Dude... (THR badly needs a facepalm smiley)
You're way off in left field. Nothing special in the AR world? Okay...nobody said Colt was something "special." If you want something special go shell out 2500 for a KAC. Otherwise stop griping. They make a good milspec AR, which puts them ahead of 90% of ARs on the market. I'm not sure what you're wanting. To get better accuracy you have to go to a stainless barrel, and there are serious downsides to doing that. Colt has some of the best, most accurate chrome lined barrels out there.
Now the lifespan of the parts is something special in the AR world, thanks to the proliferation of shady fly by night companies out there. To get something that lasts as long as a Colt you're looking at hundreds more. Like I said, other fully milspec manufacturers charge a lot more, like FN, DD, and LMT. If you want to go cheaper than Colt then you won't be getting a fully milspec rifle, or even something on par with it. You'll be getting a substandard product that's good for plinking at the range and nothing else.
As far as cost of replacement parts, the complete BCGs go for just under 200, which in on par with other fully milspec BCGs like DD, BCM, and LMT. Actually, LMT charges more like 250 I think. You also don't have to replace them with Colt parts. You could use whatever parts you wanted. But if you're wanting full milspec they're going to be the same price, or more expensive.
And I did not say that pistons add to performance. I'm simply saying that Colt has options to compete with just about any other AR on the market. As for the middie having no track record, are you really that dense or are you just being argumentative for the sake of argument? It's not different than any of the their rifles except that it has a longer gas tube and a FF HG. Same bolts, same barrels, etc. Your assertion that Colt doesn't offer "modern performance features" is simply absurd. Seriously...
I still can't believe I'm actually defending Colt. I feel like I've been tricked into it.
And BTW, comparing an LE6920 to a 3 gun rifle just goes to show how little thought you're putting into your decisions. The average competition rifle has a stainless barrel, low mass (perhaps even aluminum) carrier, reduced power springs, lightweight receivers, etc. And they cost about 2-3k to build, before glass. Colt doesn't go after the 3 gun market because there are already people doing it, like JP.
Those comp rifles would be an unmitigated disaster if you tried to field them in combat. Colt's going after the military, police, and civilian self defense markets. They've gone after ranchers a little bit, but the M4 as it stands is already a good out of the box ranch rifle. Their trying to make good, reliable rifles for defensive purposes, not for competition or hunting.