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Posted: 3/5/2005 10:59:17 AM EDT
| I need a new complete bolt and carrier assembly. I'm deciding between a Armalite ($145) and a Bushmaster ($129) Any thoughts? The price difference isn't that big of a deal, my primary consideration is quality, secondary is speed of delivery. |
email : EDIT mybad [email protected] |
Agreed, they have always been good with me. You certainly won't see a bolt and bolt carrier assembly for the same price range however.... 
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for Colt bolts groups www.specializedarmament.com/ Edited to add: yes there here but not sure I can justify the price I think there are some on the site he makes "reliability modificaitons" to> |
The best at $275 - $125 for the bolt and $150 for the carrier.  I will admit they are the best out there, but nothing justifies that price, when comparable items are out there for less than half. I run quality aftermarket carriers with Colt bolts for nearly 1/2 of that price. Hell, I just purchased three Colt bolts for $180. One new, one lightly used and one at about 80%. I refurbed them with new gas rings and Wolff extractor springs and they were good to go. ETA: I might be willing to try one of these. At $145 and being all Colt parts, it would be worth a shot, IMO. It is an M16 carrier, so take that into account, but it is alot more economical than SAW. Hell, their new ones go for $195 and $205, still alot cheaper than SAW. |
| I'm thinking I'm going to go with the Bushy, simply because I've had such good luck with them in the past. I can't find anything about CMT on the web, I recognize that bushmasters are probably just the CMT parts sold through them but the extra piece of mind is worth the $30. |
Go to this link, select CMT in the middle of the page, scroll down to the bolt/carrier assemblies and that is what you want. You won't find much about CMT on the web, because they've been subcontracting for so long, without marketing their own products. Just recently has there been alot of CMT marketed items out there, available to the civilian market. They've been building AR parts for as long as anybody, likely. You won't have a problem with their parts. |
The only chrome lined part of a bolt carrier is the bore that the bolt rides in. You won't see that in a pic. |
The RRA enhanced carrier with a good, Colt bolt is a very good compromise between quality and price. The Colt bolt takes all the abuse and the carrier is along for the ride, so it really doesn't matter who made the carrier, but the RRA enhanced carrier, with it's closed ramp over the firing pin, is a smooth operator and it's weight is very near an M16 carrier, which is what the gas system was designed for. |
Last year I bought five of these from AutoWeapons.com Mongo. Even though they were sold as used, three of them were so new that the anodizing on the bolt lugs and sliding points on the carriers were completely intact. I've purchased factory new Colt parts that looked worse than these did. |
Does CMT shot peen, magnaflux, and proof load fire the bolt assemblies that they sell in house? If so, great. If not, those are three key steps that make Colt bolts as coveted as they are. |
+1 you get what you pay for 
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+1 and don't forget USE the PROPER steel for the bolt. |
That's good info to know. They had just bolts there too, for a while and for a good price, especially compared to the authorized Colt dealers who want $125 for a bolt by itself. I've managed to scrounge up enough Colt bolts so that I have one in all but one or two of my rifles and two or three spares. I'm running one non-Colt bolt that came with the JP stainless carrier I bought, and it's holding up fine. I might have another non-Colt bolt in another rifle, but I'm not sure. Thanks for the info. |
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Thanks for the link Mongo. I just got my new bolt carrier in from G&R, very timely service and they are a small operator of the type I like to suport when I can find a good one. The CMT bolt/carrier is positively the tightest I have ever seen. I don't know if this is a good thing or not but I will see. It will be a couple of weeks before I can give it a workout. The bolt and extractor seem to have a non polished chrome finish... does anyone know what this is? |
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