AR-15 build or buy

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bigfug

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Not that I know of, nor is there a reason to. Colt won the contract for Mk18s, and bolts stopped breaking, so obviously whatever secret sauce they put on them worked. That was also independently verified by a guy who fired hundreds of thousands of rounds through several dozen of them and kept track of the lifespans, compared to other brands he had that failed much earlier under the same firing schedules.

Another independent test confirmed what everyone already knew about the accuracy of their chrome lined barrels. Some SOCOM barrels actually outshot Noveske stainless barrels.

HK holds the current contract for SOCOM uppers. FN holds the contract for M4/M16's, at some points jointly with Colt, but $ amount is higher to FN and they came in $50 cheaper than Colt, so you can assume more FN's than Colt in recent years, and Ruger has had their hand in it as well. FN barrels are HIGHLY regarded, and its hit or miss on whether you can get a new Colt as they swing back and forth on the civilian market more than Oklahoma temps do in April, as has their quality. Many of their rifles built with outsourced parts, not in house. Your info may have been correct a decade ago, but times change. Mil-spec standard is nothing to brag about, as it is the MINIMUM acceptable tolerance, with wide variances. 6k rounds is what's expected out of the rifle and barrel, and 5in groups at 100 yards with open sights. MIL-SPEC just means it meets the standard the government set forth, and many manufacturers make rifles that exceed that. Mil-Spec is as much marketing fluff as anything
 
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JR777

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HK holds the current contract for SOCOM uppers. FN holds the contract for M4/M16's, at some points jointly with Colt, but $ amount is higher to FN and they came in $50 cheaper than Colt, so you can assume more FN's than Colt in recent years, and Ruger has had their hand in it as well. FN barrels are HIGHLY regarded, and its hit or miss on whether you can get a new Colt as they swing back and forth on the civilian market more than Oklahoma temps do in April, as has their quality. Many of their rifles built with outsourced parts, not in house. Your info may have been correct a decade ago, but times change. Mil-spec standard is nothing to brag about, as it is the MINIMUM acceptable tolerance, with wide variances. 6k rounds is what's expected out of the rifle and barrel, and 5in groups at 100 yards with open sights. MIL-SPEC just means it meets the standard the government set forth, and many manufacturers make rifles that exceed that. Mil-Spec is as much marketing fluff as anything
The data doesn't lie. Henderson did some very meticulous record keeping, and the Colt bolts outlasted everything else, including FN if I remember correctly, by a big margin.

The FN barrels you're talking about are double chrome lined, and accuracy suffers accordingly. Nothing comes even close to touching a Colt barrel in terms of accuracy and durability. You can get a slightly more durable barrel (e.g. the double lined FNs), and you can get a slightly more accurate barrel (e.g. match grade), but you can't get both.

ETA: And what's this about HK supplying SOCOM? The 416 is the only thing I know about, but those aren't real common. As far as I know, Colt is still supplying bolts and barrels for the Mk18s.
 
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JD8

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The data doesn't lie. Henderson did some very meticulous record keeping, and the Colt bolts outlasted everything else, including FN if I remember correctly, by a big margin.

The FN barrels you're talking about are double chrome lined, and accuracy suffers accordingly. Nothing comes even close to touching a Colt barrel in terms of accuracy and durability. You can get a slightly more durable barrel (e.g. the double lined FNs), and you can get a slightly more accurate barrel (e.g. match grade), but you can't get both.

ETA: And what's this about HK supplying SOCOM? The 416 is the only thing I know about, but those aren't real common. As far as I know, Colt is still supplying bolts and barrels for the Mk18s.

Go ahead and post your "data" would you? I think I know where you're getting your info, but i want to make sure.
 

El Pablo

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I’ve built a few, bought one. Building can be slightly cheaper by avoiding the 10% tax, especially if you are going to swap out parts on what you buy anyway.

Where is all this Colt superiority data?
 

Gunblinder

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My two cents...it won’t be a popular one, but buy a full factory build, inexpensive(might be hard nowadays)and learn how it functions. Then, you can see if you want to go down the AR rabbit hole...beware, cause it is deep
 

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