Quote Originally Posted by alamo5000 View Post
Being relatively new to the game myself I never saw the appeal of Colt outside of what you mentioned regarding clones of historic weapons or whatever. Just an impression from one guy with a thimble full of information to go on, it seems like they are super static. I mean now who wants old school 80's style clamshell hand guards with FSPs pinned on the barrel? Don't get me wrong, I would like one but that's a one trick pony so to speak when you compare it to the other offerings out there. The whole Vietnam era motif is fine but that is what my mind goes to when I think of Colt.
The reason Colt was such a name for so long is because they had the TDP and they had the manufacturing ability to consistently make parts to spec. That was a huge deal for a long time. As CNC machines became better, cheaper, and easier to program, people started copying the TDP, but it still wasn't "THE" spec. This is also why Colt machine guns are worth so much more...they worked out of the box from the factory and didn't require any tinkering, unlike Form 1-ed 3rd party jobbies or those that didn't have the manufacturing prowess.

Nowadays with CNC being so good and everything be computer driven, Colt can't rely on build quality for its sales. It's a shame, because while their AR catalog wasn't very deep, they still made some good stuff. Their SOCOM barrels are absolute shooters.