As you may or may not know, there's been some "controversy" lately on the newest iteration of Colt's 6920 rifles. The consensus is that Colt stopped making a lot of the components in-house when they reintroduced the 6920s a year or so ago... likely because they have fewer military contracts, and it probably makes more financial sense to outsource components. "CR" has (apparently) replaced the "LE" prefix to distinguish the post-2019 6920s vs. the previous ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf43zByGu9U&t=477s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXD_LUT61M
In any case... I bought one. On sale for $899 at my LGS. Why not? Figured I'd share some initial impressions...
Caveat: This is my first AR. So, I don't exactly have rich context/experience as a basis of comparison. But I saw at least one thread here on the 6920s (and the requisite "controversy") so, I figured some might have interest. Plus, I have some questions of my own...
Appearance
The rifle looks and feels really nice. The finish looks good to me. And, other than a slightly rattly stock, it seems solidly put together. I can't detect any play/movement between the upper and lower. The bolt cycles smoothly (as far as I can tell) and the safety gives a nice positive snick. The trigger is... about what I'd expect for mil-spec. Some creep and a fairly heavy wall. But I'm not complaining.
Markings
I'm not an expert on the markings, but, as some pointed out, the new markings on the CRs (or lack thereof) are different from what you'd get on the LEs. I didn't take the hand guard off to see the barrel marking, but my research (which consists of Youtube videos and forum lurking) suggests that at least some of the barrels are being made by "Rosco." Never heard of them, but I guess they make good-quality, mil-spec parts... so... works for me. The hammer is marked "F3" and the military "cage code" appears on the barrel and the upper. The mag well is simply marked "CARBINE." Some people seem to be gravely offended by this; I guess it used to say "M4" or something about "restricted LE use." I don't really care one way or another as long as the rifle works.
Function
Before shooting, I stripped the bolt & carrier, cleaned it, lubed it with basic gun oil. Didn't clean the bore (because I didn't have a rod that fit). I scrounged up some ammo locally and put 100 rounds through it (some 5.56, some .223). No problems whatsoever. I realize that's not a lot, but, it's a start. It was a blast to shoot. Did some double and triple taps. Ran great. Most of the groups are at 15 yards, top left is 25 yards. Keep in mind I've never shot an AR on paper, so I was trying to get a sense of the sight picture.
Feed Ramps
Here's where I have a bit of a question (concern?). After shooting, I noticed what looked like wear on the feed ramps--like, bare metal, where the finish was worn off. You can see it here; it's mainly on the little wedge that separates the two feed ramps.
Research reveals that others have noticed this same kinda thing on newer Colts;
the consensus is that the ramps are actually being "de-burred" by hand at the factory and then not refinished: https://www.1911forum.com/threads/co....998064/page-3
I'm guessing that's what I'm seeing in that photo? Anyone know anything about this? Is this normal for ARs? Or Colt ARs?
At the end of the day, I really don't care as long as the rifle is 100% reliable and it stays that way. I bought the Colt because I wanted a rugged, no-BS, mil-spec rifle. Maybe it's actually a "value added" feature that increases reliability? Or maybe not... I just don't know.
Anyway...
I've got 500 rounds of 5.56 coming soon. So, I'll be shooting it some more in the near future.
Thanks for reading.