's just me.

clandestine said:

Lots of people get their Colt Match AR's threaded.

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ok - good to know.

Here is what I would do with that rifle:


shoot it.


possibly add a red dot or 4x or 6x scope and see if it lives up to "competition target" moniker.

But seriously, why mess with it?

danb said:

Here is what I would do with that rifle:


shoot it.


possibly add a red dot or 4x or 6x scope and see if it lives up to "competition target" moniker.

But seriously, why mess with it?

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Yup. At this point, my only thoughts on mods skew towards - as Chad points out - perhaps undoing a couple of the things that the ban-era nonsense required of Colt (a la the unthreaded muzzle). I'm in no rush to do anything to it, as it certainly ain't broke.

If you think THAT is to heavy sell it and buy a gym membership. AR's outside of a few .308's with 24" barrels aren't heavy. Mausers and Garands are heavy.

Pale Ryder said:

If you think THAT is to heavy sell it and buy a gym membership. AR's outside of a few .308's with 24" barrels aren't heavy. Mausers and Garands are heavy.

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It's not too heavy for me - I'm 6'2" and don't have Hogg arms. But I do have a 5'2" wife who, though she is a bad ass, finds it nose heavy. The obvious solution is to set her up with her own new, more diminutive AR. Because that's how thoughtful I am. Honey, I bought a new rifle. It's because I was thinking of you!

True story: I brought home a beautiful Uberti '73 Winchester (which ain't light, either!), and she said, "That's lovely. It's mine, now. If you want one, you have to get another one." Ahhh, matrimonial bliss.

Occam said:

It's not too heavy for me - I'm 6'2" and don't have Hogg arms. But I do have a 5'2" wife who, though she is a bad ass, finds it nose heavy. The obvious solution is to set her up with her own new, more diminutive AR. Because that's how thoughtful I am. Honey, I bought a new rifle. It's because I was thinking of you!

True story: I brought home a beautiful Uberti '73 Winchester (which ain't light, either!), and she said, "That's lovely. It's mine, now. If you want one, you have to get another one." Ahhh, matrimonial bliss.

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Hogg arms?? like this???

Exactly. I do not have those arms. If I did, I probably couldn't muster the energy to handle the shift key to capitalize the "H" in Hogg.

I have an old Match HBAR that was neutered as well . I dropped it off to Clandestine and he did his magic replacing the the front sight with one with a bayonet lug and threading the barrel and installing the flash hider .

Replacing the front sight was a process that he could better explain . He welded in the old taper pin grooves full and turned the barrel back down and re-drilled it so the new sight would have fresh pin holes. I can now throw the bayonet on and get all stabby

I could not have been happier with the job he did for me.

Nice Colt RJ. Need to have that done to my Klinton ban Bushy. I have other AR's that look at it funny in the safe because of the naked barrel.

rj1974 said:

I have an old Match HBAR that was neutered as well . I dropped it off to Clandestine and he did his magic replacing the the front sight with one with a bayonet lug and threading the barrel and installing the flash hider.

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I'm hearing quiet crying sounds from inside my safe. I guess it's worth getting a quote from C on that de-neutering.

wreckdiver said:

Nice Colt RJ. Need to have that done to my Klinton ban Bushy. I have other AR's that look at it funny in the safe because of the naked barrel.

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May as well do something with it , as long as you're in MD you're stuck with it lol.

How have you and the family been ?

Occam said:

I'm hearing quiet crying sounds from inside my safe. I guess it's worth getting a quote from C on that de-neutering.

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Do it . Or sell me the upper and I'll do it

Reading this thread really makes me want to get the neutered front sight replaced and sear block removed on the Colt Match Target that I got from Lou.

How much does something like that cost?

rj1974 said:

Or sell me the upper

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Sure, for ...