Do the A2 Govt. Carbines made by Colt have a fence around the mag release?  And if the current production models do, when did they start adding that feature?
I have a chance at a pre-ban Govt. Carbine without the fence and I am kind of curios about the value.  It is in approx. 99% condition.
Any opinions will be appreciated.

I'm no Colt afficionado, but I do have a pre-ban "Colt Gov't Carbine AR15A2" that has the raised fence.  I think I've heard of others who have a slabside CGC though.  May have been a transitional thing - some slabsides until they started adding the fence, but I don't know for sure.

My A2 Carbine does not have a fence either and is large hole receiver.  I've seen these for 1500-1800 although i would not pay that for one.  i ordered mine the day after the guy shot up that macdonalds somewhere because to me that was the beginning of the end......Dick

Colt Government Carbines went through several variations.  They started slab sided with big hinge pins and small trigger pins.  I think all of these are pre-bans.  (You should check the serial numbers VERY carefully as to pre-ban/post-ban.)  

There were also some pre-bans with small hinge pins, and for the most part, fenced magazine buttons and large trigger pins.  Many of these had the holes drilled to enable you to replace the Colt ________ screw hinge pin with the M16 style captive push pin.

Then there are post bans with small hinge pins, large trigger pins and fenced magazine buttons.

As of about a year ago, the going price was about $2300-$2600 for a pre-ban government carbine.  Don't know about current prices.  You might want to check the for sale board and the archives here at AR15.com.

I had a slab sided GC that I sold a couple of months ago on Gunbroker.com for $2525. I had the original green labeled box and it was in about 95% condition. The serial number was GC0002XX so it was a very early model.

Thanks for the info guys.  This really helped.

mattjedi [sniper]