I am looking at a Colt Sporter pre-ban.  It is unfired, but is a bit odd.  The lower is designated AR15A2.  The upper is A1 in style (still all Colt) but with a forward assist.  The store is asking $1289.  

What is the collective wisdom here?  Is this reasonable for a pre=ban these days?  What about that unusal configuration...are there any surprises there?

All advice is welcome.  I have a pre-ban that I got years ago, and several post ban rifles.  I have been out of the market so long that I am not sure what the price points are.

I guess another option is to wait a year and hope for the ban to sunset.  However, if this is a good deal, I might just get it now.

I recently was lucky to see one of these myself. I have an AR15A2 with the A2 upper. This one was A2 lower with an A1 upper reciever with a 1X7. A dealer friend had it and got it new that way new. I say go for it "if" it came that way and you want it. Make them an offer. Let us know.

Danny

Given the state you live in, what difference does it make?

Get one while you can.

Yes doesn't the ban end in a year, does anyone think that maybee bush won't renew it? That would be great, though I believe it ends on an election year, DAMMIT!

Bush can't renew it, Congress can.  And it's pretty much been said that any bill renewing or otherwise reenacting the ban will never make it to a vote in the House of Representatives, so it's probably dead in the water.

Nevertheless, although this will cause prices on most pre-bans to drop considerably, there's a school of thought out there that says Colts marked "AR-15" will [i]not[/i]  drop in value, because Colt will probably never roll mark anything as an AR-15 again, so it has some collector value independant of the assault weapons ban.  YMMV.

Hi Slingshot,

The rifle you are looking at is probably a green label gun. These were made on slab-side lowers with large pivot pins but mil-spec fire control pins. It has an A2 length buttstock, a1 sights forward assist but no shell deflector. These were made only one year 1984. Right after the final run of the SP1's. Check the serial number should start SP******. 1289 is not a bad deal.

Go for it if you want it.


These colts are primo quality in my opinion.

Good luck

Brigadier_92

I believe the last post was a perfect description of the rifle I saw.  Apparently it is a transitional model with some new features, some old.  IIRC there was no fence around the mag release either.

Some people think that rifles designated "AR15" will be a collectors item since it was named in the original ban. I would probably buy one if I could afford it, but I don't have that kind of cash to spend on collectors items, so my rifles will always be designated PCRs, M-15, EM15s and the like. Who knows what AR15 rifle values will do. Look at what happened to Beanie babies, people were paying $2500 for a beanbag toy, now the bottom has dropped out because people realized they have no intrinsic value.

I say if you really want it and can afford it, it's a good price. As an investment, it might be dubious right now because no one can predict what will happen to preban values, Colt or otherwise, if the AWB sunsets. But not everyone buys prebans for investment. My $.02 worth.