I'm talking about the newer type of telestocks that Colt now has (at least on their LEO rifles and M4's I've seen in Iraq pics).  I know that Bushmaster and maybe Rock River sells ones that look nearly identical, but the Bushy's have a molded in logo on the right side, and I heard that with one or the other you had to get the tube with it, as one would not fit onto a standard Colt telestock tube.

I know that with the older style Colt telestocks, there was a "1" and "N" marked on the right side of the stocks behind the pivoting release part.  Also, there seemed to be a tiny difference where the bottom metal sling swivel attached.

Do the newer types have the "1" and "N" in the same area?  Is there otherwise another way to tell a Colt made version from a copy?  Does anyone have a Colt LEO AR15 or M4 handy to see if the "1" and "N" are there?

Thanks,

Ted

Also the Bushmaster and RRA telestocks have a larger diameter buffer tube.  A Colt telestock will not fit on a Bushmaster/RRA buffer tube.

The one below is a Colt
[img]www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid69/p66518ade3b485a5b3ef4cf4144b91fe0/fba8f7d5.jpg[/img]

One of those subtle differences is the price.

I recently bought a RRA unit. Their injection molding leaves MUCH to be desired. The tube is nice, however. I bought a Cav Arms replacement buttstock just to make my rifle look decent. The flash on the RRA was so bad, it hit the charging handle on it's backward stroke. I trimmed it so it didn't, but was still bummed out, until I saw that Cav arms unit. If anyone needs just the plastic off of a RRA, let me know, I will let it go for $25 shipped!

All the major aftermarket pieces, Bushie, Rock River, etc, etc, are made by the same people. Only the ID thing on the right side is different. Apparently, what you get, injection molded wise, is what ever the molds were turning out that day. My own is just fine; but I've seen some, in every brand, that were kind of sloppy.

Moral of the story. If you're going for an aftermarket stock, pick out your own at the gun show. Might cost 5 or 10 bucks more than the mail order guys, but at least you'll know how it's going to look before you plunk out the money.[:D]

The newer ribbed Colts do not have any markings.  These also have the lower sling attachment in a fixed position (straight down), while the RRA/Non-milspecs can also pivot right and left.

BH1 probably said the best clue.

Actually, the diameter is the same. It is the bottom "rail" that has the positiion detetent holes that is narrower on a Colt tube, than on a RRA/BM tube.

There are subtle differences.  The Colt unit is better made, with excess material trimmed, more attention to detail.

It's all about the sling swivel for visual recognition.

[b]The Colt has plastic around the sling swivel (fixed swivel) so that bottom rear part of the stock is solid. the RRA has a cut where the sling swivel seats in order to allow the swivle to rotate.

And I guess the Colt has no round in front of the paddle latch on the bottom[/b]

Sure there are a lot of harder to see things but that is the most obvious and visible


[b]Edited It looked like that M4 on top of the RRA ad with the Colt stock was actually part of the RRA ad [/b]