I found a "preban" Colt in a local shop for sale at a decent price. When I began taking a closer look, I started to question its preban status.

So, I checked the list at www.mp5.net and according to that list, it is a postban rifle.

To further verify, I called Colt and it turns out they couldn't find record of this S/N on the computer or microfische!!!

So I call the shop back to verify that I had the correct S/N, which I did. The shop's explanation for the preban status of the rifle was that Colt hard started tooling up for postban production before the date of the ban and produced a preban rifle on a "postban" range S/N. Something of a "gray" area rifle.

I know Colt has done some seriously messed up things in regards to rifle configuration and production runs, so the shop's explanation does hold at least a little bit of water.

FWIW, the rifle seems to be in great shape. It is a carbine with an A2 upper. The finish is the old dark gray, not black like the new rifles. I think it is a small hole Lightweight Sporter lower with an A2 stock but with a flash hider/non-buyo upper.

Thanks ahead of time for the help.

Wes

My personal opinion would be to avoid it. There are many, many verifiable pre-ban Colt AR-15 rifles for sale out there. I'd rather choose one of them than a questionable one. Not to mention that the whole pre/post ordeal has a very good chance of disappearing in less than a year.