My friend is looking to buy a preban Colt AR15 and would like to what that is.  Also what prebans are the most desirable?

I believe a green label is a "pre" preban.  hehe.  1989 and before? It was before the blue label.  Not sure but I believe they had no sear block where the blue labels do.

While I have a preban colt, I'd rather have a preban anything else.   My colt has a different pivot hole size so you need one of those screw jobs holding it together.

my .223 cents

The "Green" vs. "Blue" label has to do with the COLOR of the label that Colt had on the boxes when the guns were sold when new!

Now, most if not all Green Label Colts used funky pivot pins, larger trigger pins, and had variations in reinforcing on the lower.

The Blue Label Colts are a period where Colt tried to make their rifles look less evil and bayonet lugs began to disappear, sear blocks of various forms were added, and most remarkably Colt began putting mil-spec trigger and pivot pins back in the guns!  These rifles are often refered to as "transition" Colts and the different combinations that you can find are way to numerious for me to try to list.

Now, my ideal Colt has the following characteristics:

1.  Small Pivot
2.  Reinforced fence for push pin front pivot
3.  Mil-Spec Trigger Components
4.  Black color (not Colts lighter grey)

Note:  Any Colt with the above characteristics will almost always have a sear block.  I have owned at least four Colts with this block and I have never been affected by it!

Good Luck!

Quoted: 2.  Reinforced fence for push pin front pivot

Could you please explain this "fence" thing... I hear this mentioned a lot (on various things) and am confused...

Oh, and could you please tell me where I can get a push pin for the front take-down pin??? I think I have the normal sized hole.

Thanks

The best picture I seem to have is of a Colt R6530 Sporter Lightweight as follows...



The arrow I marked with the letter "A" shows the raised reinfored area on the lower receiver that I am refering.  This is the area that gets drilled for the pivot pin spring and detent which hold the front pivot pin in place.

Please note that Arrow B points to a Mil-Spec push pin as this lower came with the hole drilled and a Colt's funky 1-headed screw.  All I needed to do was buy a mil-spec pivot pin, spring, and detent and put her together!

The best place to get these parts is JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE!  I think these parts as shown are Bushmaster Parts but I know I have also bought these same parts from Armalite for another gun!  They are all basically the same!

Also, I just realized that I almost cropped off the pin that holds the Sear Block in the lower.  Look at the left side of the image!  Colt has several varieties and I know some guys don't like the huge pin, but I don't mind it!

This gun has all my top choices:

1.  Small Pivot (Push pin at that)
2.  Mil Spec Trigger
3.  Black Color

Good Luck!

Colt AR-15 Box Colors

Quoted: Please note that Arrow B points to a Mil-Spec push pin as this lower came with the hole drilled and a Colt's funky 1-headed screw.  All I needed to do was buy a mil-spec pivot pin, spring, and detent and put her together!

Thanks for the info.

Are these the parts I need? It doesn't mention if its a push-pin... I think my front pins are normal size (Colt Sporter and Match Target)...

www.bushmaster.com/shopping/lowers/individual_parts_for_lower_receivers.asp

Pivot Pin (Front) 8448621 $3.95  
Pivot Pin Detent  8448585 $ .50
Pivot Pin Spring  8448586 $ .50

How can I tell if I have a funky 1-headed screw? What's it look like? Do I need to modify the receiver for a milspec pin?

Thanks in advance!

Energizer,

First look at your lower.  Colt has three basic designs in regards to the front pivot pin that I can think of now.  These are:

1.  Two Screw Head.
2.  One Screw Head.
3.  Mil-Spec Push Pin.

The Two Screw head pivot pins have a slotted head on both ends of the pivot pin and requires the use of two screw drivers to remove the pivot pin.  I may have some pictures of a Colt R6600 that was a large pivot with this type of front screw.  You can NOT convert a large pivot lower to push pin as the pivot pin is the wrong size AND the reinforcing will be missing as shown above!  I believe that there are also 2-screw small pivot lowers around and these likewise will not be able to be converted to push pin as they will lack the reinforcing.  (I could be wrong about this?)

As for the one screw front pivot, the ones I have seen or owned look like a normal front pivot pin on the right side as shown above but they will have a screw on the opposite side that holds the pivot pin in place.  To confirm if your lower can be converted to the mil spec push pins all you need to do is look for the raised reinforcing above.

If your lower looks like the one above, next remove your front pivot and see if there is a hole drilled into that reinforced area.  If so, you will not need to modify your lower to convert it to a push pin configuration.  If the hole is not drilled, then you would need to have the hole drilled which is a very minor job that Kurt could do quite cheaply!  The parts you listed above are the correct parts that you would need!  

I will try to take some pictures of my Colt that will show this in better detail.  My current Pre-Ban colt is a Sporter Match HBAR and it had the single head screw and was factory drilled for the mil-spec front pivot.  I also had a Sporter Target that I had to get drilled to convert it to push pin and the end result was the same!  I should have the 1-pc front screw as well and if I can find that I will post a picture for clarity as this question has come up quite a bit over the past several years.

Good Luck!