Ever since the military and law enforcement started using m16’s and m4’s produced by Colt, the company developed an elitist status because they chose largely to turn their nose up at civilian market.
Now they seem to want a piece of the market, with the new AR6720.
The fact the pricing for the Colt 6720 is being based on serial number just goes to show that you can’t shake old habits. I don’t know if the tiered pricing was decided by Colt or by Clyde Armory (the exclusive retailer of the 6720). The serial number in itself obviously only has extrinsic value… meaning no one really cares what it is, unless you can find someone pretentious enough that “NEEDS” a certain serial number that you possess. Unless of course for this model, Colt doesn’t clean or calibrate their machines after the first parts are made. I guess that would make the later ones less valuable? :P heheh
Here is how the pricing goes…
- The least expensive guns are serial # 400 and up – $1200
- Most expensive serial # 11 – $3000
#1 – #10 are apparently “spoken for”
I’ll admit $1200 isn’t TOO terrible… like Solomon at SNAFU! mentioned though, it is still quite a bit higher than similar offerings from Bushmaster, Rock River Arms, Armalite etc…
I don’t ever like telling people what to do with their money, but in my opinion if you even pay $50 more for a #300 to #399 serial you’re making a big mistake. No matter what, you are better off buying a different brand name AR-15 such as the ones mentioned above, and spending the left over money on ammo or a red dot optic.
Clyde Armory for purchase info on the guns – HERE
Comments
26 responses to “The Colt 6720 – Will You Fall For The Marketing?”
Buy a DPMS. Made right in good old Minnesota. Spend the rest of the cash on ammo and training.
I was going to recommend Les Baer; right here in good old Iowa. But then again, there will be no “rest of the cash” to spend on ammo and training! Nice rifles though (awesome pistols too).
http://www.lesbaer.com
Les Baer makes some amazing guns. You’re right though, there definitely won’t be money to spare.
Good Call AJ. DPMS is a great company.
Speaking as someone who purchased a car partially because of its serial number (and I do say partially – a very small part), I guess my vote is not that unbiased… but, that said, it is a bleeding AR – a step away from hundreds of thousands of service rifles throughout history, manufactured by one of the companies that cranked out those hundreds of thousands.
This is like paying megabucks for a special serial number on a shovel. Yeah. No.
What if the shovel was made by a military contractor that didn’t allow you to purchase their shovels in the past? LOL
Ditto to Linoge. This is foolish marketing. Colt is fail.
Am I missing something here? My local funshop has carried Colt 6720s, or something close to it, for years. I came awful close to buying one after the 08 elections, but the price kept me away.
It’s not that Colt ARs weren’t available to civilians before. It’s just that Colt never made much of an effort to get them out there. Supplying one place (Clyde Armory) with several hundred for sale to civilians is new for Colt (as far as I know).
[…] through Colt no longer believes it’s firearms are too good for lowly civilians. According to Everyday, No Days Off Colt is introducing an AR-15 rifle to the civilian […]
Colt’s have been available to civilians for quite some time. Clyde Armory just happens to be one of the largest distributors for Colt. The price point for this rifle (excluding the ridiculous mark-ups for serial numbers) is right where it should be. Comparing a DPMS or Bushmaster to a Colt is an apples to oranges comparison; there is a huge difference in quality. If you want to compare it to similar priced or similar quality AR-15s, you should be looking at LMT, Sabre, Daniel Defense, BCM, etc.
Thanks for the info Ted.
I really don’t see much of a different in quality between a lot of the manufacturers. A couple of the LMT guns I have seen looked exceptional though as far as the anodizing is concerned, and the general fit and finish.
leaving aside the serial number pricing, the rifle itself is a great idea. it’s a lightweight pencil barrel on a flattop upper, a previously unavailable configuration. I would buy one.
The difference in quality isn’t visible unless you know where to look. the colt has a properly staked gas key and castle nut, MPI and HP tested bolts and barrels, barrels made out of 4150 steel, H buffer, properly sized gas port, etc. DPMS, RRA, Bushmaster – they don’t offer these things.
On a safe queen or range toy you put 100 rnds a year through, who would care? But that Colt is combat ready and is marginally more expensive for much greater quality.
I’ve built all my AR-15s, I wasn’t aware that all those popular brands skimped on quality so much as you say they do. I’ve never heard of anyone having issues with RRA, bushmaster etc.. even after thousands of rounds.
Nothing wrong with DPMS or Bushie for civilian use. They just dont stand up to harsh LE/Military use, cracked bolts, broken flash hidders etc seen it often.
The price seems in line with other high quality AR offereing from LMT, DD etc. However the serial number pricing is beyond ridiculous. The chance of a specific serial number being of significance to a buyer when resale time comes is about as high as winning the lottery, it is IMO a complete waste of money. If you want cool just buy a 6920… the ‘Law Enforcement’ stampings on the lower are lightyears cooler than ANY serial number on any 6720…
I would NOT buy a DPMS, RRA, Armalite, or Bushmaster or any of the others—unless maybe it was a BCM or Daniel Defense. They aren’t “just as good” as the Colt.
Colt has an HP/MPT bbl, bolt, etc. The gas key is properly staked. The receiver extension is properly staked. A higher quality BCG is used. A mil-spec receiver extension is used and it has an “H” buffer. 4150 CMV barrel steel is used on the Colt while 4140 are used on the others. The Colt has a F/A BCG. The Colt has a 1:7″ bbl with a NATO chambered compared to the 1:9″ and often .223 Remington (despite being marked 5.56) chambers on the others, which may or may not be chrome-lined, depending on when it was built and with what options. The FSB on the Colt is secured with taper pins, while the others are straight pins and may or may not be “F” marked. The Colt has the correct extractor insert while the others may or may not. This list goes on and on.
I would not pay more for a special serial number. That is ridiculous.
By the time you bring a lesser AR15 up to the standards of the Colt, you’ve spent just as much, if not more than it cost to just buy the Colt in the first place.
Combining Colt quality with a light-weight barrel and optics-ready flat-top is a win-win. I’d give $1200 for one if I were in the market.
I have a COLT and a Noveske. Both fine machines.
The COLT is more fun to shoot (carry handle/iron sights) and just “feels” better.
I would not even be a Colt owner if not for a gun show oddity. I help a friend sell blades and accessories at the 1500. A fellow walks up to our table with a revolver and asks if we’d be interested. My friend was not but I looked at what he had. It’s a revolver but a bizarre color, like zinc that’s corroded. I look at it and it’s a colt. It appears someone tried to parkerize it but it’s damned poorly done or it was soaked in some sort of corrosive. It’s perfectly smooth and the markings do not look eroded. I check function and it’s damn fine. I check the bore and it’s a mirror. I check as much as I can and then ask what they want. They give me a ridiculously low price and I’m thinking “stolen” but go ahead and say sure if you’ll let me write down your DL#. He says sure. I’m counting out money and he hands rummages in his bag and hands me paperwork showing the revolver was sold to the NYC police department in 1953 with a 3.5 ounce target trigger; how’s that for a NY trigger!. That’s 100 dollars of paper. ;) The pistil is also stamped on the back strap SFPD which could be several police departments but I’d hope it’s from San Fran as that would be ironic. I’ve attempted to contact Colt twice about having it factory blued but have gotten confused responses. That was a few years ago. If they’ve become more peon friendly I might have them refinish it.
You’ve been able to buy Colt all along.
Colts are superior to DPMS, Les Baer (who can’t figure out which direction to put the nut on the receiver extension) and most of the others. They follow TDP on civilian and LE guns.
You can get a 6920 for about $1000. It’s the best value on the market.
Les Baer rifles drive me crazy for this reason, every time some dentist comes in to have me put a single point attachment on his Les Baer I wonder, “should I put the castle nut back on the correct way or will he freak out that it’s not like it was?”
I turn it around the correct way because my name is attached to the work.
Tyler: To say that RRA and Armailte are nowhere near as good as Colt for the reasons you listed are funny and just downright ignorant. First of all Im sick of the guys acting like if a barrel is 1/9 it must be the worst thing ever. 1/7 is not needed for anything beyond a 75 gr bullet and most RRA/Armalite 1/9’s shoot 75gr fine.
The m16 bcg is another stupid argument and means absolutely nothing in quality or reliability. It only means that you can run full auto if you are allowed and that is it.
Also RRA and Armalite both use carpenter steel bolts. And OMG! a castle nut that wasnt staked??? Does that just blow your mil spec mind? A hammer, a punch and 10 seconds takes your “un milspec” castle nut and gas key to all of a sudden “mil-spec” whoohoo!
Im looking at my Armalite BCG that came from Armalite, and wouldnt ya know….the gas key is staked and the bolt has MP stamped on it..should I jump for mil spec joy? Man good thing it is too, otherwise it would mean that its junk and will not function.
Way to dig something old up.
So your argument is now that RRA is the same thing but different? So you’re saying that the RRA needs staked? Why would it not be? Why would you not do it at the factory? How could it be equal qualify and not be staked?
Actually, the reason for the BCG isn’t to “shoot full auto”, it has to do with proper function of the firearm’s gas system. Funny, do you know anything about buffers, gas port diameter, bolt bounce, extractors/inserts, steel material, etc?
Twist: sometimes a 1:9″ will stabilize 75s and 77s but often it will not, especially in shorter barrels.
Frankly, Colt builds the highest quality without compromise. To deviate from TDP is to cut corners. If those corners are cut, you have a lower quality gun. There is no debate. Sure, things like staking *can* be simple to fix, with proper tools, but why should you have to? Why would one buy the lower quality gun to begin with?
In the past I’d not buy Colt as they had their head up governments ass so long I’m not a fan. I like the pistol but I’m not in the market for a Colt. Since they’ve become more peon friendly I’ve gotten much more broke. I found a local gunsmith who loves Colts and can do the original finish. Since the value is hosed I’ll go to him instead.
These can be had for $800 prior to Obama’s next gun move. GREAT gun for the money, even with the gun rag marketing.
Here we are, 9yrs later….most of the article applies only to the guns ordered by Clyde’s, and when exclusive time expired, Colt saw it selling decent and kept it going…
I bought one for $800, see them today for $820, and bought one a year and half ago on a cyber black Fri/one ONLY for sale, for $675….
For Colt, being one of 3 entities today who have the complete tech data package, the others being the Army and now FN. The TDP specifies materials, processes to include heat treat, shot peening, clearances and why, and anyone else is just reverse engineering a physical object, and hoping they got it right…same as the 1911, very few in the world know the WHY of things better than Colt..
It is a wonderful 6lb trapper version of an M16/AR15….runs fine with an H3 and .223, which has 20% less pressure in the NATO chamber than does milspec ammo, these two things likely eliminating all timing and stress problems in any Colt, no matter 14.5, 16.1, or 20 inch barrels, or carbine or rifle length. The AE.223 does just over 3100fps from a 20″, and 2850fps from the 16.1″, giving 50-75yd fragmentation range, where shooting someone even that distance away would be hard pressed to show self-defense.
A great light patrol carbine, that despite beefed up receiver/flattop, weighs about the same as my trusty old A1 in the Army…Great no hassle shorty, my only complaint them not making a 14.5″ version begging 1/4″ more flash hider permanently attached for legal 16″ total length rather than current 17.25″ with flash hider….