Not very happy with Colt right now. Thoughts?

Bought a new HBAR about a month ago. Only took it out of the box to verify the serial number at the shop I bought it, didn't even take it out of the plastic bag. Brought it home, tossed the box (it wouldn't fit in the safe) and locked it up still in the plastic bag.

Ordered a bunch of accessories and just pulled it out tonight to dress it up. Pulled the charge handle to run it and it won't budge. Finally with enough force it pulls back. I release and it won't go all the way into battery. Hit the forward assist and nothing. Hit it harder and it goes in. Try to pull the charge handle again and same thing.

So I take off the upper and try to pull out the BCG. Same deal. Sticking really bad but I am able to get it out with a bit of elbow grease. The bottom of the BCG already shows wear on the edges that I wouldn't expect to see on a piece that I would assume was only shot at the manufacturer a couple of times. The bolt itself does not move nearly as freely in the carrier as it should. The top of the upper where it rides is all scraped up and the gas tube is crooked which would explain why it isn't easily going back into battery as it doesn't line up right.

Needless to say I am unhappy about all this, but I know the reality of manufacturing. Sh!t happens. Not sure how some dumb@ass doing a QC check can let this go out the door, but as long as it is made right I can live with it. But is it going to be made right? I want a new rifle. If they won't do that, at least a new upper. I don't want to sit around for weeks or months while they repair an upper that was assembled improperly, maybe with out of spec parts, and then shot a few times. I'm not a gunsmith, but I can imagine this can only lend itself to the possibility of more issues later.

Thoughts on this? What is the likelihood Colt is going to replace this for me, and if anyone has experience in dealing with them for warrenty work, what is my best course of action?

I already tried the retailer, who is a friend of mine, so I know he isn't screwing with me. He said he can't return it to Colt, but it would have to be returned to the distributor, who from past experience will tell him to piss off and deal with Colt. So I am better off cutting out the middle man and trying to get it fixed myself.

I can't image Colt would have shipped it if it was that way at the factory. I'd be more inclined to believe somebody f'd with it somewhere in the supply chain after it left Colt. Did you buy it from a trustworthy shop?

Always check all your weapons at the shop for function before you purchase It's saves a lot of headaches

-Z/28- said:

I can't image Colt would have shipped it if it was that way at the factory. I'd be more inclined to believe somebody f'd with it somewhere in the supply chain after it left Colt. Did you buy it from a trustworthy shop?

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I bought it from a friend and I opened the box so he could verify the serial # on the box matched the rifle. I want to say they had to be cut open, but I wouldn't swear on it since it has been a few weeks. I know for a fact he didn't mess with it. It was one of three HBARs (my brother and a friend bought at the same time) and all three boxes were packaged up the same way.

straightsilver3 said:

Always check all your weapons at the shop for function before you purchase It's saves a lot of headaches

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Yeah, I have to get better about that. I haven't even shot the last seven guns I've bought in the last year.

-Z/28- said:

I can't image Colt would have shipped it if it was that way at the factory. I'd be more inclined to believe somebody f'd with it somewhere in the supply chain after it left Colt. Did you buy it from a trustworthy shop?

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Also, I had him order these three rifles from his distributor. I was there to pick it up within hours of delivery. I'm pretty damn sure it came from Colt like that.

It's possible it came from Colt that way. I know the feeling. I was going to buy a new shotgun a few weeks ago. When the shop opened the sealed box in front of me, I couldn't believe how badly that the gun was screwed up. Two really deep bare-metal gouges, one on the right side of the receiver and one on the bottom of the trigger guard. Both looked like they were done intentionally with a flat blade screwdriver. The receiver gouge almost went through the receiver. From the side profile, I could see that the buttstock shim was mangled and bent. The receiver was tapped in four places for a scope and all four screws in the holes were stripped out. The left side of the receiver was bulging out in about a one inch straight line as if somebody had pounded it from the inside with a large flat blade screwdriver or wood file. Worst part was that the gun shop didn't see it as a big deal, said it's typical, and expected me to buy the gun. In disgust, I said no thanks and left. Not going back there. Not going to buy a shotgun from that unnamed manufacturer.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. What is the warranty on Colts and maybe if you contact them they would exchange the upper for a new one. I would address your concerns with the upper being out of specification even if the problem is fixed. I would say swing the ball into Colts side of the court and give them a chance to make it right.

Take it to your buddy and hell try to send it back to the distributer. If the distributer says contact the manufacture, your buddy should take care of it. He is the middle man of selling the product. You bought it from him... He should take care of it

This might be silly, but you have cleaned and lubed it, right? Sometimes guns ship with thick grease/cosmoline?

Kilroy said:

This might be silly, but you have cleaned and lubed it, right? Sometimes guns ship with thick grease/cosmoline?

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I have not, but the BCG is pretty well dripping with oil and you can tell just from looking at the gas tube it was not assembled properly. I have a few ARs and I have never had one that was even close to this difficult to pull back the charge handle even after hundreds of rounds without cleaning. I can assure you this is not the problem. But I appreciate the question.

If your buddy won't send it to Colt for you he is not your buddy. Either way, send it to Colt and they will make it right. I think their warranty is 5 years. How ever long it is, they are the standard by which everything else is judged for a reason.

Go directly to Colt, give them a chance to make it right. If they are to be 'the standard by which others are held to' - they should make it right no questions asked.

A manufacturer I like to go thru has a lifetime, no questions asked, warranty - even when I screwed something up, they made it right at no cost to me, not even shipping costs. I'd like to think Colt will handle this professionally instead of playing the 'blame game'.

Best of luck with this, and as said before - might be a good idea to check function before you leave the store with new purchases, cause shyt does happen from time to time.

Someone at the shop could have accidentally put the wrong bolt in it. This happened with m HBAR. Christian Soldier (the genius that he is, when he wasnt ripping me off for photography work)...had two apart next to each other. It was my first AR and I didn't now any better. He put em back together and stuffed the wrong bolt in. Thing wouldn't budge. Had to go back the next day and get it sorted out. DOH

1time said:

If your buddy won't send it to Colt for you he is not your buddy.

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From what I am told, Colt will not deal with the retailer in this capacity. They will tell him to sort it out with the distributor if I want it replaced. The distributor will tell him to send it to Colt under warrenty. He will ship it for me, free of charge I am sure, but he is in PA about 45 mins drive from me. It isn't worth it to spend 90 mins on the road and the cost of diesel, but I hear what you are saying. If I had bought it from a big dealer nearby I would just take it back there and let them deal with it.

Indiana Jones said:

Someone at the shop could have accidentally put the wrong bolt in it. This happened with m HBAR. Christian Soldier (the genius that he is, when he wasnt ripping me off for photography work)...had two apart next to each other. It was my first AR and I didn't now any better. He put em back together and stuffed the wrong bolt in. Thing wouldn't budge. Had to go back the next day and get it sorted out. DOH

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*edited again*



*edit*
It may be possible that the upper receiver got slightly tweaked/twisted at the factory causing the BCG and charging handle to bind. Could have possibly happened when installing the barrel......Not saying for sure, but it's happened to others.

Had an issue with a broken pin in the forward assist once. This caused the bcg to get stuck.

I don't think any manufacture is free of any occasional defects that get though the quality checks. I'm more interested in how they go about handling it which is more telling about the company.

Having said that I tend to inspect every part I order soon as I receive it.
Keep us updated on the outcome.

Silverlode said:

you can tell just from looking at the gas tube it was not assembled properly.

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What are you seeing on the gas tube that tells you it wasn't assembled properly? Unless it has too long of a gas tube and it's bent and wedged into the area the BCG rides, I don't see how it would have anything to do with a BCG that won't charge or go back into battery...

I don't buy Colt for a reason.