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Posted: 8/26/2017 9:46:32 AM EDT
I just received a "Colt" M4 lower from them, and there's nothing Colt about it. The finish is different, it has weired looking engraved markings, the selector lever is different, castle nut unstaked, unmarked buffer. I don't even think the receiver extension is Colt. It looks to be a early expanse lower where everything was contracted out. I had asked one of there sales people before ordering and was told that the lowers would be the same as would come with a 6920 (not true) I'm totally disgusted with it! When I purchase something advertised as Colt, I expect it to actually be just that. Had I known, I would of just purchased the piston marked lower, or bought elsewhere and not be stuck with a $300 junk lower.
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When I saw the emails that these were for sale by AU, I had some doubts. Good I didn't fo.
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CE serial number prefix, or LE? Are there selector stops or have them been milled off? If it's CE serial with selector stops, you have an Anderson lower with the Colt name on it, and I'd be right pissed.
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I can take some pictures after work. I don't know how to upload them, but I'll send them to anyone willing to upload them for me.
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In for pics.
Edit: I would also post in their industry forum. |
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I think there was a previous thread on these lowers. Bottom line is that they are the expanse lowers and not the 6920 lowers. I'll try to find the thread and post a link...
EDIT - Found It |
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I think there was a previous thread on these lowers. Bottom line is that they are the expanse lowers and not the 6920 lowers. I'll try to find the thread and post a link... EDIT - Found It View Quote |
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I'd demand a refund and let them take it back. Otherwise, I'd contact my credit card company and report it as misrepresentation/dispute the charge.
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There's a thread about this in their industry forum. I called them on it. Even if I had gotten one of the LE prefixed legitimate Colt lowers that were clearly not assembled by Colt, I'd have been pissed. That said, I just ordered a Colt complete lower through my local FFL and it is the real deal 6920 lower with two piece mag catch, H buffer, Colt staking, chalky grip, and 4 position extension. Price was $400 and I believe they got it through RSR. So, it would seem you can just order a Colt lower through your FFL without any hassle or transfer fees. Link to lower.
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I'd demand a refund and let them take it back. Otherwise, I'd contact my credit card company and report it as misrepresentation/dispute the charge. View Quote |
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I wrote them an email yesterday. I'll wait and see what their response is. If they don't offer to make it right, then I'll call my credit card company. View Quote Good luck. |
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Forgot to mention that the finish is also different from all the rest Colt lowers I own. It's grainy, not smooth like the rest.
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That is a legit colt lower receiver. That's one of the early 2013 roll marks. However I'm betting AU got it from Colt as a stripped lower and built it. That would explain the staking etc. Colt did use some 6 position buffer tubes early on.
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Something very fishy about that lower. Looks to be engraved and not roll marked. Colt has been doing some engraving, but those have only been on new lowers with QR codes. Also no forge mark. I would call Colt and see what they show for that serial number.
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Something very fishy about that lower. Looks to be engraved and not roll marked. Colt has been doing some engraving, but those have only been on new lowers with QR codes. I would call Colt and see what they show for that serial number. View Quote |
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That is all roll marked. Look at the serial as well. This was one of the first "2013" lowers after the Restricted ones were discontinued. View Quote I have never seen any Colt roll marks look like that. I am a Colt fanatic and have nothing but Colt ARs. Something is wrong with that lower. |
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The roll marks looks different. I've never seen a factory Colt castle nut with marks like that. Looks like someone attempted to stake it by hand. The buffer tube also looks different than the other 12 factory lowers I own. Not to mention the finish is very grainy. The lower in the raw may of come from colt, but it wasn't put together and finished by them.
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I have never seen any Colt roll marks look like that. I am a Colt fanatic and have nothing but Colt ARs. Something is wrong with that lower. View Quote Attached File Attached File |
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The roll marks looks different. I've never seen a factory Colt castle nut with marks like that. Looks like someone attempted to stake it by hand. The buffer tube also looks different than the other 12 factory lowers I own. Not to mention the finish is very grainy. The lower in the raw may of come from colt, but it wasn't put together and finished by them. View Quote |
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Whatever the scenario, the lower is not as advertised, and I was flat out lied to. I would of happily paid more for a legit factory built lower.
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That is all roll marked. Look at the serial as well. This was one of the first "2013" lowers after the Restricted ones were discontinued. View Quote If you don't know what you are posting about, then don't post. 2013 lowers start in the LE2XXXXX serial number range. A lower in the LE075XXX serial number range would be from around 2010. That lower is some type of third party thing that was made for Colt. If that was sold as a current production LE6920 lower then it was misrepresented. |
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Most definitely an expanse lower. I'd be pissed as well. The one piece may catch, hand staking, receiver extension, pistol grip, and odd markings give it away.
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Last month I bought an m4 complete lower and a piston marked lower from them.The M4 lower is as the OP described ,while the piston marked lower was everything you would expect from Colt.Night and Day difference
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AU is deliberately misleading people and marketing these as factory Colt M4 lowers. Either they take it back and refund me $300 or I'm disputing the charge.
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I'll post what I can say for sure, and then what I think on this.
I think that did in fact come off an Expanse lower, assembled by Bold Ideas/Colt Competition prior to going belly up. My point of reference...that stake is identical to the job on my particular example of the Expanse Heavy Barrel SOCOM. The receiver extension, pistol grip, and other small parts are also consistent. I would say all of that for sure, and would say with 99% reasonable assurance that it is a Colt Expanse takeoff. But that receiver...man, that's a head scratcher. I do not think that was an Anderson made lower. It's got the tell-tale Colt flashing left on it. It's an LE serial rather than CE serial. The lack of forge mark means nothing (Cerro's are still typically present on the lower but I have and have seen others that are not there and are BAFE from what I've heard). The selector stops are gone. You could convince me that are markings are the magwell are Colt. I went and pulled a recent 6920, as well as a 2013 6520, and there's no way, in my opinion, Colt did the safe/fire or manu/city/state markings. I also doubt the left a gap in serials that far back that they'd then go and left someone else produce. My theory...we're seeing Colt do a lot of cleanup right now. There might have been some scrapped serials in a pile for whatever reason half complete that they then shipped out for Expanses that had minor work done to them by others. It's actually kind of an interesting example and not one I think we've seen yet to come out of the Expanse dumpster. But yes, because of the guts and staking, that's an Expanse, likely built on a lower Colt did MOST of the machining/finishing on. |
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Last month I bought an m4 complete lower and a piston marked lower from them.The M4 lower is as the OP described ,while the piston marked lower was everything you would expect from Colt.Night and Day difference View Quote |
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If you don't mind, can you share the first 3 digits AFTER the LE prefix on your example? Anywhere close to OPs? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Last month I bought an m4 complete lower and a piston marked lower from them.The M4 lower is as the OP described ,while the piston marked lower was everything you would expect from Colt.Night and Day difference |
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Okay I stand corrected. When i looked at the OPS pics I mistook the 6 as a 0. I enlarged it and seen it is a 6.
That was the reason I assume it was an early model. |
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Thanks Rlett4. I saw "0" too, and the "6" is even more interesting. I've only seen 6920s into the "5xxxxx" range. Really wondering who's doing the sub work on the Expanse these days...was there anything left out of the ashes of Bold Ideas?
Maybe this is worth a second thread asking if anyone's seen LE6xxxxx on a verified 6920 and if the marking depths/letters have changed. |
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Thanks Rlett4. I saw "0" too, and the "6" is even more interesting. I've only seen 6920s into the "5xxxxx" range. Really wondering who's doing the sub work on the Expanse these days...was there anything left out of the ashes of Bold Ideas? Maybe this is worth a second thread asking if anyone's seen LE6xxxxx on a verified 6920 and if the marking depths/letters have changed. View Quote |
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The highest Colt S/N I have in my safe is a LE6940 (M4 marked receiver )I bought 2 months ago with the S/N LE572xxx and it was all Colt,4 position stock,proper mag release and safety
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I bought a lower off gunbroker (not AU) advertised as a 6920 take off a couple weeks ago with a SN of LE564XXX and it was similar crappy quality. Has a QR code on it, 6 position buffer tube, and really low quality looking furniture/selector switch etc.
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When I lay my LE6940 next to my AU M4 lower there is no comparison,It is strange that the quality and parts vary so much even in similar s/n ranges...All my parts were correct and the font and staking was correct on my Factory LE6940 also bought from AU
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One piece mag catch and stake job scream EXPANSE. No H buffer.
6 position tube? Looks to be. |
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Looks to be garbage, and absolutely not what I was told it was. AU should be ashamed of themselves, trying to pass these off as anything other than what they are...JUNK View Quote |
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Looks to be garbage, and absolutely not what I was told it was. AU should be ashamed of themselves, trying to pass these off as anything other than what they are...JUNK View Quote I will not buy Colt without holding it in my hands to personally inspect first. |
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I bought a lower off gunbroker (not AU) advertised as a 6920 take off a couple weeks ago with a SN of LE564XXX and it was similar crappy quality. Has a QR code on it, 6 position buffer tube, and really low quality looking furniture/selector switch etc. View Quote |
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I will do my best to address your complaints and allegations of misconduct by us.
We have stripped lowers listed which were only sold as stripped lowers, we never have and never will assemble anything at our location, we sell things as we receive them. The lower you ordered we have discounted down to $300 (that is $100 less than anywhere else) and the listing is for factory Colt Piston Carbine lowers, you specifically requested an M4 Carbine marked lower, which they shipped for you. Anything that has Colt markings on it is obviously manufactured by Colt and not us, so any complaints about quality should fall on them not us, we are not sitting at their factories inspecting workmanship. All lowers are manufactured at Hartford, CT but may or may not have been assembled on the same line for a period of time we received lowers that were assembled at the same facility as the expanses, not every person who works at our facilities is a firearms expert let alone a Colt firearms expert and knows what tiny details to look for. When they are asked by a customer to look for a product that is marked differently than what was purchased thats what they do, they don't know to look for the small details that were mentioned above. |
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I just read your post and did not see any concern for your customer or any willingness to make things right. Instead you blame Colt for the lack of quality (even though this lower was obviously put together by a third party). What you fail to address, is the fact that I didn't purchase the lower from Colt, I purchase it from you. Its you responsibility to inform your customer of what it is your selling. I bought this because of information I was given by one of your employees. Whether that person was just ignorant, or was balantantly misleading, it doesn't matter. The end result for me is the same. If this is the type of " customer service " I'm to expect from your company, you won't see another penny from me.
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That's probably an acceptable answer from Tom, Dick, & Harry's Firearms Emporium Megastore...not so much when you make your lunch advertising as a go-to Colt dealer (that get all the cool stuff no one else can in many cases). How hard is it to inventory, list, & sell Colt Expanse lowers as "Colt Expanse Lowers?" I seriously doubt, dealing with serialized firearms and all, that the warehouse is a free for all sh!t show, but who knows. If your employees can't discern the difference in a product that your customers are going to pick apart with a fine tooth comb, how can someone ordering a Colt A2 birdcage really know they're getting a Colt rather than something out of the DPMS part box? Can't really be a Colt specialist and a "cut us some slack" run-of-the-mill retailer at the same time.
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