I Think I Have a Colt Addiction

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  • TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,154
    Sun City West, AZ
    What's been seen here is what I would call a good start to a Colt collection (or addiction).

    Colt Cobras...
    Cobras-all.jpg


    Their near brothers Colt Agents...
    Agents.jpg


    Colt Delta Elites...
    Deltas-four.jpg


    Colt 1903 .32 ACP...
    Colt-1903.jpg


    Colt WWII Commandos...
    Commndos-4.jpg


    Three Colt Three Fifty Seven and two Colt Trooper .357 revolvers...
    357s-Troopers.jpg


    Colt Detective Specials...
    3-Det-Specials.jpg


    Colt Metropolitan MK III...
    Metropolitan-Mark-III.jpg


    Colt Defenders...
    Defenders-left-side.jpg


    Colt Pythons...
    Pythons.jpg


    Colt Anacondas...
    Anacondas.jpg


    Colt Lawman Mark III...
    Lawman.jpg


    Colt New Frontier .22...
    New-Frontier-22.jpg


    Colt Single-Action Army...
    Colt-SAA-JW.jpg


    Colt New Frontier .45 Colt...
    New-Frontier-45.jpg


    Colt Z40...
    IMG-7918.jpg


    Officers Model Match...both .38 Special and .22LR...
    OMM-22-38.jpg


    Colt Light Rifle...
    10-1.jpg


    Coltsman Custom Deluxe (top) and Coltsman Deluxe (bottom)...
    2-1.jpg


    Coltsman standard and Colt 57...
    7-1.jpg


    Coltsman .308...
    8-1.jpg


    Pocket Nine...
    P1010089.jpg


    Coltsman...
    IMG-7839.jpg


    Colt 901-SE...
    IMG-7842.jpg


    Colt M2012 rifles...
    IMG-7872.jpg


    Colt rimfires...
    rimfire-ARs.jpg


    Combat Elite and Lightweight Commander...
    P1010126.jpg


    Colt M45A1...
    P1010123.jpg


    Colt M4...
    Colt-M4-FDE.jpg


    Colt CAR-15A3...
    CAR-15A3.jpg


    There's even more revolvers and Government Models of various configurations and maybe ten M4 rifles all of different configurations...I ran out of allowable photos to upload. Do I have a problem?
     

    calicojack

    American Sporting Rifle
    MDS Supporter
    May 29, 2018
    5,348
    Cuba on the Chesapeake
    Seeing those old Colts brings back memories of going to a local gun shop when I was 18 and seeing one of those Colts on the wall (older 20" barrel model, no M4 variants back then). They were not that expensive ($350 maybe??) but in those days, that was a lot of money. Not to mention 223/5.56 was that not cheap either.
     

    clandestine

    AR-15 Savant
    Oct 13, 2008
    37,031
    Elkton, MD
    Great pics and stories. L.E. Colt AR's are neat guns, but not always serviced and maintained properly, even if the Armorer was Colt Certified.

    Just throwing some caution in regards to L.E. Trade Ins. They can be great deals but may need some attention.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,154
    Sun City West, AZ
    Do you have children, lol?

    Yes...but she's an adult, married and on her own. I've been collecting Colts since the late '70s or early '80s. I also had my own FFL prior to the Brady Law being enacted. Having your own FFL is a real double-edged sword...you save a lot of money on the things you want but because you're saving so much money you buy a lot more (and spend more) than you would otherwise.

    Now I pretty much look for bargains that I can flip...not always easy to do but they're out there. You have to do a lot of research on the things you're interested in and know what you're looking at...not being an "educated consumer" can work against you.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,154
    Sun City West, AZ
    strange suddenly i feel like quitting Ill never catch up :)

    We all start somewhere. As the old adage goes...a trip of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

    Besides...I know guys whose collections make mine look minuscule...I won't even try and compete with them. At least one owns over one hundred .32 and .380 Pocket Hammerless pistols. Some of these collectors travel in very rarified circles with extremely rare and valuable guns. Mine are pretty pedestrian in comparison.
     

    Combloc

    Stop Negassing me!!!!!
    Nov 10, 2010
    7,212
    In a House
    Yeppers. I gave up trying to compete decades ago. Life is far more enjoyable when you don't compare yourself to others. Far better to just do your own thing and enjoy what you have.
     

    Combloc

    Stop Negassing me!!!!!
    Nov 10, 2010
    7,212
    In a House
    Picking up where I left off, we'll look at the third carbine in this post:

    P1170682_zps1x8ltczx.jpg


    P1170685_zps8q7z2kxg.jpg

    I bought this from a Colt distributor who originally sold it to the Philadelphia PD and then took it back years later with a batch of others on trade for newer models. They let me look through them and pick the one I wanted. This one has a barrel date of May, 2000 which is just under a year and a half later than the last one we looked at. For all intents and purposes it's exactly the same as the previous carbine only the stock was never switched out. As far as I can tell, it's exactly as it left Colt.


    Left side of the receiver:
    P1170689_zpszqvxhhgm.jpg

    So, assuming the barrel date is indicative of when the carbine was built, we can figure that Colt made about 2528 A3 Tactical Carbines from December of 1998 to May of 2000. That's not many when you think about it.


    I didn't show it on the other two but here is a shot of the "Restricted" roll mark on the right ide of the magazine well:
    P1140413_zpsjphceonl.jpg

    The roll mark on the other two carbines is identical to my eyes.


    It's interesting to note that this upper, although manufactured later than the last one we looked at, in not marked "M4":
    P1170690_zpsxttgxu2a.jpg

    It does have the M4 feed ramp cuts though. Maybe they just forgot to mark it. I don't know but this is just another example of why I keep buying these things.


    Barrel marking:
    P1170692_zpsauwlan07.jpg



    The stock is correctly marked "1 N":
    P1170694_zpszmqye9br.jpg


    P1170693_zpshdvdscpa.jpg

    To my knowledge, ONLY Colt fiberlite stocks are marked this way and it has not been faked so far. Apparently Colt also used unmarked stocks too though so the waters are muddied when trying to verify whether or not the stock you are looking at is genuine. Absent the 1 N mark, experience is your only guide.


    Proper stake mark on buffer tube nut:
    P1170695_zpsuxljavva.jpg



    Web in the rear of the receiver preventing the use of full auto parts:
    P1150559_zpszpdza1sy.jpg

    The previous two carbines look identical.

    That's it for this one. In the next post, we'll begin looking at the rifles. Thanks for your time!
     
    Last edited:

    buellsfurn

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 1, 2015
    5,951
    southern end of Maryland
    Yeppers. I gave up trying to compete decades ago. Life is far more enjoyable when you don't compare yourself to others. Far better to just do your own thing and enjoy what you have.

    yes sir i do enjoy what i have and happy with what i have. My favorite Leonard Skinner song is Simple Man . But a SVT 40 would be nice
     

    Combloc

    Stop Negassing me!!!!!
    Nov 10, 2010
    7,212
    In a House
    I like that song too! I used to have an SVT but sold it. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, I'll quote Spock with regards to an SVT:

    "After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."

    :D
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    One of my local shops (Sharpshooters) has a Colt HBAR rifle (used) on the consignment rack. I don't recall the price on it, but it's been there a while.
     

    Combloc

    Stop Negassing me!!!!!
    Nov 10, 2010
    7,212
    In a House
    Now we're moving on to the rifles. None of these are police trade-ins or anything special; just plain jane civilian rifles. Also, none of them have dated barrels because I don't think Colt started dong that until about 1996. The first one we're going to look at is also the newest of the three and probably dates to around 1992-93 but that's just a guess. Certainly it was made prior to the 1994 Clinton ban.
    P1170696_zpsvbnmfo2q.jpg



    P1170699_zpsochooihy.jpg

    Notice that it has the "full fence" on the right side of the magazine well but it's not drilled for the front take down pin detent. That's because Colt was not making civilian rifles at this time with the pin. Instead there is a double sided screw installed. You can take it apart but you weren't supposed to.

    Left side of the receiver:
    P1170702_zpsx9stj5hh.jpg

    This rifle is essentially an A2 HBAR but not marked as such. In the interest of it being seen as a purely sporting rifle, the "A2" designation was removed and it was remarked as a "Sporter Match". The serial number prefix is "MH" which stands for "Match HBAR" and the bayonet lug was removed. All of this was done because Colt could see the ban on the horizon and they were hoping to be excluded from it if they did enough neutering to the design. There were also other changes made but we're not going into all of that. Frankly, I'm not 100% sure of everything that was done. Still, we will see a couple more things that were done to permanently keep them semi-auto only as we move along.


    Barrel marking:
    P1170703_zpso3udvvwv.jpg

    Contrary to what you might read in some places, the "C" in front of "MP" stands for Colt, NOT Chrome or Chromed or Chrome Lined.


    Muzzle showing the correct for this period peel washer:
    P1170704_zpso4lthoij.jpg



    Detail of the full-auto block:
    P1170705_zpsucc99mh4.jpg

    Receivers of this era did not have the web we are accustomed to seeing in newer receivers in order to block the installation of full-auto parts. SO, Colt put this block in place and held it there by drilling a hole in the receiver and inserting a pin. On this rifle, that pin can be seen four pictures above on the right side of the receiver just above the safety axle. Note that the pin does not pass through the left side of the receiver, only the right.


    A closeup of the small head forward assist still used today:
    P1170707_zpsml5zt1ap.jpg
     
    Last edited:

    Combloc

    Stop Negassing me!!!!!
    Nov 10, 2010
    7,212
    In a House
    Moving back in time 21,792 rifles, we come to this jobber:
    P1170726_zpsqfsjeox5.jpg


    P1170729_zpswyyadlso.jpg

    For all intents and purposes, it's the same rifle as we looked at above but it's nowhere near identical. The first obvious difference is the complete lack of a fence on the right side of the lower receiver. This is basically just an SP1 receiver only marked differently. By the way, what the hell is that phone doing in there???? Shoddy photographic skills!!


    Left side of receiver:
    P1170732_zps4rf7lnqk.jpg

    It's very similar to the previous rifle but again, there are differences. For one, notice that the full auto block pin protrudes through to this side where it did not on the other rifle. Yu can see it above word "FIRE". Also notice the little circles to the left and right of the safety. On the previous rifle those areas were more tic-tac shaped. There is a technical word for those thingees but it escapes me. I'm no expert on AR-15's. There is also a difference in reinforcement at the rear of the receiver where the buffer tube mounts but we'll look at that in more detail on the next rifle.


    Here is a closeup of the right rear of the lower receiver showing that the full-auto block pin passes through this side too:
    P1170737_zpst9rptqqi.jpg

    I guess Colt eventually figured out that you could just drive this pin out so they changed it to a blind pin at some point as seen on the previous rifle.


    Barrel marking:
    P1170733_zps99y7mkrn.jpg

    Same information but a different font and size.


    Again, a peel washer:
    P1170734_zpsypgfjqqo.jpg



    When I bought this rifle, it had a leather "Colt" marked sling on it. It also had a Colt cheek riser on the stock and a Colt marked scope rail attached to the carry handle. At one point they offered a "Delta" version of this rifle that had these parts and a cheepie scope for a few bucks more. Apparently, someone wanted a Delta but either couldn't find or couldn't afford one so they tried to make this one. I took the cheek riser and scope mount off but left the sling as it works well enough. Here is a detail of the mark on the sling:
    P1170735_zpstwboksvw.jpg



    The forward assist button is identical:
    P1170736_zpsorw84ztv.jpg



    The receiver block:
    P1170738_zpsmi3qikl8.jpg
     
    Last edited:

    dontpanic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 7, 2013
    6,631
    Timonium
    I love your write up on these rifles. My favorite rifle is also a restricted marked police trade in. N1 stock and 6 hole hand guard. No date on the barrel.

    The only thing that did not cone from Colt is the sling mount between the receiver and buffer tube. This was done by whatever agency owned it before me.

    I have an Aimpoint on it and shoot it a lot, but I only need to put the A2 back on to return it to as bought.

    Edit: Forgot about the suppressor mount. Original birdcage is in a bag with the carry handle. I'm at about 7,000 rounds with this rifle and it has never let me down.
     

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