[Kadric]

Colt has always used a large front pin on their civilan AR-15's as far as I know. I know that at one point they changed the trigger and hammer pin size also not sure when but would guess it was when they installed the block in the lower. I have a '68 production with the large pin. I would say it was more of quality and marketing issues which cost them. Why pay the extra money for the Colt name when you can get a better product for a lot less.

[nerdwithamachinegun]

Colt also doesn't have much going for it in terms of customer service.

They will not sell a wide variet of rifle parts to individuals as will Bushmaster, ArmaLite, Rock River Arms and others.

Try buying a replacement 14.5" lightweight barrel from them.

[Shooter 2.5]

Really? I thought they changed the pin size during the Assault Weapons ban. It was one of the reasons why I went to an Armalite.

Thanks for the info.