By Jim Dickson | Contributing writer
With the popularity of the AR15 rifles today it just seems logical that the first choice should be Colt, the main government contractor over all the years the M16 was used by the military.
The AR15A4 has the longer barrel of the M16 which I prefer to the shorter barrel on the M4 carbine.
Upon picking up the gun for review at Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia I set about weighing and measuring it. Overall length as measured with a steel tape is 39 ¼ inches. Weight is 8 pounds even, just a quarter-pound lighter than my M1903A3 Springfield. Trigger pull was 8 pounds 2 ounces as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gage from Brownells Gunsmithing Supplies. Workmanship, fit and finish were what we would expect from Colt. I have been well pleased with the quality of the current Colt production in all the models that I have tested. They have lived up to their reputation for quality manufacturing.
The AR15A4 features a removable carrying handle with a Picatinny Rail underneath. The front handguard is of the later round ribbed variety instead of the plain triangular type used in Vietnam.
The rifle is sufficiently muzzle heavy to hold steady for offhand shooting which is a big plus as many rifles that do fine from a bench rest have light barrels that won’t seem to be still for offhand work.
The rear sight is fully adjustable while the front sight has the familiar two protective wings so loved by Army Ordnance. I have never liked those wings because too many soldiers have died because of them when they had to make a hurried shot in poor light and centered one of those damned wings in the rear sight instead of the front post sight.
If Ordnance is so worried about the front sight then let them make it out of spring steel and quit worrying about it.
Like all models of this gun it incorporates the ejection port cover taken from the German MP43 where the cover automatically pops open in use but can be shut to deny dirt and mud entry the rest of the time.
Some folks claim the forward assist that first came out on the M16A1 is not needed. These folks have never tried to get a round crammed into a dirty chamber without one. Chambers do get dirty in combat and when someone is shooting at you cleaning the gun may not be an option.
Bayonet Lug & Test
The rifle comes with a bayonet lug and getting the appropriate bayonet for it is a good idea. The bayonet makes an excellent all-purpose hunting knife and also is more intimidating to some people than the prospect of getting shot. Well, if they had decent intelligence they wouldn’t turn to crime in the first place.
For this evaluation, I had:
- 700 rounds for test firing consisting of 40 rounds of Hornady Black 62-grain FMJ at 3,100 FPS. This load duplicates the current U.S. Military standard round.
- 200 rounds of Black Hills 55-grain FMJ at 3,200 FPS, the old Vietnam War load.
- 460 rounds of Black Hills 77-grain MK262 Mod1-C sniper loads at 2,750 FPS.
The C stands for commercial to keep it separated from Black Hills military contracts. This super accurate ammo was developed and produced by Black Hills for the American military. Due to the heavier bullet weight this ammo works best with a rifling twist of 1 in 7 inches to 1 in 8 inches but it will work with 1 in 9 inch rate of twist. Once you get to 1 in 10 inches, accuracy suffers but it will still work. At 1 in 12 inches it no longer stabilizes the bullets and all the rounds keyhole.
The accuracy standard is extreme. Dispersal not to exceed 2 inches at 300 yards for a two-barrel test of ten 10-shot groups (100 rounds) with a .64 MOA maximum for the groups. This is the only precision 5.56 ammunition used by the U.S. Military. With it’s 1 in 7 inch rate of twist, the Colt AR15A4 can take full advantage of this incredibly accurate ammo.
Shooting was fun as the rifle came with a 30-round plastic magazine from Magpul so I didn’t have to spend as much time reloading. I could just blaze away 30 shots at a time. All shooting was done offhand and the gun lived up to its reputation for fine accuracy. As always, I wished for more ammo as the 700 rounds was gone all too fast.
I have often complained in print that the so-called “Manuals” that accompany most new guns are long on legalisms to protect the manufacturer and painfully short on information about the gun. The Colt manual was a refreshing change and contained much useful information for the new owner of an AR15A4. I wish all guns came with informative manuals like this instead of the legal disclaimers that are about the only thing in many manuals that accompany new guns today. The average buyer needs a good manual but rarely gets it.
Today the AR15 platform rifles see extensive use as personal protection rifles and they are often used as hunting rifles. It should be remembered that this cartridge was developed first as a varmint rifle cartridge.
The military is concerned with making enemy casualties not clean kills on deer sized game and yet I have seen these guns prove popular for hunting wild hogs. That may be fine for little piggies but I know of at least four of these brutes that have scaled over 1,000 pounds. I want a much bigger caliber for these.
As a varmint rifle the AR15 excels with its accuracy and firepower. When you have a pack of coyotes in front of you the 30 shot magazine enables you to take them all out before any can get away. That is vital for a farmer protecting his stock. Coyotes have pretty much eliminated the traditional barnyard with chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese running freely about. They have also decimated the local game animal populations east of the Mississippi were they are an invasive species causing incalculable damage.
Coyotes can also be dangerous to humans. I know of two cases in Georgia where hunters were attacked by coyotes and I firmly believe that some of the small children that have gone missing over the years were victims of coyotes. An AR15A4 with a 30 round magazine works for hunting them, especially if a thermal sight is attached to the Picatinny rail.
AR15’s, M16’s, and M4 carbines all need to be kept scrupulously clean and before returning this one to Colt I cleaned it with Shooter’s Choice bore cleaner and patches and lubricated it with German Ballistol oil. Even though Ballistol has a NATO stock number and it’s properties are well known after it served the German Army in two World Wars American troops in Vietnam were never given it, the one oil that really works in the rain. Ballistol forms an emulsion in water and as long as it is 5% Ballistol the water will evaporate off leaving the gun rust free.
There is a bewildering array of AR15 rifles from countless manufacturers available today. If you want an AR15 and are confused as to which one to buy you can’t go wrong with the Colt AR15A4.
