Military and law enforcement units can get away with shorter barrels. There are a couple of notable differences. Call it what you will–it is a civilian M4. And that’s what most seem to call this rifle, though I have seen it called the Law Enforcement Carbine and the Advanced Law Enforcement Carbine (though that may refer to the LE 6940). It is so close to the M4 that it actually says M4 on the receiver. The Colt LE 6290 is a no-frills, bare bones civilian version of the M4. I am actually more interested in the baseline as it stands now: the M4. I would have liked to have found an actual M-16A2 - they’re out there - but I don’t know anyone who is willing to let me have one for a few weeks. When I went hunting for an AR-15, I established some basic constraints. The Colt Advanced Law Enforcement Carbine The Law Enforcement Carbine seemed like the perfect place to start. The AR-15 began at Armalite-but the contract orders are (were?) built (in large part) by Colt. I may not be able to define this feeling with any stunning eloquence, but I understand why so many people love this crazy little rifle.Īnd because I spend about 90 percent of my life researching one thing or the other, I decided to go back to the beginning. Though it felt somewhat like a toy (I am large it is small), I didn’t want to put it down. Then I got my hands on a really nice AR-15. I didn’t care much for their debates, and I certainly wasn’t about to pledge that fraternity.
I used to stand removed from the swarm of tactically clad gun-nuts who speak what I thought was some sort of gibberish while drooling over their indistinguishable black rifles.