Good news: got my form 1 back ridiculously quick. My 11.5 inch Colt upper came in today and i installed it. Mounted up some sights and hit the range.

Bad news: while the upper shot nice tight groups, even with the windage maxed out they were still left of point of aim. And not by a little. Swapped out the sights from my box o parts and they weren’t the issue.

Took it home and close examination reveals that the barrel itself appears to be slightly canted. Dammit Colt.

Amazing news: contacted Midway fully expecting to be referred to Colt. The sent me a prepaid shipping label to exchange the upper. No questions asked and handling shipping both ways. That’s good customer service.

I figure I should have the replacement in hand end of next week unless I can pay for expedited shipping (which I’m going to ask about in the morning). Hopefully the next one is straight. Really nice upper otherwise.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: copaup,

Good on Midway. I too, would have expected the forward to Colt. Post up the results when you get the replacement.

That sucks. I hope they get it sorted out for you, and quickly.

Sorry to hear about your experience. But as someone on the dealer side it's sadly not all that surprising these days. Even before their civilian 'CR' rifles brought Colt back to the civilian market, they already had been having QC issues with their so-called professional 'LE' prefix model guns. Not that it seemed widespread or rampant, but these defects were frequent enough that it was hard not to notice or draw conclusions that a trend was happening. For us and our customers, only Ruger and its AR-556 problems drew more attention and ire for its own defective tendencies than Colt's issues did. (Also again it's not some kind of widespread, prevalent thing, but again happening enough to start noticing)

UPDATE:
Well, still Colt screwed up, but it’s a much more minor screw up. Went to box the upper up for return and thought “wonder if the rail is straight?” It’s a Le6933 upper with the Centurion free float rail. I loosened up the rail and torqued it back down while using a carry handle to hold it straight. Low and behold my sights lined up with the optic with the rear sight at mechanical zero.

Range trip confirms that the sights are now on with only minor adjustment. I sent an email to Midway thanking them for their excellent customer service and cancelling the exchange.

Glad to hear about the easy fix!

Midway's no questions asked returns are great. With the way things are now, you have to order a lot of stuff on the internet to ever see it in person. Places that say no returns or 15% restock fee or any of that are a pain.

Have you checked to see if the rail will flex on the barrel nut and lose zero? Centurion is really good stuff so I would hope if it's properly installed and tightened it won't have any flex.

That said, lots of quality issues all around now. I bought a match grade AR barrel earlier this year from a very reputable place. When I got it I noticed the timing pin was canted. I inquired and was told there was a bad batch of pins that weren't properly hardened and some deformed on pressing. It fit the upper ok, so it's just a cosmetic issue, but for $400 stuff like that shouldn't get out.

Just recently I ordered a different barrel, direct from a very high quality manufacturer and the barrel nut was interfering with the timing pin. Wasn't pressed in all the way or hole wasn't deep enough or pin was too long. Manufacturer sent a replacement next day shipping, and a call tag to send the other one back. They made good on it but still, it shouldn't have gotten out in the first place.

Why is this? Probably labor shortages and backlogs and overtime. Maybe the new guy was put on the "easy" job of pressing the timing pins in, while the experienced guys are doing the machining and rifling. And the new guy screws up the easy job, even if the rest of the barrel is nearly perfect.

With it tightened down I can't flex it by hand or with the sling. The barrel still isn't visibly centered in the tube, but the sights are on and the rail feels solid. My OCD will just have to cope.

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:
With it tightened down I can't flex it by hand or with the sling. The barrel still isn't visibly centered in the tube, but the sights are on and the rail feels solid. My OCD will just have to cope.

OK good deal. If you have any trouble at all, call Corrie at Centurian and they will take care of you.

FWIW, I used a Picatinny scope mount as an assembly aid to align the receiver & rail straddling the seam while loose, then snug up the rail screws. Remove the mount, & tighten the screws. Worked well enough for my OCD.

I bought a Holosun 507K (Green) X2 optical sight from Midway a month or so back. On Thursday, they advised me that Holosun was doing a recall on that particular sight, within a given serial number range. Sure enough, mine was among them. I'm glad Midway notified me even though my sight has been working fine, and Holosun customer service responded quickly with instructions and return postage.

the 11.5 6933 is fantastic. this is my factory Colt 6933 SBS I bought thru a broker from the PA State Police years ago. I don't think they ever fired it. its been in many different configurations over the years but it currently wears the factory carry handle irons and Vietnam era triangle furniture and 3 prong FH.

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LE6933EPR upper on a Sabre Defense lower. Absolute hoot to shoot. Guarantees an open bay on either side of you on an indoor range….