mcheath

Range report. Went out and fired it today. Instead of heading to the gun club range we went out to our firing hole out in the country, a handy spot shooting down into a creekbed with measurable distances and the ability to set up targets. I wanted to go here instead of the range so that I would be able to do rapid fire to really test the mechanism. Took Federal bulk pack ammo, Winchester Super-X and some Colibri sub sonics, the ones with no powder. Used some paper targets to sight in at 25 yards, I like to shoot close with .22s, as well as cans and the usual plinking victims. Used an old military sling that I have as a temporary for carry and firing bracing. We spent a few quality hours with the rifle, myself and some family members. Rifle was not cleaned before firing, merely taken out of the box and carried out and fired. Did this on purpose to give it a good functional test. 505 rounds fired. No cleaning during firing. Fired a few clips through it for functional confirmation, then sighted in, then plinked away. Not a single malfunction. No failures to extract, failures to fire, stovepipes, chambering problems, nothing. The firing pin strikes the cartridge head nice and firmly, and the magazines feed perfectly. The Colibri's don't cycle the bolt, of course, and they sound like a pellet gun. But working the bolt manually fed them fine. Rapid fire is great! Sent about 75 rounds downrange this way, no problems at all. Accuracy is a work in progress. All freehand shooting, my first time with an aperture sight system, I'll need to go to the range and use a shooting stand. Seems to shoot harder than our other, much older, bolt action .22s. They have long 24" barrels, guessing that they are reducing the velocity of the bullets due to their length. (speculation for sure, but we all agreed that bullets fired from the Colt hit targets harder) Helluva fun rifle! Easy to use, swapping magazines was quick and slick, good handling and ergonomics, and no failures or breakdowns. Problems? The trigger is nothing to write home about, creeps and jerks and inconsistent pull. A trigger job would be worth the money. Cleaning is goofy, to do it properly you have to violate the warranty. Huh? Overall I'm very pleased with it. Now to see how it holds up as time, and round count, goes by.

Finally! My 10 days of "cooling off" are over and the new Colt is home. First impressions: Very nicely fit and finished. No slop in the receiver housings, or anyplace that I can see. The finish is even and smooth. No idea how it will hold up over the years, but it's a good start. I know that a fair amount of it is not constructed like it's big brother M4s, but it certainly feels like a well made rifle in the hands. Came with a 10 round magazine since larger ones than that are illegal here in the People's Republic. So I bought another 10 rounder to round it out. The magazines are neatly done, and I already dropped one on concrete by accident and it came up with only a minor dent, that you have to look for to find, on one edge. The owners manual is cheesy. It has a supplement for loosening the flash hider so you can break it down, as the original manual seems to have forgot that important fact. Also the manual is missing many small things that the online manual has, but boy it has lots of warnings. My favorite so far: WARNING: Never put your hand in front of the muzzle! Thanks, I needed that. Now to get some ammo and take it out and see how it performs. I've read lots of online comments about Federal bulk pack being a good feeder so that's what I'll try, but I've also got some Winchester super X laying about that will be given a shot as well. (lame pun) As nothing I own has an aperture sight system this will be new to me. The one and only time I've fired an AR platform rifle was about 1979 at a National Guard open house day, they had a few rifles with blanks and for a few bucks you could fire them. One on full auto and one on semi.

So I've got a Colt M4 ops in jail waiting for me to "cool down" before I take possession. My son in Montana enjoys jabbing me about how he can walk in and buy a rifle and walk out with it same day. Ah, but here in Calif we wait. Got it for $499.95 on sale, serial number is in the 60k range and it seems to have many of the minor changes that I've read have been incorporated since 09' and it's introduction. It does NOT have the 90 degree fire selector. I'm very interested to see how the tension retained barrel is for accuracy. Such barrel set ups can be had for highly accurate target work, and I've never used one before. It comes with a 10 round mag as well, since more than that is verboten here. Want to get a fore-ward grip and a sling of some sort, perhaps an IDF style. Ideas? This will be quite a departure for me, my firearm collection is mostly historical pieces, black powder, late 19th and early 20th century military, WW2, 30's to 50's sport and hunting. My 1962 Ruger single six is my newest firearm, before getting this Colt.

Thanks for the comment. Are there any other contenders I ought to know about?

Okay so I'm in the market for an AR style dedicated .22. Has to be a purpose built system as I live in Kawleefournya and don't want to run afoul of our state's brilliant assault weapon ban. (I use brilliant in a sarcastic sense) I really like the look and feel of the Colt M4 ops. The rail system, all aluminum, replica like looks, and the name on the side. The MP 15-22 by S and W is nice as well. Cheaper too. But the out of battery firings that a few owners have experienced worry me. Cleaning is certainly easier. I don't like the Mossberg tactical .22's look and feel, but it's probably a nice enough rifle. The price certainly is right. Ruger's SR-22 is nice, of course, but does not have the look I want. Umarex's HK416 .22 is very nice, though it's basically the Colt inside and costs more at my local stores. And I looked up Umarex's airsoft versions of their HK and Colt, and to me the resemblance to the .22 versions is only superficial. The Umarex airsoft versions are made in Taiwan and their inner workings are totally different. I can pick up a Colt M4 ops for $499 right now.

Interesting.

Yes I've looked at the CMMG but it would be illegal here in the Calif. None of my local gun shops stock it, and there is a part in the assault weapon law that specifically mentions putting .22 uppers on .223 AR lowers. The Colt, which is sold at my local stores, overcomes this problem with it's dedicated .22 lower which is also marked as such. Some guys are doing the bullet button thing for their ARs, and there is some legal footing there I understand. But then again I've heard from police and DA's who consider it a removable magazine the moment you pull it out to reload and thus breaking the assault weapon law. It's all too messy for me, and I don't want to end up with a room-mate named Thor at Pelican Bay state pen, so I'm going to stick to one of the dedicated single purpose AR .22s.

So I wrote Umerax and got this reply today. "If the gun is functioning fine I wouldn't adjust it. But if you do start having feeding, extracting, or misfires issues then adjust the bolt speed by turning the allen head set screw 9 full revolutions to the right. If you have any other questions let me know."

Ah, so there is a level of Colt hating going on out there. Helpful. I've looked at the various tactical .22s that I have options to buy here in Kawleefornya, and the Colt certainly catches my eye with it's aluminum parts and faithful to the original look. The MP 15-22 gets rave reviews on the Net, but then there seems to be the out of battery issues that look too common for my liking. The HK 416 .22 is very nicely finished as well, to my eye.

So I've heard this speculation many times that the Colts are essentially nothing more than an Umarek airsoft rifle with some .22lr modifications. Is this based on actual information from the companies that have their names on the rifle, or guesstimates? Seems to be a tremendous amount of hating on the Colt .22s on the Internet.

The dimple idea is clever. Is there a torque setting of any sort?

Weird. How then are they selling these supposedly illegal to own rifles through dealers? According to Colt's website, their main site and not the one for our M4 .22s, they now sell AR platform rifles that are, so they claim, 50 state legal. (using the bullet button)