[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Colt expanse (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 3/2/2018 9:35:28 AM EDT
| I just bought a colt expanse ce2000 and was wondering why it has the m203 cutout on the barrel. All the ones I looked at online and all the reviews I watched did not have the cutout. Just curious if they started to recently change barrels for the newer ones? |
| The Commercial and Government Entity Code, or CAGE Code, is a unique identifier assigned to suppliers to various government or defense agencies, as well as to government agencies themselves and also various organizations. CAGE codes provide a standardized method of identifying a given facility at a specific location. |
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Got at Academy a couple days ago in north Fort Worth. Part of my panic buying. 700 ish after taxes Upper receiver C marked? Carrier/bolt? CE prefix serial? Hammer style? Mag release 1 or 2 piece? H buffer? 4 or 6 position tube? (You have me way curious now). 
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https://i.imgur.com/laAvmYw_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/fktd77V_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/y0ajuGo_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/DdiyQRu_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/50ekhAm_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium Did not see any marking on BCG besides what in pics. H buffer LE serial Carry handle did not come with it. Was from another AR I had extra. You stole that. Enjoy it. |
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Nice 6920. You stole that. Enjoy it. Quoted:
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https://i.imgur.com/laAvmYw_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/fktd77V_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/y0ajuGo_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/DdiyQRu_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.com/50ekhAm_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium Did not see any marking on BCG besides what in pics. H buffer LE serial Carry handle did not come with it. Was from another AR I had extra. You stole that. Enjoy it. |
Congrats, you got very lucky having a lot of 6920 features on your Expanse carbine, I'm jealous! 
I've got a very early Expanse CE1000 the ones was released early 2016, it had no forward assist and no dust cover. You got 6920 upper receiver with the C mark, M4 chrome lined standard Government profile barrel (thin under the handguards), M4 double heat shield handguards, MPC marked bolt, standard two piece mag catch, standard semi-auto fire control group, 6920 selector and H buffer. The only part if you wish to upgrade would be the bolt carrier with the letter C, and you've got yourself a LE6920. Most of the Expanse I've seen only have one or two 6920 parts which varies, you got them all except one. I have two 6920 M4 carbines and like I said an early Expanse CE1000, since I got a bunch of Colt spare parts I upgraded my lower half so it is now the same as my other 6920 carbines. My upper half Expanse I only upgraded by adding the forward assist and dust cover, I'm not going to upgrade it further because I have to replace everything, it have the Expanse non chrome lined barrel with larger diameter 0.750" under the handguards, only MP marked bolt, no C mark on the carrier, no C mark on the upper, at least it have a keyhole (Cerro) forge mark same as my lower receiver have also a Cerro forge mark. The purpose of my upper half Expanse is a range toy for my other carbines so I don't put mileage on my other chrome lined barrels and bolt groups. My upgraded Expanse lower with LE serial prefix, I also upgraded the grip with a Magpul MOE K2 grip and Magpul STR buttstock, I'm using it as an extra lower when I want to use Magpul furniture, later on I'll build a complete upper for it probably with a modular free floating rail and make it my most advanced configuration modern carbine. My other two 6920 carbines, one have the B5 Systems BRAVO SOPMOD buttstock, the other one have a Vltor IMOD buttstock. The Colt factory is not making much profit if they keep using 6920 parts on the Expanse, maybe the Expanse parts dried up and they just have to use readily available parts at the factory. |
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Many carriers are faintly C marked (a few of mine I had to take a flashlight to to make it out). Also, last time I talked to Colt CS, I was told that "marking the carriers is a human performed operation and unfortunately some are missed entirely ". OP got a steal here. 
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| That appears to be a 6920 all the way. As said above, your carrier might be C marked, and you just haven't seen it yet. I have a couple BCG's that the first time I looked, I couldn't see it. Double check that. Also, does the serial # on the box match your gun? Maybe the upper haves were switched at the shop? Just thinking out loud here. |
| I will check the BCG again when I get off work. I just did a quick glance at it the first time. I think the lower is 100% 6920 so I assume it was placed in wrong box or as someone mentioned they did it because they were low on expanse parts. I will also double check the serial number on the box and see if it matches. |
The only difference I've found between my Expanse lower and 6920 lowers is the staking of the end plate to the castle nut. All of the other internal parts are the same. The Colt factory uses a press with a square punch to stake them, and whoever put the Expanse together used a round punch that looks like it was done by hand. Pics below with the Expanse on top and the 6920 on bottom.
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OP I bought a Colt Expanse CE2000S today from Academy too.
The display model had the usual Expanse heavy contour barrel and a LE prefixed lower. I told the clerk I'll take it and he goes back to get another rifle and returns with a Colt Expanse model CE2000S. It had a LE6920 upper on it and I was like hmm the LE6920 they have on display is $999.99 and the Expanse was on sale for $699.99....easy choice here. This CE2000S has a LE6920 upper on it the barrel has Colt's 13629 cage code with M4 handguards and was date stamped 02/17. The upper receiver has a C and Cerro forge mark,bolt carrier is stamped C and the bolt was marked MPC. In contrast the display model Expanse had the non M4 profile barrel, thin 6 hole HG, BC was not stamped C and the bolt was marked MP only. The lower is prefixed CR but has all Colt FCG and a H buffer the pistol grip is like the LE6920 with a dry powder look unlike the display Expanse that had a shiny Black pistol grip and the CE2000S buffer tube is 4 position the end plate to castle nut has square staking. So basically the CE2000S is a LE6920 minus the Magpul rear sight with a CR prefix serial number and is $300 less. Way to go Academy and Colt! Attached File |
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Thanks for the info about the CE2000S carbine.
Guys with the new CE2000S carbines congrats, that is a very good deal indeed! I've just seen the new Colt site and it seems they are not showing any CE2000 Expanse, AR6720 Lightweight carbine, and AR6721 AR-15A3 Tactical carbine (HBAR heavy contour barrel). I'm assuming they will not offer the Expanse series anymore because they already stopped their contract with their supplier in Texas, which is now out of business. FYI the Expanse on it's first year of production in 2016 outsold the 6920 M4 series by 3 to 1 according to the firearms media, so they must have sold a lot of Expanse carbines those several years. It also seems that most distributors are low in stock or out of stock on Colt AR maybe because there's a panic buying going on right now because of gun ban legislation being worked on in congress. I try to avoid buying during panic buying because of higher prices and guns are hard to find, I will wait until the craziness is over when prices gets lower and more stock are available. |
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The Expanse CE200S is a LE6920 without the Magpul BUIS for $300 less.
The rifle was in a birth bag like the LE6920 also the box end label says M4 Carbine not Expanse M4 like the CE1000, CE2000 and CE2000HB. There is a smaller label put on the box end label applied at the top left corner that says "Colt Expanse+ M4 .223REM/5.56" this might be an Academy label though. Attached File |
| I recently purchased an Expanse CE2000, then an LE6920 MBP-S the next week. Oddly, my Expanse has the full 6920 trigger group, not the low mass hammer, same forge markings on hammer as my 6920. Though I love my Expanse, sure wish I’d seen a CE2000-S! What a great deal you got! |
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Quoted: I've just seen the new Colt site and it seems they are not showing any CE2000 Expanse, AR6720 Lightweight carbine, and AR6721 AR-15A3 Tactical carbine (HBAR heavy contour barrel). Edit, I did take a look at colts website and it does look like the 6720 and the 6721 are missing, I also did not see a standard 14.5" m4 semi (6921) listed. |
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I had a very interesting call today with Colt! I have a Lower I bought from CDNN that was shipped and sold as a lower. I had called Friday and got a verification that lowers were being sold and shipped and that my lower was not shipped as a Rifle. Today I had more time so I decided to request that in writing and got a reply that these lowers WERE NOT made by Colt but a contractor. The Customer Service guy said that the company making these went bankrupt hence why these lowers were being sold. So, he said Colt can’t send me a letter now... With that said, they also don’t have records of it being shipped as a rifle either so it’s a black hole of sorts. I tried to get the name of the contractor but all the customer service guy would say is they are out of business and said that Brownells, CDNN, etc were told to stop advertising these lowers a factory Colt Assembled lowers! 
So anyways, I am still leaving my lower built as a pistol even though I can’t directly get documentation from Colt that it had in fact left as a receiver. If Colt is blocking future sales of these they could be a quite uncommon quirky AR even if it wasn’t made by Colt! Anyways, not sure the Customer Service Guy was supposed to share what he did but I am passing along as it helps explain some of the Expanse oddities. |
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Doesn’t this lower match whst is seen on the Ecpanse guns. Looks like any I looked at but I never bought one so I can’t compare side by side
Edit: Read this! So yea, my lower is very likely related to the former Expanse program except based on my call with Colt today, even the lower isn’t really a Colt! http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/07/14/colt-sued-half-million-dollars-expanse-production-cutbacks/ This article also refers to the unfinished rifles, which is what was being sold off but based on what the Colt guy said may be stopping too http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/03/robert-farago/colt-competition-goes-business-first-many/ Anyways, see the linkage now? See this thread in the Archives too: https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Fake_Colt_ARs_/5-1942801/ |
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Doesn’t this lower match whst is seen on the Ecpanse guns. Looks like any I looked at but I never bought one so I can’t compare side by side Edit: Read this! So yea, my lower is very likely related to the former Expanse program except based on my call with Colt today, even the lower isn’t really a Colt! http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/07/14/colt-sued-half-million-dollars-expanse-production-cutbacks/ This article also refers to the unfinished rifles, which is what was being sold off but based on what the Colt guy said may be stopping too http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/03/robert-farago/colt-competition-goes-business-first-many/ Anyways, see the linkage now? See this thread in the Archives too: https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Fake_Colt_ARs_/5-1942801/ |
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Correct, except it’s Colt Competition which wasn’t really Colt but a subcontractor. Yours looks like the early Expanse lowers other than the SN prefix. The engraving mostly. The font change still throws me for a loop. |
This is my typical early 2016 production Expanse lower receiver markings which are the same as regular LE6920 lower markings, note the QR code above the selector, the Colt Defense and serial numbers are all laser engraved the rest of the markings are all still roll marked. I've seen current production LE6920 markings are still the same except for the CR serial number prefix. Quoted:
I had a very interesting call today with Colt! I have a Lower I bought from CDNN that was shipped and sold as a lower. I had called Friday and got a verification that lowers were being sold and shipped and that my lower was not shipped as a Rifle. Today I had more time so I decided to request that in writing and got a reply that these lowers WERE NOT made by Colt but a contractor. The Customer Service guy said that the company making these went bankrupt hence why these lowers were being sold. So, he said Colt can’t send me a letter now... With that said, they also don’t have records of it being shipped as a rifle either so it’s a black hole of sorts. I tried to get the name of the contractor but all the customer service guy would say is they are out of business and said that Brownells, CDNN, etc were told to stop advertising these lowers a factory Colt Assembled lowers! https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/1913/FA2B0191-43AE-4E07-B400-D53EB2389D0B-477026.jpg So anyways, I am still leaving my lower built as a pistol even though I can’t directly get documentation from Colt that it had in fact left as a receiver. If Colt is blocking future sales of these they could be a quite uncommon quirky AR even if it wasn’t made by Colt! Anyways, not sure the Customer Service Guy was supposed to share what he did but I am passing along as it helps explain some of the Expanse oddities. I have an early M4 Carbine all roll marked made early in the first year of 2012 and the serial number are in the LE 100K range, if you need to see a picture of it I could post it. Also your mag catch is a one piece type typical of the Expanse/ Colt Competition/ Bold Ideas parts, the standard mag catch on LE6920 are two piece with a rivet head on the left side. Your selector also looks like the old type with a smaller lever same as on the made in TX guns. My wild guess is that your fully engraved lower are a sample lower to show the new markings for the new M4 Carbine marked lowers, and I'm thinking that because of the low serial number which are not typical of the M4 Carbine marked series. Yours might be a rare lower receiver. |
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I bought an early Expanse and its roll marked LE prefix. What came on the Expanses listed here as near 6920 copies? Were they roll marked? Attached File |
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I looked at 2 today at Academy. Both appeared to be compete 6920’s in disguise. Every marking I looked for looked correct and both had LE serial numbers. Both were CE2000S models. The one big thing I noticed is that both lowers appeared to be Blem’s. Both had minor suface voids that were easily noticeable on the right side of the lower. Great shooter for $750, but I passed. Especially with the sketchy history. |
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I just bought a colt expanse ce2000 and was wondering why it has the m203 cutout on the barrel. All the ones I looked at online and all the reviews I watched did not have the cutout. Just curious if they started to recently change barrels for the newer ones? |