If your interested I found a site www.del-ton.com that has these, check it out if your looking for a bolt ass.

Do you mean Del-Ton, Inc...one of the sponsers of this site who happens to have their own forum in the Industry Section and who has one of the rotating ads at the top of every page??

[:D] OOOO I thought I found something new...

Not to be a pill, but I'd rather spend a few extra bucks, and get the Colt made assy being sold by CDNN ([url]www.cdnninvestments.com[/url]), spend 5 minutes w/the dremel to cut back the auto sear trip shoulder, and have a piece that I know will last me forever.

What Del-Ton has is not only aftermarket, but they don't even identify what aftermarket maker it's by. I have found exactly zero aftermarket makers who micropolish the bolt/ carrier assys so that the bolt faces don't shave brass chips out of the case bases, and won't crack at the cam pin hole; and that includes both RR and Bushie.

I'm no big fan of Colt rifles, especially the current stuff, but when it comes to internal operating parts, it's Colt all the way[:D]

Micropolish!?  wtf, over?  

As for aftermarket vs. colt, everything's aftermarket.  Almost all the parts out there are made by a few mfgr's with someone else's OEM name on it.

When it comes to the aftermarket stuff, you're absolutely right. The same few shops are supplying the whole shebang. That's why I've gotten broken mag releases from Rock rRiver, a POS hammer from Bushie, a junk holdopen from DPMS, etc, etc. The "makers" don't inspect and reject the defective pieces that come in from subbies, who also didn't inspect the stuff they were cranking out.

Colt, on the other hand, has no way of knowing if the parts they're putting in the bin is going into an AR15 or an M4 (or M16 in older days). With the exception of the selector, every part of a Colt AR15 started out life as an M16 part. They damn well know that if they start geting a percentage of defective parts reports back from Uncle Sam, their contract provides penelties.

Even more importantly from my personal point of view, I know that if I pick up a used Colt, former GI, part at a gun show, it not only passed inspection at Colt, but also use in service. So I cut the full auto tab off the hammer, grind back the auto sear trip shoulder of the carrier, and dremel the tail off the disconnector. Takes all of about an hour, total.  The only commercial part I regularly use on my ARs is the selector, and two of the four I do have happen to be Colt anyway.  Other lower parts, like mag releases and holdopens are the same for both M16s and ARs.

How do you tell the difference? Well, it helps to own a Colt piece to begin with, and to have been able to compare the aftermarket parts with what Colt put on their piece. The differences are slight, but they ARE there.

Micro polishing? Take a Colt bolt head assy, and any current aftermarket brand, and run your finger around the hole for the cam pin. Notice the difference in feel along the edge of the holes.  Generally speaking, the aftermarket piece will feel sharper.  Or, fire 100 rounds out of a rifle w/a Colt bolt assy, and another 100 out of a new aftermarket brand; then look and see how much brass scrapings you've got on each one.

About once or twice a month some guy will post about his rifle not ejecting right after a couple of hundred rounds, or that brass shavings piled up under the extractor lip, or something similar.  Check and see how many of those posts are from Colt owners or guys, like me, who have Colt bolts in their non Colt ARs. Hell, I "clean" my bolt faces with a dry Q Tip, because they don't pile up bras. And that's because the fine spray bath that Colt puts the bolt thru before finishing knocks off the razor edges that shave that brass.

Don't get me wrong; the bulk of aftermarket parts work fine, and even the razor edge bolts and carriers smooth out over time.  It's just that "99% OKness" doesn't satisfy me. I don't want to worry about having gotten a "1%" part in my AR.[:D]