[black][font=Arial][size=5][size=4]Gentlemen, I apologize if this has been covered before but I could not find a direct comparison of the models I am interested in.  I want a short firearm semi auto in 5.56 but I’m not sure if a civilian may own any M4 semi auto or not.  I have no idea of what the new AR’s that call themselves M4’s really are.  My impression is that M4 receivers are shorter but I may not sure if the newer AR15 models are shorter too.  Here’s what I like.
I really like the free floating barrel of the LE6940 and am not sure what the articulation link system on the LE6940P is and whether it is worth the money.  I’ve shot a large heavy Colt target model with a 24” stainless barrel and the accuracy was superb.  But I realize super accuracy may not be very important in the new short firearms.  The LE6940 series are very expensive.

The other series of Colts I really like are the LE6920’s.  I saw a LE6920MPB with the Magpul series and was super impressed with everything and loved the Magpul accessories.  The LE6920 series does not have a free floating barrel but do I need this on a short firearm with a 16” barrel.  I am not sure if the more if the more expensive models in this series are more desirable or worth the price increase or more desirable than the LE6920MPB.
One local dealer has a LE6920MPB for $1260.  These are hard to find locally and I believe this is a high price.
I would appreciate your opinion on which model from either series I should buy (I have limited funds).  I am partial to Colt because of the quality of the firearms and resale value down the road.

Colt 6920 for $899 plus 5 mags: http://www.cdnnsports.com/6920-16-flat-top-rogers-ret.html#.VB7lOul0wcE
You can swap out the furniture for Magpul or something else after you've had some trigger time w/it.
HTH...
Tomac
ETA: I wouldn't sweat a freefloat bbl unless you're going for extreme precision.

Hi Guys,
My original post exceeded the word count so I added another post for the 2nd part, thus both the posts did not exceed my allowed word count.  Editing the original post would have exceeded the total word count for a new person in a post so I thought that would have been a violation..  So I added a part 2 post to avoid exceeding the word count.  I certainly was not trying to increase my word cost, just trying to a couple of questions before spending a lot of money.

Mark, thanks for your assessment of the difference in performance between the LE6920 and LE6940.  I thinking I shouldn't expect supreme accuracy with anything with a short barrel but you make it sound like the floating bbl has a definite
edge for 200+yds.

My emphasis has always been supreme accuracy but the cost of weight and a long bbl makes it very hard to shot accurately standing.

What are the opinions of Magpul, it looked real good to me on the  LE6920MPB I saw locally but it was $1260 but that seemed very high.


Tomac,
Sounds like a great idea to start with the basic and add later.  Fantastic price for the basic LE6920 is the link you have provided..   Thanks so much!


Impact Arms always pops up first in Google searches with super cheap prices.  Found lots of negative feedback on them on the net.  Is that the general consensus here?

Thanks so much everyone and I apologize if I broke the rules.  I was trying to abide by them and made a mistake.

A even better deal

Do you really need better accuracy?  Do you shoot matches or do just want to be able to shoot small groups?

Wow, that looks like a good price on the AR-15A4.  I just looked at it on the Colt site and it wasn't immediately obvious how it differed from the LE6920.  I wonder why it's called an AR-15A4 and a similar LE6920 gets a completely different name.  Not sure if it's bolt on parts or if there are major differences that are not cheap and easy to change, like the receiver or other major parts.

Seriously I have been shooting all kinds of pistol calibers and developing loads matched to each particular gun.  As you probably know you can have to identical firearms, same make and model and the most accurate load in one can be terrible in the other.  So I did lots of sandbag testing as I never owned a Ransom rest.  There was nothing I hated worse than an inaccurate firearm as I ran across a few that were inaccurate with all loads.  To me there is absolutely no fun in shooting an inaccurate gun as it is impossible to tell how well your doing vs the firearms accuracy.

But I think we are in a different league here as I believe any Colt AR15\M4 will be incredibly more accurate any Ruger Mini 14 either the old model or the newer accuracy improved Mini 14 design.  Had a Ruger Mini 14 Target model with the adjustable weight at the end of the barrel and sold it before I shot it as folks were not getting 1 MOA consistently.

I used to have superb vision but I'm older and it's gone so I'll never shoot sights like I used.  I'm looking for lighter, shorter rifles that I can shoot standing easily and need to back off of the supreme accuracy mindset.  I was getting 1 MOA .308 groups loaded on an old RL550B.  You just have to be very consistent in every movement you make on the press.

So I think I would be fine without the floating barrel, but I wouldn't mind spending a couple hundred more to have one if that's possible.

I'm a huge fan of Colt's monolithic upper receiver, so between the two, I'd pick the 6940.
It's a solid optics platform, and extremely accurate.

I have 2 6940's, a 6920, and also a 901.

I don't own one, but have experience with the 6940P. Very nice rifle as well, but it does nothing the DI guns don't do.

Either one you choose will be an excellent choice.

The link above is for the AR6720, it is the same as the 6920 with the exception that it has a lighter weight barrel (pencil barrel). Some swear by the 6920 and an equal number swear by the 6720, either one is a fine rifle.

Thanks Guys!
That kind of feedback is just what I need.to know.  I wonder if the CR6724 with the free floating 24" barrel is the same monolithic as the LE6940.  They are very accurate indeed.  I did notice LE6940's listed on the net as low as $1270 but I not sure on the dealers credibility and you add a local transfer fee. That's about the same price I would pay for a LE6920MPB locally with tax..  I'd could add the the Magpull later but I'm not sure if you can add an upper with a free floating barrel with a monollithic upper to the LE6920 receiver.  I doubt it.

I doubt if you could modify the LE6940 to the new action piston system on the LE6940P.  Not sure what the new action piston is for but I think it is for improvements in full auto.  Something I will never do.

And does anyone have any experience with Impact Arms?

Thanks very much folks!

The Colt model CR6724 does not have the same monolithic uppers as the LE6940, the older versions of the CR6724 had a two piece upper with an aluminum tube free floating handguards, newer models I believe have Troy FF rails which have lots of ventilated holes to help the barrel cool faster than the old aluminum tube handguards without air vents.

Actually the monolithic upper LE6940 are on the same LE6920 lower receivers/ lower half with "M4 Carbine" roll markings, and you could use any other types of upper groups with different weights of barrels, lightweight, M4 profile, M4 SOCOM, HBAR heavy barrel (AR6721), etc, on the LE6920 lower half.

I never dealt with Impact Arms but I had a bad buying experience with Impact Guns (UT), if you want to have a smooth transaction go with the AR15.com Industry partners, they're listed on the Industry (button next to Hometown) and their web links are all in there.