markm, thanks. The quality of this Colt goes far beneath that beautiful skin.
It's ironic that, given the nature of the complaints so far about the newer Colts, ArmaLite would be held up as better rifle. I don't believe that ArmaLite chrome lines their chambers or bores, either. Shooting Times did a 10,000 round torture test on a Colt HBAR without the gun itself malfunctioning once, although the barrel did begin to suffer from throat erosion at around the 9,000 round mark. Even then, it was suspected that the erosion occured because of firing so many round so quickly. 10,000 rounds in less than 2 days is an awful lot of shooting, folks.
And if I recall correctly, the ArmaLite lowers have an effective block of their own in that the floor of the receiver is not milled as deeply and it has an inward taper to it, basically a V shape. At any rate, I certainly like the look of the newer integral style block Colt is using as opposed to the earlier pinned in ones. Personally, I don't really care about the blocks anyhow as I don't plan on going full auto. If I were planning on that, I would simply move to another state and buy an M16.
It would be nice if Colt would use the same standard part dimensions as everyone else, but their lack of doing so hasn't limited the options available to those of us who prefer and demand Colt quality. My only real gripes about the newer Colts haven't even been mentioned yet. They would be the plastic buffer and the plastic buttplate/trapdoor. But these parts still work just fine and are easily and inexpensively replaced if they were to actually fail or are simply that much of a concern to anyone.
ArmaLite may indeed have no peer in service to their customers. I wouldn't know. As I so far only own Colt ARs, I have never had a need to send one back for service or repair even though they offer a lifetime service agreement. I have called them to verify a couple of serial numbers as being pre-ban and they sent me an owners manual for free, but that was it. No build quality problems, misaligned sights, hiccups, or anything else out the 5 Colts I have so far. It seems as though Colt has no peer in getting it right the first time. And that makes Colt the best buy in my book.