I want a shooter and not a safe queen so not really looking at Colts unless I can find a screaming deal.  So which RR's should I stay away from and which would command a bit of a premium?  Also what should I expect to pay?

Thanks in advance

Anything from Olympic arms is good, prob 15-18k in price. EA cast lowers are a but cheaper but of lower quality

Proper conversion pretty much trumps all else when looking at a non-factory gun.  Definitely avoid "married sear" guns.  I've seen those in two forms.  The first happens when a DIAS was used to convert the gun but the gun serial number was used on the paperwork (many will still refer to this as a RR).  I've even seen a receiver properly milled to accept a USGI autosear, then they put a serial number on the autosear and registered that.

Personally, I would tend to avoid the cast EA guns.  Cast is not really a problem in and of itself, but some smiths won't work on them.  I heard a story about someone milling on a cast gun when they hit a casting void.  Apparently some major damage was done.  The cast EAs are not heavily discounted from what I can tell anyway.

All that said, if you get  good deal on a gun with a few problems, people like M60Joe can do awesome stuff.  Relocate holes, blueprint receivers so that all uppers fit, etc.  All is not lost if you buy one that is not perfect.

Also try to find receivers with good anodizing.  Many are costed and don't look that great.  The Olympic Arms guns had very light engraving so you only get one shot usually.

Could someone elaborate on this?  For example, how can light engraving be an issue or matter, and how can it be dealt with? Is this common on Olys?

How would the existing coating compare to anodizing?  Is it just aesthetic?  

Thanks.

It might be that to alter the serial number in anyway if even to re engrave the original would be against the rules, but that's just a guess.

Just call the folks at US Anodizing if you are worried about refinish, engraving, etc.  I have never heard of a problem with refinishing RRs, but if there is one I promise you US Anodizing can give you the straight dope on it.

Sure.  Basically a lot of the Oly RR's have very shallow engraving.  I have one, and I know of another board member (Redhed) who also has an Oly with the same issues.  If it has a coating on it, you can sometimes get the coating off with chemicals, but I would not try to blast an oly receiver more than once.  I had victor at US Anodizing (mentioned above) blast my brand new in the white receiver and the engraving is nearly impossible to see.  There's no way it would survive a second blast, so you would be stuck with coating it after that.  Just keep that in mind when you're looking at receivers.  That and make sure it's been looked at.  Everyone I know that purchased a converted receiver had to have work done.  Receiver's of the 80's are not like what we have today, I would guess to say most of them were not machined right, most.  Now, don't freak out or anything,  you can always get it fixed.  Mine had the selector detent hole machined in the wrong location, and the receiver was slightly too tall.  M60joe fixed it right up.  Redhed had an out of spec mag catch recess, casting flaws, and too tall receiver.  I have another friend who ran into the pins being located in the wrong area.  Just test fire the gun before hand, and bring your own upper to test on it.  I brought a hammer/trigger, pins, upper receiver, and buffer tube to test my receiver... and what do you know, I still had a problem.  But, it's fixed now and it works fantastic.

Here is my receiver after being anodized (for the first time, I bought it in the white)


you can see the difference in engraving depth, you can barely read the factory engraving.  The "AUTO" engraving is a standard depth.

But, it was a blessing as I just engraved over all the selector markings so I could have a proper "SAFE SEMI AUTO" selector.


You can't even see the engraving just a few feet away.  And this receiver was never refinished.

FleischPfeif: Thanks very much for the reply and photos--regarding the quote above: In the two instances you described were serial numbers an issue?  Were there concerns about the serial numbers becoming unreadable (or perhaps they can be enhanced or added elsewhere on a receiver)?

I assume that means it was new condition and never had any coating applied prior?

In reality, at these prices, you are buying the piece of paper (the registered status) and not the gun itself. Any registered gun can be made like new by the specialists who do this kind of work.