I was in a neighborhood gun shop a couple of days ago. (This is the same place I purchased my Bushmaster Shorty almost 2 years ago, but not my "regular" gun shop.) I was admiring the AR's up on the wall and thinking, "Clearly, I need another one", when I overheard a conversation between the proprietor and another potential customer. (NOTE: This post is not meant to offend or flame Colt AR owner's!)
Anyway, the owner of the shop was saying that he no longer intended to order any Colt AR's as stock to put up on the wall. Shocked, I asked why? He told both me and the other customer that the Colt AR's had changed. The Colts had gone down in quality. Then he said something about "outsourcing" and giving contracts to the lowest bidder (some in Mexico) and finally that the last few Colt AR's that he had gotten in had such a gap between the upper and the lower that he could fold his business card three times and it would still pass through the gap. I then examined a few of the Colt AR's and remarked that they looked great to me. He told me that those were from an older order, before the change in quality. I just wanted to know if anyone else had heard anything like this.

Thanks,
Kentucky Rifle

    I think there are alot of people who just "jump on the bandwagon" when it comes to Colt. I have a 6700 made last year and it is a well-made very tight and very accurate rifle. I have a Remingtion 700 ADL in 30-06 and a Winchester in .270 that ( I shoot ) are equal in accuracy.

     Maybe there de-value-ing the Colt to make there rifle look better. You know the type. Trash somebody to make themselves look superior.

   It's possible to get a bad Bushmaster,RRR or Armalite just as easy. Even though these are excellent companies that make adequate products just like Colt does. I think the design of the rifle itself might further open the possibilities for small problems to occur. Not all Mercedes Benz (high $$$) or Fords (low $$$) are without problems right off the assembly line. The machine's design itself leaves opportunities for small mistakes to occur.

   Alright, who's next?

When deciding on which AR to purchase in 2000 I asked gunsmith who has worked on my Garand and other guns. He does lots of police sales and is also Class III dealer. He told me he had quit selling Colts due to drop in quality unless you specificly wanted one. Prefers to sell Armilite or Bushmaster as both good quality weapons and stand behind their products.

No they are not droping in quality, every on is changing to plastic buttstock doors and stuff, Hell! Plastic is the wave of the future. Just they are not consistant.
GG

They haven't made a quality 1911 in many years.
This opened the door for Springfield Armory and later, Kimber.