Colt or Rock River

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kennyboy

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I asked a question on another forum on whether to get a Colt LE6920 for $1095 or a Rock River Entry Tactical for $800 and the overwhelming majority opted for Colt. They said that the work around the buffer on the Colt was better and what not. So, my question is, are the reasons that people chose Colt over Rock River legitimate or not. I guess what I am getting at is that I don't hear any Rock River or Colt owners complaining about malfunctions, etc. so is there really any difference between the two rifles other than price and the buffer or whatever? Also, what is the buffer and the parts that everyone is talking about and do they really affect the performance, durability, and reliability of the rifle? Thanks.
 
On the one hand, Colt makes the better rifle the majority of the time, on the other hand, RRA outperformed the Colts in the DEA testing... both were awarded contracts.

Colt will be better, RRA will be a damn good rifle for the money.

Also, keep in mind that CMT makes much of the parts for both Colt and RRA.

If you are willing to build a rifle, you could build one with Colt quality for a RRA price by going with CMT and/or LMT parts.
 
You will pay a premium for an AR from Colt. Will be be a great gun - yes. But is it worth the 300 bucks more when chance are a RRA will do the exact same thing for you? Colt may have better resale too - not sure on this.

I personally went with RRA. But then I never considered a Colt just for the price. I was deciding between Stag, RRA, and Bushmaster. Ended up finding a RRA locally that I wanted.

You'll find a lot of folks here like RRA, Bushmaster, Stag, DPMS. But all will tell you that you can't go wrong with a Colt or Armalite either. Just have to decide what you are going to do with it and if that is worth the premium.
 
As far as the buffer goes, maybe they are referring to the buffer tubes on RRA, because for some reason RRA does not use a milspec buffer tube. It's not that big of a deal unless you want to use other stocks with that buffer tube... It's not going to affect performace, only interchangability with other parts.
 
Thanks for the quick replies. Please keep them coming. What kind of parts would the buffer tubes affect? I only plan on adding a LaRue Tactical 7.0 Quad Rail. Please correct me if I'm wrong, bu the buffer tube does not affect Quad Rails, right? Thanks.
 
Buffer tube is for the stock - nowhere near the quad rails in front. Shouldn't affect anything.
 
This leads me to another question. Will the buffer tube affect the installation of a Magpul M93B Experimental Carbine Stock? I assume that when it was mentioned that the buffer tube affect interchangeability of parts that the parts being referred to are more or less internal and would not affect new furniture at all. Is this correct? Thanks.
 
Yes, most likely it won't work with a RRA buffer tube. I know the CTR's won't work with RRA buffer tubes.
 
So, let me get it straight, the RRA probably won't work with the Magpul Stock? Also, what are CTR's. Are there any other stocks or stuff that is known not to work on RRA? You are truly being a big help. Thanks.
 
The commercial version of the CTR hasn't been released yet. The difference in buffer tube isn't a big deal. You can replace the buffer tube with a mil-spec version for ~$40.

One big advantage of RRA over colt is that they offer midlength gas systems on their 16" guns. The colt will have 4150 steel (RRA has 4140) and will come chrome lined (it's a ~$40 option with RRA). The barrel will also be parkerized under the front sight and it'll have anodized M4 feed ramps, while the RRA won't be parkerized under the front sight and has the M4 feed ramps cut/polished by hand and non-anodized (generally thought to be an inferior way to do it).

Personally, most of those differences are insignificant or not enough to justify the price of the colt, which is part of the reason I have an RRA upper on the way.
 
I think it matters because of QC and the quality of the internals in Colts.

That said, while I like my Colts, I run Rock Rivers at gun skul or usually grab them when I go to the range. Go figure.:D

kenny, I think the important thing at your point in your gun journey is to get a gun and shoot the wheels off off of it. Colt v. RRA is a distinction without difference now. Get a weapon and seek training.

When the wheels come off the gun, rebuild it and look to upgrade.:)
 
One of my biggest beefs with RRA is the lack of lighter barrel configurations and the chrome lining is not standard. Those are two things that Stag/CMT DOES do standard, along with sell milspec buffer tubes. And Stags are more affordable to boot.

CMT/Stag is where it's at IMO.
 
I hold it against Colt that they do not make their commercial receivers compatible with military and standard aftermarket parts. Odd pin sizes and the "sear block" because they just KNOW we want to convert them all to full auto.
But that is what I own, even though it was a real pain to get an adjustable trigger installed in the one I use for target shooting.
 
Colts are awesome, theres no doubt about that... But are they worth the premium over a Bushmaster, Rock River, DPMS, etc? Most of the time, no, not in my opinion.
 
I shoot w/ 8 guys regularly. 2 guys have had Colt rifles for A LONG time & are very happy w/ them. THen there are the rest of us w/ an RRA (ME), another w/ a STAG, a Bushy, and I'm adding a 9mm CMMG / Superior Arms to the mix.
Bottom line - get what you like :)
 
I have 1 of each and my Colt is a nice gun but like the other guy said pins sizes and other little thing that aren't even close to being milspec but it works great at frist i had a few jams but after 1000 rounds no more problems must been the wolf ammo i was shooting out of it . my RRA in my opinion is better the fit and feel of it is nicer then my colt . but thats just me i have shot bushy, dpms,rra ,colt and jager ar 15's and i cant tell a big difference in any but the price tag on them .
 
If you are not using the AR for serious use (i.e. shooting back at someone shooting at you!), RR makes a great rifle. I have one of their RRA 9mm AR's and love it. Colt does however make a better rifle for a number of quantifiable reasons. See the "AR15 deficiencies" thread over on Tacticalforums.com. Some of the things Colt does that they must due to gov't contract are magnaflux and proof fire and peen the bolt and barrel, use a different/more durable material on the handguards w/heatshield, parkerize the entire barrel including under the front sight base, etc. For casual use, RRA's are fine though.
 
In all fairness... the MPI and HPT stuff doesn't do all that much. An insider I know at Colt told me the failure rate of parts tested was around the 1% range and it doesn't even catch all the lemons. So, it doesn't buy you that much insurance...
 
"CMT/Stag is where it's at IMO"

I can vouche for that. I have a Stag AR with a friend of mine who has a RRA AR. After having both side by side one couldn't go wrong with either. The big selling point with the Stag is that they come standard with chrome lined bores and mil-spec buffer tubes. The facotry buttstock sucks which is why I upgraded to a CTR which won't fit on my buddies RRA AR.

Flip.
 
I have a colt and a RRA and I don't think I can tell a bit of difference, between the two as far as it comes to shooting them.
 
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