My mistake. FN was full of crap with their own announcements.
Wouldn't it follow that a better manufacturer of guns makes a better gun, or no?
Yes. Of course. What I wrote was that simply manufacturing parts doesn't mean you make BETTER parts.
If you make BETTER parts, you'll make better guns.
OTOH, a manufacturer who contracts out some parts to other companies who can make them better will have a better final product, still. If Colt makes the BEST parts themselves, they will make the best guns.
(Civilian example: a 10/22 with all-Ruger parts is a POS. Put parts from others who make them better in it, and it can be an impressive little gun, for what it is.)
You outlined how Colt makes better parts, to better tolerances. That's what matters. I haven't spent time in Iraq, but I do know a little bit about machining...
My point about military armorers is that the guns used in the field were not necessarily put together, in their present form, at Colt's factory or any other factory. And they still work the same, if assembled correctly. If you take a Colt apart, and put it back together, it's still the same top-quality gun, right?
Which brings us back to the original question, to which I think we had exactly the same answer.
(And at the moment, I'm sick, and bored. So sue me if I post here.)