Colt Match Target rifle opinions

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I am looking at buying a Colt Match Target rifle. Not familiar with one but a co worker of mine says Colt does not make a good AR. Said he had one and would only shoot certain ammo and would jam if not kept very clean. Any opinions from owners is appreciated. I like the look and feel of it but don't want to blow $900. Thanks
 
Colt makes a very good AR. Usually its something other then the gun that causes issues, things like Magazines, ammo and proper lubrication and cleaning. There are better systems then the AR, but with proper care, ammo and magazines the AR is pretty reliable.
 
Are you talking about an old gun? The Match Target Colts I'm familiar with were postban-featured HBAR A2 ARs made until 2011. They're nice shooters but not desirable on the used market. $900 is too high.
 
I am looking at buying a Colt Match Target rifle. Not familiar with one but a co worker of mine says Colt does not make a good AR. Said he had one and would only shoot certain ammo and would jam if not kept very clean. Any opinions from owners is appreciated. I like the look and feel of it but don't want to blow $900. Thanks

If you're actually looking to shoot competitively in matches there are better options.
 
I am looking at buying a Colt Match Target rifle. Not familiar with one but a co worker of mine says Colt does not make a good AR. Said he had one and would only shoot certain ammo and would jam if not kept very clean. Any opinions from owners is appreciated. I like the look and feel of it but don't want to blow $900. Thanks


I know this answer is probably not relevant to you, but I would strongly suggest building your own from the stripped lower on up. Gets you more familiar with the rifle and ensures you get exactly what you want. You could build a decent rifle for $900.

Not only that, but I found the process to be more fun than stressful!
 
I know this answer is probably not relevant to you, but I would strongly suggest building your own from the stripped lower on up. Gets you more familiar with the rifle and ensures you get exactly what you want. You could build a decent rifle for $900.

Not only that, but I found the process to be more fun than stressful!
its hard pressed to build a MATCH SERVICE RIFLE for less than you can buy.
between shipping and finding all the parts in one spot or in stock it adds up fast. Short of installing a high end barrel they prices are hard to beat buying out right for a MATCH RIFLE for NRA SERVICE RIFLE SHOOTING... now those crazy match rifle (space guns) built off AR platform are a different story....I looked into some of those and "price" should really not be a huge issue. As some of those sights on those guns are 300-600$ not to mention any other parts.

As for colt: I looked at a colt HBAR "Target" rifle. looked like a standard barrel, no free float hand guard and from what it looked like a standard A2 trigger ? also the sights where regular A2
possilbe just the lower is Colt ?
 
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If you want a match-grade rifle, I recommend *NOT* building it yourself. While you may think that piecing it together from a stripped lower might work out, chances are it won't. Also, you might have to get quite a lot of tools. You are FAR better off buying a match rifle in one piece, which may or may not have a matched upper/lower and checks done on barrel headspacing and etc. There are a lot of companies which make excellent match rifles that have impeccable accuracy and will not break the bank. Rock River, for instance, makes extremely accurate rifles which you can configure on their website and from the factory will give you easy 1" groups @ 100 yards. DPMS also makes very accurate match rifles. Both these companies have very nice prices based on the quality of their products, and they are fast to support/fix issues (not that I've had any with either brand). If that isn't cool enough and you want all the "big name" parts, you can buy from Daniels Defense or those places to get the whiz-bang barrels, but its all gimmick. Most of these companies use parts from the SAME places. For instance, Remington uses DPMS for their ARs, who uses barrels from Wilson and other places. Rock River uses Wilson barrels for their match stuff. So why pay for a name-brand rifle like DD or Noveske when its all marketing? It does NOT make them any more accurate. And that whole "Milspec" deal is the opposite of what you want in a match rifle, since you want a super tight gun held to higher standards.

I see people making "custom" ARs from stripped lowers with all this high end stuff on it... They spend A TON more, spend more time, usually ding something up, have weird quirks (and no company to send it to for free fix, since its their own build), and it usually is not any more accurate than an off-the-shelf rifle from any manufacturer. And the resale value of a customer build is a fraction of what the cost of the build was, and a fraction of what the resale value of an unmodified commercially purchased complete AR. No one really wants to buy a home-brew rifle from someone else if they don't actually know you.

I've built ARs before, but I realized their resale value was terrible, and that professional places do a far better job for far cheaper than I can do. My RockRiver with heavy match barrel easily is as good (but usually better) than custom ARs I see, or of big name brands like HK or Noveske (in particular I have seen HKs with horrific accuracy at 100 yards). Those people yell mil-spec till blue in the face, but it sure doesn't help them put holes in the target at the spot they want them.
 
As for colt: I looked at a colt HBAR "Target" rifle. looked like a standard barrel, no free float hand guard and from what it looked like a standard A2 trigger ? also the sights where regular A2
possilbe just the lower is Colt ?

The Colt Match Target guns from the 1990s-2000s were just normal A2 ARs with good HBARs. They're not target guns in a pro competitive sense. I think they also made a line of National Match guns with hooded sights.

I built my own AR, but the upper is from a 2008 Colt MT6601. It's a totally stock A2 with an unlined 1/7 heavy barrel that Colt sourced from Green Mountain. 'Course I built my lower with a 2-stage LMT trigger so it does have a few advantages.
 
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Thanks for all the replies. I am not looking to shoot competitively just take it to the range a few times a yr. I like shooting at the 100yrd target. I think it is from the late 1990's.
 
It's a good AR but these days heavy barrels, 20" barrels, and especially A2 fixed carry handles aren't desirable features. All three of them together means it's heavy to hump around and can't easily mount optics as a target gun. Some of those Colts also came with receivers that require you to use special Colt bolt carriers.

They're a little more practical in Massachusetts since they don't have any banned features that a 'smith has to take care of, but that's probably still an $800 gun tops. I built mine with a match trigger for under $700.
 
I have one of the newer Colt match target rifles (MT6400R) and it is probably the best AR I have shot. I have not shot man7y of the top tier brands though.Only other brands I have shot are SIG, S&W, DPMS, and one other that is escaping me right now. I have been very happy with it.
 
If that isn't cool enough and you want all the "big name" parts, you can buy from Daniels Defense or those places to get the whiz-bang barrels, but its all gimmick. Most of these companies use parts from the SAME places. For instance, Remington uses DPMS for their ARs, who uses barrels from Wilson and other places. Rock River uses Wilson barrels for their match stuff. So why pay for a name-brand rifle like DD or Noveske when its all marketing? It does NOT make them any more accurate.

I've built ARs before, but I realized their resale value was terrible, and that professional places do a far better job for far cheaper than I can do. My RockRiver with heavy match barrel easily is as good (but usually better) than custom ARs I see, or of big name brands like HK or Noveske (in particular I have seen HKs with horrific accuracy at 100 yards). Those people yell mil-spec till blue in the face, but it sure doesn't help them put holes in the target at the spot they want them.


Daniel defense makes their own barrels and noveskes barrel are on Pacnor blanks and are held to an extremely high standard. But let's not let facts get in your way of making your usual "my cheap rifle is better than your expense rifle" argument
 
If you want a match-grade rifle, I recommend *NOT* building it yourself. While you may think that piecing it together from a stripped lower might work out, chances are it won't.



 
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