The Colt 6720 – Will You Fall For The Marketing?
Posted by Admin (Mike) in Guns, tags: 15, 6720, AR, ar-15, AR15, AR6720, armalite, arms, bushmaster, civilian, colt, enforcement, law, M-16, m-4, m16, m4, Military, river, rock, serial
Ever since the military and law enforcement started using m16′s and m4′s produced by Colt, the company developed an elitist status because they chose largely to turn their nose up at civilian market.
Now they seem to want a piece of the market, with the new AR6720.
The fact the pricing for the Colt 6720 is being based on serial number just goes to show that you can’t shake old habits. I don’t know if the tiered pricing was decided by Colt or by Clyde Armory (the exclusive retailer of the 6720). The serial number in itself obviously only has extrinsic value… meaning no one really cares what it is, unless you can find someone pretentious enough that “NEEDS” a certain serial number that you possess. Unless of course for this model, Colt doesn’t clean or calibrate their machines after the first parts are made. I guess that would make the later ones less valuable? 
heheh
Here is how the pricing goes…
- The least expensive guns are serial # 400 and up – $1200
- Most expensive serial # 11 – $3000
#1 – #10 are apparently “spoken for”
I’ll admit $1200 isn’t TOO terrible… like Solomon at SNAFU! mentioned though, it is still quite a bit higher than similar offerings from Bushmaster, Rock River Arms, Armalite etc…
I don’t ever like telling people what to do with their money, but in my opinion if you even pay $50 more for a #300 to #399 serial you’re making a big mistake. No matter what, you are better off buying a different brand name AR-15 such as the ones mentioned above, and spending the left over money on ammo or a red dot optic.
Clyde Armory for purchase info on the guns – HERE
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Buy a DPMS. Made right in good old Minnesota. Spend the rest of the cash on ammo and training.
I was going to recommend Les Baer; right here in good old Iowa. But then again, there will be no “rest of the cash” to spend on ammo and training! Nice rifles though (awesome pistols too).
http://www.lesbaer.com
Les Baer makes some amazing guns. You’re right though, there definitely won’t be money to spare.
Good Call AJ. DPMS is a great company.
Speaking as someone who purchased a car partially because of its serial number (and I do say partially – a very small part), I guess my vote is not that unbiased… but, that said, it is a bleeding AR – a step away from hundreds of thousands of service rifles throughout history, manufactured by one of the companies that cranked out those hundreds of thousands.
This is like paying megabucks for a special serial number on a shovel. Yeah. No.
What if the shovel was made by a military contractor that didn’t allow you to purchase their shovels in the past? LOL
Ditto to Linoge. This is foolish marketing. Colt is fail.
Am I missing something here? My local funshop has carried Colt 6720s, or something close to it, for years. I came awful close to buying one after the 08 elections, but the price kept me away.
It’s not that Colt ARs weren’t available to civilians before. It’s just that Colt never made much of an effort to get them out there. Supplying one place (Clyde Armory) with several hundred for sale to civilians is new for Colt (as far as I know).
Colt’s have been available to civilians for quite some time. Clyde Armory just happens to be one of the largest distributors for Colt. The price point for this rifle (excluding the ridiculous mark-ups for serial numbers) is right where it should be. Comparing a DPMS or Bushmaster to a Colt is an apples to oranges comparison; there is a huge difference in quality. If you want to compare it to similar priced or similar quality AR-15s, you should be looking at LMT, Sabre, Daniel Defense, BCM, etc.
Thanks for the info Ted.
I really don’t see much of a different in quality between a lot of the manufacturers. A couple of the LMT guns I have seen looked exceptional though as far as the anodizing is concerned, and the general fit and finish.
leaving aside the serial number pricing, the rifle itself is a great idea. it’s a lightweight pencil barrel on a flattop upper, a previously unavailable configuration. I would buy one.
The difference in quality isn’t visible unless you know where to look. the colt has a properly staked gas key and castle nut, MPI and HP tested bolts and barrels, barrels made out of 4150 steel, H buffer, properly sized gas port, etc. DPMS, RRA, Bushmaster – they don’t offer these things.
On a safe queen or range toy you put 100 rnds a year through, who would care? But that Colt is combat ready and is marginally more expensive for much greater quality.
I’ve built all my AR-15s, I wasn’t aware that all those popular brands skimped on quality so much as you say they do. I’ve never heard of anyone having issues with RRA, bushmaster etc.. even after thousands of rounds.
Nothing wrong with DPMS or Bushie for civilian use. They just dont stand up to harsh LE/Military use, cracked bolts, broken flash hidders etc seen it often.
The price seems in line with other high quality AR offereing from LMT, DD etc. However the serial number pricing is beyond ridiculous. The chance of a specific serial number being of significance to a buyer when resale time comes is about as high as winning the lottery, it is IMO a complete waste of money. If you want cool just buy a 6920… the ‘Law Enforcement’ stampings on the lower are lightyears cooler than ANY serial number on any 6720…