Colt’s LE901 – A Bigger Hammer

What does one do if they want to add more weight, velocity, power or speed to something already existing?  Some would answer, “Build it bigger?”  In a way that is what Colt Defense did when they began building their LE901 carbine in .308 Winchester.  Colt built a bigger hammer when they launched their new platform to get into the .308 market.  For almost a decade Colt sat idly by watching other manufacturers jettison their iteration of an AR10 weapon into the hands of sportsmen, Law Enforcement and Military users.  But just this past summer the launch of their bigger hammer hit the market and now the company identified with the rampant pony now has a larger caliber black rifle to offer supporters.

Based off of a direct gas impingement (DGI) system, Colt is sending a 16” barreled carbine out of the factory doors that weighs in at just under ten pounds that has a completely modular one-piece upper receiver.  Along the lines of their AR15/M16 family the upper and lower receivers are made from 7075-T6 aircraft aluminum, the button rifled barrels are made from the same steel as their 5.56 little brothers and the bolt carrier, while it bears resemblance to the AR15/M16 family of weapons, is quite a bit stouter.  Ambidextrous controls are amuck here with safety/selector, bolt and magazine releases being accessible to the right or left handed shooter.

How does it shoot and handle?  The first three days I spent with the 901 saw almost 1,000 rounds of Black Hills ammunition sent down the tube.  In all, the carbine was easy to shoot with little felt recoil, multiple-targets were easily engaged without coming far off of your line of sight, and accuracy was rather impressive.  Scoring hits at 900 and 1,000 yards with a Leupold Mark 8 CQBSS told me that this set up has the ability to compete for some real estate as a weapon assigned to a team or unit.  One more plus to the 901 is that it uses Magpul twenty round magazines, nothing proprietary here that will eat at your wallet.

I need to get this out to a carbine course, as it has only been through a long range class.  Shooting it on the indoor range has impressed me to the point that I think I’m willing to subject my shoulder (and wallet) to a few thousand rounds over multi-day class where 5.56 guns are the norm.