What basic Mil-Spec AR 15 replacement parts should I have Colt 6920 LE?

tkdguy · Sep 16, 2016

What basic supply parts should I have for my Colt? I shoot occasional but want to be prepared should an emergency part needs to be replaced? Are there basic charging handle, trigger group springs or other parts that I should have for back-up?

Thanks for your input.

slimmer13 · Sep 16, 2016

Firing pin, gas rings, extractor, maybe a bolt

2A2Dend · Sep 16, 2016

A duplex nail can be made into a firing pin.

ORYGUNHolsterCompany · Sep 16, 2016

I keep a complete spare bolt/firing pin/retaining pin. If it is an emergency swapping in a new bolt is way faster than replacing any part of the bolt and less work. When the emergency is over then repair/replace as you see necessary. Also batteries for optics seem to be the other thing requiring field replacement often.

Kruel J · Sep 16, 2016

I'd say a BCG and a spring/pin kit. And they don't have to be colt branded. Any Mil-spec kits would work. The trigger components (besides the springs) shouldn't wear out with normal use. And that just about covers the moving parts.

captqc · Sep 16, 2016

Lots of places sell kits that have all the pins and springs that are the most likely to fail. Usually called an AR field repair kit and sell for $35-40. I carry one in my range bag just in case.

Doc In UPlace · Sep 16, 2016

This is a personal choice and there's probably no one "right" answer. Here's what I have done. er, did, before the boating accident. Heh. Did. That's the ticket.

Instead of having multiple rifles in the same caliber, you could have one 6920 rifle and a boatload of spare parts. I think maybe this is where you're heading, too.

The theory is, "if all stores such as Brownells were prohibited from selling AR parts, whether because of legislation or war or natural disaster, what should you have in your kit?

The answer for me was:

A complete 5.56 Colt bolt carrier group, and additionally a spare firing pin, firing pin retaining pins (3), extractor, extractor spring and pin, ejector, ejector spring and pin. (2) sets gas rings.

The little tiny parts like that are the most likely to get lost in a conflagration or natural disaster where lighting is bad, you haven't slept or eaten properly in weeks, and it's been raining for several days.

In normal times, it is not fun waiting a week for a spring or a pin (if you don't have a complete bolt or BCG to drop in there). In bad enough times it could seem like forever, or until an election reverses legislation. Or you find somebody elses' rifle. Some of the Iraqi guns were never fired and only dropped once!

I'd replaced the stock trigger group with a Geissele SSA, so there's the original trigger group, replaced the buffer and buffer spring with a JP captured buffer spring, leaving the original buffer assembly as spare. Same with the OEM carbine stock and a Magpul ACS stock.

If you have an electronic sight (mine's an Aimpoint) enough batteries for 6 years.

Every upgrade leaves a spare set of parts behind.

tkdguy · Sep 16, 2016

This is great info! Any other ideas. I guess i could go to Brownell's and order all of these parts. Any other locations? Great info here. tkdguy

Doc In UPlace · Sep 17, 2016

This has been an inspirational thread for me too. After posting I thought I'd dig up the parts I actually have and inventory them.

Found a complete bolt catch assembly (Release, pin, spring, plunger, and even a Brownells catch pin punch.) Also found two bolt cam pins, two each spare extractor and ejector pins, and discovered thaat I am missing one set of bolt gas rings and a firing pin, must have used those in the spare BCG.

Good stuff, you tend to just put things away and forget what's there. This was a good opportunity, thanks for posting, @tkd.

Brownells seems to be the ones for Colt OEM parts, but for other parts Midwayusa sometimes has things Brownells doesn't.

2A2Dend · Sep 17, 2016

Nice to see you actually post, Doc

eldbillbo · Sep 17, 2016

All the suggestions are pretty good I'll just go to say I have been shooting and collecting Ar15s since 1998 and I am not saying not to have spare part as they are a must for many of the reasons mentioned and to be prepared.

I have never seen a worn out carrier I think you could burn up 2 receivers before or even 2 barrels before even considering a replacing a carrier .A carrier is made of steel it rides on aluminum. The rings are a softer metal than what in a chrome lined carrier.
then only thing that might cause a carrier to fail is excessive carbon build up inside behind the bolt or the gas key screws coming loose which should not happen if properly staked.

bolt and bolt components are important I have seen see come across worn out bolts and hear of them cracking where the cam goes in usually because of circumstances.

I have had a cam pin crack on me. I once ran across a plugged gas tube but that has never happened to me. I have seen receiver crack under port cover due to over kaboom due to bad ammo but never has happened to me.

Buffer spring is something that if you shoot a lot you should have a spare now there are some springs that are said to last 250,000 rds but I can vouch for those as I have shot that many rds through a rifle .

gas ring are of course and any part you might loose like cam pin and retainer pin or any bolt part as there are many parts there and spare extractors or really good ones.

Colt being or was true "mil spec" as in having to produce for the military has very strict quality control in the production of extractors in their heat treating and testing because if the metal is too soft they will tear and if they are too hard they will crack so they have to be just right to survive sustained combat usage. So keep in mind when some manufactures say "mil-spec" they mean they will work with "mil-spec" parts don't always meet up with mil-spec specifications because the average user is not expected to use them for that kind of use. For many years the parts for colt Ar15s came off the same assembly lines and followed the same testing requirements as per Military rifles making them the preferred choice of many.

And today there are many companies due to demand of shooting sports and thanks to politicians like Obummer have been able to invest in better machinery to produce better than mil-spec parts or mil spec parts at lower prices.

tkdguy · Sep 17, 2016

Extra charging handle(s)? Some look basic while others are more expensive?

Quartermaster · Sep 17, 2016

2A2Dend said:
A duplex nail can be made into a firing pin.

What's smarter than "genius?"

Also, relating to the thread: Mil-Spec means "lowest bidder to meet contract requirements." Simply put.

v0lcom13sn0w · Sep 17, 2016

i keep a rag, firing pin, cam pin, cotter pin and gas rings in my stock storage tube. "you'll never need it till u dont have it."

AMProducts · Sep 17, 2016

I don't know what kinda spare parts you think you need. But when a serious emergency happens, I just have 3 spare guns. When one goes down, you just swap to one of the other ones on your back. And they better all be in 300WM.

Seriously, I shoot a hell of a lot of AR-15 over the last 20 years, I've used everything from el-cheapo to high end. I still have one of those little "spare parts kit" packages I bought many years ago and never used any of it. Generally, the only parts I've ever had to replace were springs, the rear-takedown pin spring, the selector switch spring and the detents frequently get lost.

One of my gas rings on my DPMS AR broke once, just about 1/8" busted off the end of one of them. It never stopped working.

v0lcom13sn0w · Sep 17, 2016

only thing ive had happen is worn gas rings and another time loose low-pro gas block set screws. both kept the gun from cycling reliably. fixed it right there no prob.

clearconscience · Sep 18, 2016

I would say bolt, but BCGs are so inexpensive right now just get a complete BCG.
Spring kit (with trigger springs), firing pin, and gas tube.
If you have a gas system that is