Colt Commando

[Bill Hollinger]

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

[enfield303t]

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.

[Al Diehl]

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.

Attachment 76085

Al

[enfield303t]

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.

[enfield303t]

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.

[bczandm]

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