Well I'm no Colt "SME", however I have been looking at the 901. I would think that the barrel "rate of twist" may have more effect on bullet weight. It seems to me that most of the Colt rifles I see are the "16" barrel version, however there is a 6945 which has the 10.5" barrel. IRG seems to have the best selection. I prefer a shorter barrel since most ranges in Southern ON don't have a "half K" capability. Kyle Defoor commented that he used a MK18 and had no issues out to 200m. I guess the choice is yours? IIRC Colt doesn't use "large pin" anymore so anything you get will be small pin.
Specs:
10.3″ barrel
Carbine length gas system
1:7 twist barrel
Buffer that will run (55 gr) ammo
Knights Armament RIS (7″)
Standard front sight tower
Cut down rear carrying handle
Old KAC vertical fore grip
Aimpoint comp M2
Wilcox Aimpoint mount
Surefire 6P wth Wilcox mount
SOPMOD stock
Boonie Packer 2 pt adjustable sling (who else remembers that!!!!)
This was the original set up that we had in the mid 90s when we transitioned from MP5 to M4′s. There aren’t many people in the shooting and gun industry that are old enough to remember this. Most of us guys at Alias are though. This was the first real rifle caliber gun that we had that worked well for commando missions. Before this thing we were hose clamping mag lights onto CAR-15′s and using ACOG’s on top of a fixed carrying handle. This is the gun that both Tier 1 units originally took to war before the HK416. This set up has killed a #### ton of bad dudes. This is the gun that won the war; at least in my opinion. This is what the unit and the command had when we figured out how to fight in Afghanistan. How to do assaults, how to do infiltrations, how to do ambushes, the whole kit and caboodle.
Over gassed, yes. Needs more lube than normal, yes. Sucks for getting dirty when shooting with a suppressor, yes- but….. I’ll put it up against any modern weapon as long as it’s in the right hands.
It worked wet, it worked in the sand, it worked in the dirt, it worked at altitude and it shot out the 200 yards no problem. This was not an Army soldier’s gun, It was not a Marines rifle, It was an Assaulters weapon…Period.
V/R,
Kyle Defoor
“Trainer of Feeders”
Kyle Defoor is a former Special Mission Unit combat decorated Navy SEAL and sniper who served in Afghanistan. Kyle teaches firearms and tactics to military and law enforcement personnel in the United States and worldwide. He also offers marksmanship related open enrollment classes to the public.
