After 80 rounds damage to my New Colt AR-15 6920 thankfully Colt is making right

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mini14gb

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I did a back up sight zero and went to do a little cleaning before mounting the optic for zeroing and found that the anodizing was popping off along the top of the receiver where the bolt rides. The bolt was properly lubed with CLP before you accuse me of not lubing. I notified Colt and they were a little stand offish on the phone but eventually agreed that there was a problem. They paid for shipping and are saying it will be back to me by months end. The places where anodizing popped off are very ruff to the touch. I noticed on the end of the box it said (2013 Configuration). This concerns me, I'm worried that in the rush to fill orders after Newtown that quality control might have taken a back seat. I saw another guy in a YouTube video with a 2013 Colt that had no staking on the gas key. Plus the other day I saw a new Smith and Wesson M&P15 that was twisted severely meaning the end of the rifle stock sat 2" inches to the left of the grip. When I opened the M&P I noticed that the buffer tube was defective so I talked the guys at the LGS into sending it back to save a customer the headache.
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you did not pay enough for your gun lol. most guys say all other ARs are junk except the colt. the old saying you get what you pay for means less and less in this era of gluttonous greed. greed has always been with us but not on the scale seen today
 
47CubPilot said:
But, but, but......... It's MIL SPEC!!!
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hahaha yes you are right cub pilot. I had a clot h-bar and tightened the scope mount on the carry handle and split the weld in half the entire length. it is funny but SKS's AK's and mini 14's never have trouble like the safe queen ar's do. and their bolts are not microscopically inspected
 
That never should have passed inspection. However inspectors are human and sometimes lemons go out.
 
47Cub,
You're right, folks make way to big of an issue over the mil-spec issue. However Colt does make a damn fine AR. I was a little put off with what I perceived as "attitude" from the customer service rep, not what I was expecting especially since I've had such positive experiences with Smith and Wesson and Springfield Armory for warranty claims.
 
Nothing wrong with it at all. Go shoot your gun and have fun with it. I wouldn't worry about sending that back.

Every upper is going to have wear spots on the inside. You only put 80 rounds through it which is why it's still rough to the touch. I guarantee they will smooth out after a couple hundred rounds.

The Colt rep was probably stand offish because this is normal. The customer is always right though. Right?

Lastly, this has nothing to do with being Mil-Spec.

I'm not taking up for Colt here. I'm just telling you this is normal. I don't own a Colt rifle but I do own 2 BCM's, 1 DD and 1 Spikes. I can tell you that every one of them has wear in different spots.

Steal is rubbing against aluminum. What do you expect to happen?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
My security division got one of the first batches of 6940's to replace our aging Bushmasters with failing bolts. Before the Colts ever got issued all the BCG'S were pulled and returned. Batch testing from a vendor indicated weak .............. gas key (yes, its a piston gun, I don't know what else to call the key) screws.
 
Obscene this is not my first AR it's my 4th AR and none of my other uppers has that kind of wear marks including my M&P which has over 6000 rounds through it. These marks are very course and deep. I know what normal wear looks like.
 
Colt was probably stand-offish, because they have the worst customer service on Earth. I'd never buy a Colt...for that and other reasons. (I would buy a Colt handgun, FWIW)
 
hentown said:
Colt was probably stand-offish, because they have the worst customer service on Earth. I'd never buy a Colt...for that and other reasons. (I would buy a Colt handgun, FWIW)
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Is there Handgun customer service reps better than there rifle customer service reps?

FYI... I don't think anyone's customer service can be as bad as Sig.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
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You pay that much for a Colt the hard surface coating should not be wearing out that soon. Once the coating is gone you are down to soft metal, and that will wear out faster.
 
SlamFire1 said:
You pay that much for a Colt the hard surface coating should not be wearing out that soon. Once the coating is gone you are down to soft metal, and that will wear out faster.
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It is anodizing and all AR uppers have anodizing on the inside that has worn off.

By the way, I don't know that I'd necessarily call 7075 T6 aluminum soft metal. It has the tinsel strength of some steels. The anodizing is mainly there to prevent oxidation.

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ObsceneJesster said:
It is anodizing and all AR uppers have anodizing on the inside that has worn off.

By the way, I don't know that I'd necessarily call 7075 T6 aluminum soft metal. It has the tinsel strength of some steels. The anodizing is mainly there to prevent oxidation.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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you are correct they anodize salt water fishing reels just for corrosion not hardness. if the op has gouging on the upper something is amiss and should be easily seen by eye what is wrong
 
Alumnium anodize hardness is above 700 Brinell, 7075 aluminum is 150.

The anodize is there for wear reduction and to prevent oxidation. The strength of 7075 doesn't enter into it.

BSW
 
briansmithwins said:
Alumnium anodize hardness is above 700 Brinell, 7075 aluminum is 150.

The anodize is there for wear reduction and to prevent oxidation. The strength of 7075 doesn't enter into it.

BSW
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The strength of 7075 was brought up because someone called it "soft metal".

Anodizing does nothing to increase the strength of aluminum used. It simply increase surface hardness to protect against wear and oxidation. The Type II anodizing used on all AR uppers will inevitably wear down on the inside where the BCG is creating friction. Obviously everyone's upper is going to have wear in different areas due to the the BCG machining and finishing process.

For instance, the OP's cam pin obviously has a bur on it which is causing friction with the upper and thus removing the anno where the friction is occurring. As the round count goes up, these areas will smooth out and in return, the action of the rifle will become smoother.

Anno wear inside of your upper will do absolutely NOTHING to the reliability of your rifle. Just because the aluminum all of a sudden isn't covered in anno doesn't mean it's going to disintegrate or crack.

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The strength of 7075 was brought up because someone called it "soft metal".
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It can be. 7075 is just the alloy designation; the temper is what dictates the hardness.

Don't mean to nitpick, and in the context of the discussion, no, the T6 tempered 7075 used for AR receivers is certainly not soft.

For those curious, here is an explanation of the treatment processes. Check it out. Then the next time some idiot in the gun store says "yeah, well my AR is made out of 7075-T7!!", you can laugh at him for believing that higher -T designation automatically means stronger; It doesn't.

http://www.alcobrametals.com/page.php?page=aluminum-tempers
 
MachIVshooter said:
It can be. 7075 is just the alloy designation; the temper is what dictates the hardness.

Don't mean to nitpick, and in the context of the discussion, no, the T6 tempered 7075 used for AR receivers is certainly not soft.

For those curious, here is an explanation of the treatment processes. Check it out. Then the next time some idiot in the gun store says "yeah, well my AR is made out of 7075-T7!!", you can laugh at him for believing that higher -T designation automatically means stronger; It doesn't.

http://www.alcobrametals.com/page.php?page=aluminum-tempers
Click to expand...

No need to nitpick. If you read my initial post (4 posts up) I specifically said 7075 T6.

I don't think anyone here was arguing which treatment process is the best for aluminum whether it be T6 or T7.

I do have a question for you though. Do you know why Armalite uses 7075 T6 for their AT-15 design and 7075 T7 for their AR-10 design?

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