Colt Commando

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...wwa6r1ji-1.jpg



Took the Colt Commando to the range a couple days ago, impressed how well it shot 55gr. Federal American Eagle loads. My son shot most of the rounds at the gong at 300 yards with me doing a few but most of my time was spotting. Overall considering the 1/7 twist is not very good with that light of a bullet I think it did well. It with a 11 1/2 in barrel is loud, very loud and the muzzle flash is very evident in bright daylight.

I am impressed with the quality of the build, everything is top quality in fit and finish which makes it a Colt most people would like to own. Sights seem to work well, even with these old eyes and had lots of adjustment so only took a few rounds to get on target.

The stock has infinite adjustments which is good seeing as so often it is difficult to get the exact length with a adjustable stock that uses specific stop lengths.

Trigger is crisp and better than I expected, probably won't consider replacing as it is more than adequate.

Bought 75 gr Hornady AMAX bullets which was a mistake as it is impossible to get the C.O.L. to fit any AR mag, the poly tip is the culprit. Apparently you can use any 77 gr. or lighter bullet as long as they are not a AMAX, lesson learned. Read the 75 AMAX are extremely accurate so will try them in one of my bolt guns. Went back to the LGS and bought some Hornady 68 gr. and haven't loaded any but will do some tomorrow for the next range day. Will chrony with the 68's as I am curious what velocity we can get from such a short barrel. Reloading will be interesting as the powder weight bottom to top is pretty narrow. One of the guys at the LGS uses IVI cases and advised me to start at the bottom, and watch for any sign of pressure. Will use Varget and as it is such a versatile powder and hope it will be the usual "best" choice.

Next time will do some accuracy tests at 100 yards, and will post the results..providing they are good...LOL

I don't think it has a new FRT number, think the importer tried to register it under the wrong number and that is where a bit of a mix up happened. This gun is fairly rare here in Canada from what we read but has been imported in low numbers over the years. IIRC the original FRT number is for a FA Commando which is a prohib. here in Canada.

The Commando did not last very long before it was replaced with the XM177E2, which we knew as the CAR 15.
I carried a CAR 15 in RVN.
Here is my current CAR 15 along with a select fire FN/FAL, 2 chicom M14s, an M1A and AR 15.
Sarge Attachment 75579

Nice, nice...all of them. The little Colt commando is what I wanted when I was carrying them. It took us years to get them into service and now we've made them as unwieldy and heavy as a rifle.

I do like the SBR. I do not have a 11.5" Colt Commando (nice rifle!), however my latest is a Diemaco C8CQB (along with its American Mk18 Mod0 cousin) ...

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Originally Posted by Sarge

The Commando did not last very long before it was replaced with the XM177E2, which we knew as the CAR 15.
I carried a CAR 15 in RVN.
Here is my current CAR 15 along with a select fire FN/FAL, 2 chicom M14s, an M1A and AR 15.
Sarge Attachment 75579

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Nice firearms Sarge. I love the FN, shot a C1 but always wanted a go at a C2 which never happened. I know the C2 was somewhat uncontrollable however always wanted to try to prove that wrong. Bet I could throw enough lead downrange to hit what I wanted.:D

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Originally Posted by CODFan

I do like the SBR. I do not have a 11.5" Colt Commando (nice rifle!), however my latest is a Diemaco C8CQB (along with its American Mk18 Mod0 cousin) ...

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Colt Canada (Diemaco) build a beautiful gun, from what I understand the quality is better than the US production. That statement should start a controversy.

---------- Post added at 07:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 AM ----------

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

Nice, nice...all of them. The little Colt commando is what I wanted when I was carrying them. It took us years to get them into service and now we've made them as unwieldy and heavy as a rifle.

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Jim, you don't live that far away, come visit and shoot it, anytime.

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Originally Posted by enfield303t

the C2 was somewhat uncontrollable

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They were far from uncontrollable. Long bursts would chatter but short two to three round bursts were fine. Better yet, just shoot singles and go at a rate of twice the normal.

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Originally Posted by enfield303t

Jim, you don't live that far away, come visit and shoot it, anytime.

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That could happen on a flyby too, thanks.

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This is the CAR-15 stock installed on a 1974 Colt SP1 semi auto, it came before the the XM177 stock and has a slightly different locking lever and the location of the rear swivel

My son has a 1981 SP1, and out to 300 it is a laser. He has done very well in our club military shoots with it with my reloads.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RCS

This is the CAR-15 stock installed on a 1974 Colt SP1 semi auto, it came before the the XM177 stock and has a slightly different locking lever and the location of the rear swivel

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There's one of those in the museum in Ft Lewis WA. The curator is an old burnout that must be close to mandatory. He knew he had a rare weapon in his collection but didn't know that was it...

My FN/FAL is Very controllable on 3-5 rd bursts, but IF I hold it down (which I almost never do!) it tends to wander high & to the right.
Sarge

One of these days I'll do the SBR paperwork and send the $200.00 to get this pseudo Commando in the configuration it should be :D
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...2818d82a-1.jpg

It went to the range for the second time today. No serious effort to see how good a group it would do however it shoots 55gr Federal very well out to 300m. Around 160 rounds down the pipe and no issues other than the muzzle flash is "outstanding" with that short barrel.

Met a couple of guys at the range who had never shot a AR so my son gave them both a try. Shooting offhand they both did extremely well at 50m and enjoyed it. At 300m using the open sights my son did well hitting the gong and misses were close enough to be more than acceptable. The short sighting radius is not good for my old eyes and I am too vain to admit I need glasses so it won't get much use from me.

Cleaning is meticulous and the tolerances are tight which should make it a fine shooter. Many say Colt Canada makes a better gun than its US counterpart but from what we see I don't think it would be possible with this model in particular.

I have been too lazy to load 68 gr but must do that tomorrow. Hopefully they will be the ones to test just how accurate it will be. Will chrony it at the same time, that should be interesting as I think velocity might be much less than I expect.

Will post more after we give it a fair trial with heavier bullets.

Here is a picture of my quasi-XM-177 with a 2 position stock and an Olympic Arms XM-177 barrel (11.5" barrel with pinned 5.5" flash suppressor). I first built it in 1986 (with an A1 upper) and it has paid for itself twice over in Deer meat.:thup:

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Al

A slightly more serious day at the range with the Colt Commando. First I should mention Cass purchased a Trijicon MRO red dot sight for the gun so today's military shoot put it in the Advanced Combat Rifle category.

ACR means you have done a modification to the original gun and because of that it enters into a more competitive category.

He was using Norinco 55gr. ammo, which in reality is anything but high quality. Considering the ammo quality and shooting out to 300M with a 11.5 inch barrel the gun performed very well..

The course of fire is a total of 60 round, 15 at 100m 5 shots standing at your own pace, 5 shots standing with 5 second exposure per shot starting out of sight and 5 shots within 30 seconds. For 200m all 15 shots are done kneeling or sitting with the same time limits involved. At 300m all 15 are done prone again with the same time limits. In the end there is a mad minute, well actually two minutes where you shoot at 200m, 5 standing, 5 sitting/kneeling and 5 prone. You must change positions with a empty gun and not reload till you take the next position. It is lots of fun and usually many shooters rush not realizing how long two minutes really is.

BIG NEWS, he got FIRST in ACR so that is a real tribute to a gun that is better at distance than I thought it would be and dedicated practice on his part. The BAD NEWS is I got second, tough to have the kid beat his dad IMO. LOL

In Assault Rifle Cass shot his Colt SP1, that gun is a real laser and he took FIRST which made him happy, same disciplines and Norinco ammo which I guess we better not complain about. Overall a great day spent with great guys and the last shoot for the year.

Just to clarify I was shooting a DPMS AR with a Bushnell scope that the rules limit to a 4X max.

PS.
The SP1 is in action thanks to Brian Dick, Cass had the rear sight have a melt down and couldn't find some of the pieces in the gravel, Brian came thru with what was needed.

Another visit to the range today, this time to see what the Commando will actually do using a chronograph.

We were curious what muzzle velocity would be with a 11.5 inch barrel and here are the results.

Reloads using a 55 gr Hornady bullet. with 24.7 gr of W735 powder
Average velocity 2646 FPS

Factory Norinco .223 55 gr bullet. 1995 production.
Average velocity 2765 FPS

Lake City XM193 55 gr bullet 2014 production.
Average velocity 2853 FPS

Federal American Eagle 55 gr
Average velocity 2550 FPS.

Overall velocities were a little higher than we expected and somewhat surprised the Federal American Eagle finished last. It has always been reported that the Norinco factory loads were a little hotter which seems to be correct.

For comparison the Colt SP1 (20 in. barrel) had a average velocity of 3088 FPS using the same 24.7 gr of W735 and a 55 gr bullet reloads. The 8.5 inch shorter barrel on the Commando cost around 440 FPS which is pretty substantial and probably why it will be marginal past 300 yards.
The Federal American Eagle factory loads had the least variation so although a "little" slow quite consistent.

Results with a 62 gr bullet.

Lake City 62g gr XM855 2014 production
Average velocity 2747 FPS.

IMI (Israel Military Industries) 62 gr XM855 2015 production
Average velocity 2707 FPS.

Good results IMO from both 62 gr. loads, will attempt to duplicate that in reloading for this gun. The IMI had the least velocity variation, very consistent ammo.

Enfield303t- That's my choice of a nearly perfect AR15 or M16. I have the same setup on a Colt M16 lower but with a fixed stock and it's my favorite rifle by a long ways. As you note it's very loud and has quite the flash, especially in the shade or near sundown.

Bolt a 1-4 or 1-6 on it and it's nearly perfect!

Enjoy the rifle,

Sincerely,
Bob