AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/24/2026 10:51:35 AM EDT
To be clear,it's a blemish lower. I bought it as that and will keep it. However if you are trying to match your H&R upper or Colt grey....this will not do. Apparently this batch of blems is because of very light/thin anodizing. Functions perfectly and kinda looks like a real issue rifle.... But it sure doesn't match. Just FYI. This was the M16A1 with USGI quality stock. H&R upper.
|
|
Old Colts were light grey, newer AR/M series are far darker then they used to be. It's your dark upper that is more of the issue. Attached File |
| That would bother me, but I also would never take the chance on a blem. The blem market has gotten out if hand and PSA is willing to put their name on anything that goes out the door. Years ago I bought a pack of blem 80%s and found out they were incorrectly machined, but only after a I finished them. At that time, blem meant blemished in an insignificant way, not anodized way out of spec (or incorrectly machined in my case). |
|
Quoted: Old Colts were light grey, newer AR/M series are far darker then they used to be. It's your dark upper that is more of the issue. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/32224/IMG_0631__1__JPG-3700528.JPG |
|
Quoted: My retro Colt M16A1 parts are the color gray of OP's upper. The lower looks WAY too light. Like a clear anodizing. I wouldn't be satisfied with the look, either. Quoted: Quoted: Old Colts were light grey, newer AR/M series are far darker then they used to be. It's your dark upper that is more of the issue. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/32224/IMG_0631__1__JPG-3700528.JPG Well, then they aren't really Colt grey retros then. Even the A2's were very close to the A1 anodizing color. Attached File Not the greatest pic and lighter in real life then the pic shows. |
|
Yeah, that would aggravate me, it's way off, a few shades is normal. The lower looks like no color was added to that batch of ano. The two aren't even in the same color spectrum. They would be excellent candidates for worn finishes. The pins, selector and bolt catch can be lightened color wise with Ospho or naval Jelly. |
|
GUNKOTE it upper is NDS Lower is GUNKOTE'd https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1078112228?pid=332122 2403F FLAT GRAY  |
|
Every Colt I have had the upper and lower were a pretty good match. Even old Eagle Arms offered a Colt grey colored uppers and lowers that were close to Colt's color and their uppers and lowers matched. I bought an H&R upper in grey and about all I can say is it is grey I would not call it anything more than kind of close to Colts color. I can see what you are saying about the lower you posted color or lack of. Buy a blem get an all over blem. |
|
Quoted: To be clear,it's a blemish lower. I bought it as that and will keep it. However if you are trying to match your H&R upper or Colt grey....this will not do. Apparently this batch of blems is because of very light/thin anodizing. Functions perfectly and kinda looks like a real issue rifle.... But it sure doesn't match. Just FYI. This was the M16A1 with USGI quality stock. H&R upper. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/107119/1000000713-3700416.jpg Oof. You were trying to save a few dollars but now you have to buy a normal lower to replace that so it will color match, and then you have an extra lower on your hands that will grow into another gun. One reason I have a BHD style build is I bought an blem A2 lower and it was pretty bad color (not as bad as yours) so I bought a C7 upper and M4 barrel, and spray painted it camo. 
|
|
Quoted: That would bother me, but I also would never take the chance on a blem. The blem market has gotten out if hand and PSA is willing to put their name on anything that goes out the door. Years ago I bought a pack of blem 80%s and found out they were incorrectly machined, but only after a I finished them. At that time, blem meant blemished in an insignificant way, not anodized way out of spec (or incorrectly machined in my case). Color is and will always be problematic. He can Moly-Resin it if it bothers him enough. |
|
Quoted: Oof. You were trying to save a few dollars but now you have to buy a normal lower to replace that so it will color match, and then you have an extra lower on your hands that will grow into another gun. One reason I have a BHD style build is I bought an blem A2 lower and it was pretty bad color (not as bad as yours) so I bought a C7 upper and M4 barrel, and spray painted it camo. It's worse than that.... I bought the upper already built on a black lower with A1 features. I bought this one intending to make a gray rifle and a black rifle. So now I will almost certainly buy a new gray receiver,AND build a black and grey rifle. I saved $40 on a receiver,to spend several hundred building new rifles. First world problems I guess. |
|
That lower looks like it was clear anodized, with no gray dye used at all. It doesn't look like the charcoal gray used on 1960's Colts, or the later, lighter gray anodizing used by Colt in the 1970's. It also doesn't look like the "patina" of a worn finish that would be seen on a well-used rifle. It just looks...odd. It would be a good candidate for a spray-on finish of your choice, as long as there aren't any additional, more serious reasons for its "blem" status. |
|
Quoted: It's not PSA it's H and R and Mike would not put his name on anything he wouldn't own. Color is and will always be problematic. He can Moly-Resin it if it bothers him enough. Both are owned by JJE Capital, which I believe was born from the desire to grow PSA. Surely, the receivers from each company are manufactured side-by-side. PSA regularly offers blems for many of their's and H&R products. I like PSA. I think H&R is amazing. My opinion is that blem products should not be regularly offered and that blemishes should be minor anyway. |
|
@trobertson5-0 - As suggested above, I'd recommend refinishing with Norrell's Moly Resin , specifically grayish-black Colt flat. You can do it yourself if you're handy. Or, if your finishing skills are like mine, you can send it out to get done. I had some uppers and lowers coated by John Norrell when his shop still offered the service, but now they just sell it. I need to get one more lower done, and it will be going to this place. https://meridianordnance.com/gunsmithing/ I'm of the mind that a 'new' build should match, or be very close if it's not a BFPU, and $50 for a stripped receiver is a bargain for what you'll get. It's certainly cheaper than taking a chance on a new lower. Here are a couple I had done by Norrell's. Both started as non-matching black.  |
|
Attached File Just got this "blem" in on Wednesday. Can't find any blemishes on it. Upper and lower match in color... |
|
Quoted: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/20821/H_R_jpeg-3701336.JPG Just got this "blem" in on Wednesday. Can't find any blemishes on it. Upper and lower match in color... I've ordered dozens of blems from PSA. This is the first time I have ever figured out what the blem was. That's a nice looking rifle! |
|
Quoted: @trobertson5-0 - As suggested above, I'd recommend refinishing with Norrell's Moly Resin , specifically grayish-black Colt flat. You can do it yourself if you're handy. Or, if your finishing skills are like mine, you can send it out to get done. I had some uppers and lowers coated by John Norrell when his shop still offered the service, but now they just sell it. I need to get one more lower done, and it will be going to this place.https://meridianordnance.com/gunsmithing/ I'm of the mind that a 'new' build should match, or be very close if it's not a BFPU, and $50 for a stripped receiver is a bargain for what you'll get. It's certainly cheaper than taking a chance on a new lower. Here are a couple I had done by Norrell's. Both started as non-matching black. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/622/c7a-2027202.jpg I think that is the best option. Thanks for the shop info. |
|
Quoted: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/20821/H_R_jpeg-3701336.JPG Just got this "blem" in on Wednesday. Can't find any blemishes on it. Upper and lower match in color... It's TOO dark.................. Nice looking rifle. |
|
Quoted: I would get some Norrells and do both the upper and lower BTW, I was also issued a Hydromatic in basic in '88, I remember it being lighter in color, more silvery than Colts, but don't think it was that light. Thought it was cool because I was a huge gear head. Serial was burned permanently into my brain after I saw another trainee get smoked at length because he didn't know his rifle's SN! |
|
Quoted: Old Colts were light grey, newer AR/M series are far darker then they used to be. It's your dark upper that is more of the issue. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/32224/IMG_0631__1__JPG-3700528.JPG I have old Colt uppers, they aren’t nearly as light as people act like they are. Those lowers are far too light. |
|
Quoted: I think all he is saying is the price savings of a blem in that color isn't worth the trouble to make it match right now. Correct. This was not a thread about me bitching. I bought a blem,and got a blem. This was about letting others know about it before they bought one thinking it was like most PSA blems. Which is to say unnoticeable. |
|
We've got the OP posting about his silver lower, and another posting about his silver upper. This might be a good time to buy a blem upper and lower, if you want to build a matte-finished, Coltguardish rifle, as Armalite jokingly suggested. Some people would like, or even prefer that silvery finish, if the upper and lower color matched. I suppose if H&R could match an upper/ lower set, it might be worth it. As it is, that silver is so far off-color from gray that it might as well be forest green. |
|
Quoted: I would just use Moly Resin. Is what I did with my XM177E2 build. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/88117/ABB869D2-860A-4C59-9342-75D5AE0489D2-3708363.jpg The color I used is “XM Gray”. Color aside(which is awesome) that's a beautiful rifle. |
Contacted PSA today to get a RMA for that A1 upper with screwed up anodizing and was told Blems are not returnable.  They need to put that in the description! They knock $20 off the price of an “perfect” one and it’s going to cost me more than that to make it look right. Marty |
|
Quoted: Contacted PSA today to get a RMA for that A1 upper with screwed up anodizing and was told Blems are not returnable. They need to put that in the description! They knock $20 off the price of an “perfect” one and it’s going to cost me more than that to make it look right. Marty If you want a perfect one, why did you buy a blem? 
|
|
Because I thought the blem would be a minor machining mark or scratch. I could live with those. PSA should have posted pics of the uppers, lowers and complete rifles with the F’ed up anodizing. Their listed “slight color variation” doesn’t begin to cover this! Marty |
AR Sponsor