A lot depends on the circumstance when purchasing a used rifle. You must be knowledgeable and understand the specific problems that often occur with a rifle and how to inspect the rifle. Sometimes a good deal is available and other times a money pit. If you are able to find a Colt Competetion Ready rifle I would heartily recommend the purchase. Colt has made many good rifles and has been the major supplier for the armed services. There are other good rifles but Colt remains the standard by which all others are judged. While many were designed for combat a few were designed for competetion. Among the best 3Gun rifles ever built is the Colt Competetion Ready AR 15. The Colt Competition isn’t made in Hartford by Colt but licensed by Colt to Colt Competetion. It is interesting that Colt’s monolithic uppers were made by Adcor and Adcor also offered an excellent AR 15 rifle. It is all in being knowledgeable of the type and its production history. The Colt Competition Ready rifles were a product of Bold Ideas. The company produced excellent rifles but did not survive the ups and downs of the AR market.
The rifles are found with 16-, 18-, or 20-inch match-grade barrels made from 416 stainless steel. Some featured .223 Wylde Match chambers for use with .223 and 5.56mm ammunition. There were various models including higher end guns with a Geissele two stage match trigger, extended tactical charging handle and both two and three port muzzle breaks. The majority feature a Magpul adjustable position stock. My example was known as the Marksman. This is an excellent rifle but is also the entry level Competetion Ready rifle. The trigger action is clean breaking at 5.5 pounds. The internal parts appear to be Teflon coated. My rifle features a four position butt stock. The rifle weighs 7.0 pounds even. Be certain to be knowledgeable concerning the exact model you encounter. The 16 inch barrel of my rifle is accurate and very useful. The longer barrel versions, and some with adjustable gas block, may be even more accurate. The different features don’t make much difference on used guns from what I have seen. Most are priced less than new Colt rifles.
When the Colt Competetion Ready is examined a first impression tells you that the rifle is very nicely fitted. The receivers are tight, very tight, and care had gone into fitting the rifle. The forend is well chosen offering superior gipping ability. The muzzle break seemed effective. While the .223 doesn’t offer much recoil when you are firing rapid fire and running a combat course recovery is more rapid with a good break. I purchased the rifle without optics. I added a Vortex Strikefire II red dot sight. Here is what Vortex has to say about their RDS-
- The new 2019 Strikefire II Red Dot is a rugged, reliable red dot sight that is at home in a variety of applications allowing users to operate between 11 illumination settings.
- With aesthetics and functionality in mind, the power controls are at the rear of the Strikefire for easy access. The Strikefire II Red Dot runs off a CR2 battery and has been updated with improved battery life up to 80, 000 hours at setting 6.
- An offset cantilever mount is provided; allowing you to move the sight forward to be used in conjunction with a magnifier and backup iron sights all on the same rail.
- Fully multi-coated lenses provide a clean and bright, unobscured point of view. Unlimited eye relief allows for rapidtransitions.
- The single-piece chasis is compact and lightweight but still delivers shockproof performance withstanding whatever you may throw at it. Nitrogen purged and o-ring seals ensure fogproof and waterproof performance.
My experience with the Vortex has been good especially considering the price is less than two hundred dollars at Cheaperthandirt.com. I began sighting the rifle in in the usual manner at 25 yards, then 50, and finally 100 yards. It was a leisurely stroll as there have been no failures to feed chamber fire or eject in firing more than 600 cartridges to date. Bullet weight ranged from 36 to 77 grains. As may be expected the light bullet isn’t as accurate in my rifle while function isn’t as positive these loads never tied up. Firing off hand the rifle performed like most other very good AR rifles. Rapid engagement of man sized targets and steel gongs was a joy as the rifle has high hit probability. Most of the loads expended have been 55 grain FMJ ammunition, Black Hills, Federal American Eagle, and Winchester white box. The rifle has performed well. I also settled down for accuracy testing at 100 yards. Cranking the red dot down to its smallest setting I fired several three shot groups with two of the most accurate .223 loads available. The Black Hills Ammunition 69 grain Tipped Match King and the 77 grain Tipped Match King. I have long regarded the 69 grain loading as an excellent all around choice for .223 use. Each load was very accurate trading back and forth for accuracy with most group in the .9 to 1.3 inch range. Not long after that range session I borrowed a Tru Glo Eminus from the Adcor rifle for further testing. I was able to successfully engage man sized targets well past 200 yards with this combination. Colt’s Competetion Ready rifle gets a clean bill of health. If all are this good the type is well worth the time and effort to find a good example.
