I'm getting ready to buy a Colt 6920 Law Enforcement Carbine.  A couple of buddies told me that recent Colt purchases resulted in rifles that were mismatched in color and had crappy fit.  They said that the uppers were not Alcoa (AF) manufacture but were Diemaco (Canada) made.  ANy body familiar with this change?  Is this a "bad" change?  Anybody had probs with crappy looking and fitting Colt rifles recently?  Thanks

Just got a MT6400C and it looks great except for the funky break the color is perfect the fit ad finish is as good as always ,I have 5 other colts 2 preban and 3 post ban all in all i cant see a quality diff.

Vicious rumors by the anti-Colt crowd....

Dirk

I have a Diemaco 6920 upper, it is great.

Colt has ALWAYS built rifles w/whatever parts were on the shelf, and color mismatches, while not universal, are not exactly rare either[:D]. That being said, parts quality has always been top notch, and as far as I can tell, still is.  If you want a Colt, go for it.  

My SP1 is still ticking after 25+ years, and two of my other ARs have Colt top ends. ALL my bolts, and all but one of my carriers are Colt as well. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Anybody can build a decent upper and/or lower, and many do. Nobody does a better job w/the internals though, and many don't even get close.

Recently I donated the funds for my father's PD to buy four Colt LE6920 carbines. They took delivery of them less than two weeks ago.

I didn't see whose markings were on the upper, but there was absolutely no color mismatch and the fit between the upper and lower is just fine.

This is from a person who hates colt.I have not heard any thing on what you describe and a buddy of minre recently purchased a colt postban M4.Although I have my reasons for not liking them I have to say the rifle is made well and upper and lower fit tight and good.

Alcoa has never produced uppers for Colt (or any other manufacturer, for that matter) They only make raw forgings, which are provided to various companies to be finish machined.

FWIW, Diemaco uppers and lowers are essentially Colts. Matter of fact Colt's website says Canada uses "Colt's", they just happen to be manufactured in one of Colt's licenced international factories [;)]. If you remove the grip on the C7, it says Colt on the lower receiver. It was a matter of licence agreement. Hence, Diemaco makes stuff for Colt and vice-versa.

Ruff

I recently bought an MT 6731 and the quality of the parts is excellent. The bluing is a little splotchy in a couple of spots, but this is no safe queen so I don't mind. I absolutely notice a difference on the upper assm. between this Colt and a couple of others from different mfg.s I've handled.

I have an upper circa 1967 and parts quality there is excellent as well. Colt appears to have consistently maintained a high level of quality.

I felt that Colt quality may have slipped a bit, not really sure what parts they are using.

See my thread, with similar concerns.
[url=]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=162784&w=searchPop[/url]

Yep.

Colt is back on track after an ugly spell.  The LEO/ Military weapons are what you want to buy, not the civilian weapons.  

So, when was this ugly spell?? I have a 1999 CMH, and it is sooooooo sweet!!

Ugly as in overall, not as a statement of all of their weapons.  

My patrol rifle is a Colt LE6920. I purchased it in March of 2003. I ordered it from an LE distributor, sight unseen. When it arrived, it was beautiful. The color and fit was superb. It functions flawlessly and I have no problems at all with trusting my life to it on duty.

You can't go wrong with Colt.

Re the color thing, probably should have been more specific about the whys and wherefors of how mismatches came about. Over the years, Colt has used at least four different shades in anodising the aluminum parts of their ARs, and the vast majority of "mismatches" occur in those pieces made at, or ahortly after, a color changeover.

As examples; I have a very early, Air Force issue, M16 upper, which is the same shade as WW2 parkerizing;; with a greenish tint.  My SP1, from the mid '70s, is more grayish in shade, and the very late M16A1 upper I have is almost, but not quite, as dark as current production.

Colt has been using a very dark tint anodising for a number of years now, and I would expect any piece coming off the line in recent years to have uniform coloring top and bottom.  It's the guys who acquired ARs made during the changeover times who got the mismatched upper/lower colors[:D]