Rant on.
I just got off the fire department this AM, from another wonder-filled shift in Disneyland.
I have a
Colt Accurized Rifle; mine is marked/stamped Elite HBAR though. I bought it years ago for $1040.
1. The barrel: I had the barrel tapered-bore electropolished by
BlackStar, because the bore was rough as hell.
2. This is what Colt says, "the Colt Accurized Rifle utilizes an enhanced trigger group for smoother and more consistent trigger pull." This trigger feels no different than a standard AR trigger group that I polished: looks the same too.
3. My lower has a block/wall milled in it, which may keep a Rock River Arms 2-stage trigger (with the larger pins) from fitting. Colt can't make a lower like every other AR15?
4. In addition to the block/wall milled in it, Colt installed an Accuwedge to keep upper and lower wobble to a minimum. You may ask why Colt did this....because the upper and lower fit is NOT TIGHT!
5. The buffer is made of PLASTIC!!!!
What the hell this is about, I have no idea.
6. When I bought it, I ordered it through my FFL. When it arrived, the trigger had a sizable chunk gouged out by what appeared to be a grinding wheel (huge marks).
I sent it back to Colt for repair. Colt sent me back ANOTHER Elite HBAR, with a different serial number, to my home address, and had it left on my front porch!!!!!!!!!
Tell me that this is not an ATF violation!
I think that for $1040, years ago, Colt could have done a better job.
Within the last few years, I have seen Colt go from being civilian friendly to civilian un-friendly, prices going through the roof, and quality remaining low.
I am not out to bash Colt, though I am ranting. Specifically, Colt and Winchester are icons of WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and especially the old American West. I hate to see American icons fall: Colt=civilian un-friendly; Winchester=financial problems. Both these companies made great, high quality firearms for generations. Winchester will no longer make firearms and may even go out of business. Colt appears to be going in the same direction. GM and Ford are in dire straights too.
I do not know what things are happening to cause this: labor costs, union entanglement, consumer purchasing traits?
I do see a bright side. Stag/CMT, RRA, and other AR companies are doing great business, and growing. Toyota and Nissan are making cars in the U.S.A., and, from what I've read, pay employees 90%-95% of what Ford and GM pay, with benefits, and have given 60,000 Americans jobs. Whereas, over the same time period, GM and Ford have lost about 60,000 jobs. The article stated that these are approximate numbers. How is it that foreign owned companies can employ Americans at comparable salaries, build cars in America, and sell every single one, while American car companies cannot do the same? I prefer to see American companies thrive in America, and abroad. I also prefer to see companies respond promptly to consumer wants and needs. Apparently, Stag/CMT, Rock River Arms, Bushmaster, to name a few, are doing this.
Rant off. Flame away.