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Posted: 8/10/2026 9:16:40 AM EDT
| Does anybody know if these (recent production, anyway) have the standard M4 barrel or the SOCOM profile? |
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They all have the SOCOM profile barrel that is 14.7". It almost looks like the same rifle they ship for their military contract M4A1s. The problem is that FN are shipping them with 4140 steal instead but they are chrome lined and with the KAC rails and in the SOCOM profile. The FN Collector M4 is the second rifle I shot out. It lasted about 13,000 rounds after I calculated all the ammo I bought for it. Basically it lasted a little longer than my BCM SOCOM which I shot Tula out of but this one I was babying it shooting only m193 but it died rather earlier than I thought it would. I now bought a brand new FN collector upper along with a Colt SOCOM rifle. Personally I think the Colt's SOCOM better in terms of the Property markings and the fact it is built to TDP with an actual 14.5 inch barrel like they ship to the military. I do have a spare SOCOM barrel that I bought as well if I managed to shoot this one out. I haven't been shooting all that much lately and the FN I shot out two years ago sometime around the start of 2024. I haven't been shooting nearly as much as I did around that time. |
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Yeah the 4140 vs 4150 debate is overrated.. nobody will ever be able to tell the difference just by using it. I do agree that for the price they could have just used the proper steel they’re using for govt contracts. I’ve read their Socom profile is missing the 203 flats but I’m not sure about that |
| Mine FN is fat and heavy but no flats milled into it. Mine is also very accurate. I too agree the 4140/4150 chrome lined argument is an obsession. 13K rounds before shoot out of a FN CL4140 says MOST will never buy another barrel. |
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Originally Posted By pb57: I E-mailed FN customer service yesterday and they responded that the barrels are standard M4 (non-SOCOM) profile. So...? I have no idea what to tell you. The two samples I got both had socom profile barrels at 14.7 and according to the specs made of 4140 steel. It is twice as expensive as a Colt though so my recommendation is if you’re unsure, my advice is to go with the Colt socom upper if you can find it as they are about half the price. The fn upper I bought was off midwayusa. I also bought the complete rifle off the same site two years before. The price is about 1600 to 1800 I remember. I guess even without the socom profile you have to remember they’re 14.7 barrels and made of 4140 steel so you’re kind of nitpicking the “correctness” if you will by focusing on the profile and not the other things that make it different from the actual one. The colt one is probably the closest you can get to the military m4a1 minus the third pin and the welded on flash hider. |
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Okay let me do you a quick favor for some pictures! You can see the Colt has the correct grenade rings flats, and is a hair bit thicker in profile. The FN one is a bit thinner that's not exactly a standard profile but it's not exactly a SOCOM profile. As I said the FN one has a lot of things wrong with it, but to an untrained eye, it looks very similar to the military one. It's also a lot more expensive than the Colt. My guess is FN had to go out of their way to make it this way so they probably charge more because it's not off any assembly line they use normally. If you want correctness, go with the Colt. It's also a lot cheaper. This is the FN....  This is the Colt... 
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Agree. Here is my FN barrel Attached File |
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dalle0001, appreciate your posting of the pictures and the additional information. I'm looking at buying one of these "Military Collector" M4's but wasn't sure about the barrel profile. I had heard in the past that these were SOCOM contour, but FN's e-mail confused things a bit. and their website is somewhat short on specifics: https://fnamerica.com/products/rifles/fn-15-military-collector-m4/ |
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Originally Posted By pb57: dalle0001, appreciate your posting of the pictures and the additional information. I'm looking at buying one of these "Military Collector" M4's but wasn't sure about the barrel profile. I had heard in the past that these were SOCOM contour, but FN's e-mail confused things a bit. and their website is somewhat short on specifics: https://fnamerica.com/products/rifles/fn-15-military-collector-m4/ Don't bother with the "collector" series from FN, you are paying a big markup. It's meant to be a clone of the M4 but it lacks many distinctive features. As you already noticed they couldn't be bothered to even give the barrel grenade cuts, there is no variation of the "collector" series that does because there is only one you can buy. The BCG is also unmarked and indistinguishable from a generic phosphate one you can buy off PSA. There is also no "F" engraved on the receiver or a cage code for that matter. The barrels are also logo'd, the real deal is cage coded and use the better 4150 steel. This is either a TDP compliance thing or a cost cutting measure. Either way, you will have a hard time getting close to what you paid for it if you decide to ever sell it. You are better off piecing it together from trading platforms. A stripped upper assembly with new or lightly used genuine USGI components will cost you significantly less and provide better quality and value. |
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It’s unclear why FN decided to do that. Some say it is since Colt owns the TDP and maybe since they can’t touch them via military contracts they can definitely bring them to court for civilian sales. So they’re making changes purposely to avoid any potential lawsuit from Colt. Others say that because fn is a military contract it could be they don’t want to raise any questions from the government that they’re rolling out the same rifles to civilians since governments oftentimes frown on that. Whatever it is the end result is you’ll get a near clone that as I said before to a casual observer probably won’t notice. The best way to get the military rifle from fn is probably getting a collector m16a4 lower then finding a surplus m16a4 upper they sold a while back that had the F stamped carrier and government surplus barrels. |
| Thanks to all for the input. I may go another route, but a point of curiosity regarding .gov contracts; Is the SOCOM profile barrel an established (and required) standard across all manufacturers or can individual companies get authorization to deviate from the drawing to some degree? |
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Originally Posted By pb57: Thanks to all for the input. I may go another route, but a point of curiosity regarding .gov contracts; Is the SOCOM profile barrel an established (and required) standard across all manufacturers or can individual companies get authorization to deviate from the drawing to some degree? I want to say no, they are not allowed to deviate. I know for sure they can't make it with any other material than the one they specified and it must pass the profile because the entire M4A1 program was built around the thicker barrel profile to prevent a kaboom during extended full auto fire. It would of course be required that a grenade launcher can be attached. There might be variations such as company's logo and markings such as some of the Colt ones might have a R stamped on bottom which some speculate meaning Remmington barrels but no one really made it clear. Also a lot of times companies will stamp their cage codes on the parts so they can reorder from them. But otherwise the material, and parts compatibilities must be maintained between the contracts and manufacturers for items. Generally speaking military M4s, especially older ones might be a mix matcher type where it will have parts from Colt and FN in it as it gets maintained and parts changed. But you might want to ask the other members here who are actual .mil armorers like combat diver on any sort of variations they might see. |
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Unless you really want the FN for a particular reason…get the Colt. Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By cms81586: Unless you really want the FN for a particular reason…get the Colt. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/2980/IMG_7797_jpeg-3810060.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/2980/IMG_7798_jpeg-3810062.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/2980/IMG_7799_jpeg-3810063.JPG Whoa what happened there |
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