Colt Defense has released a new bolt action rifle at the NRA National Convention this weekend in St Louis. You may have seen the photo of the M2012 that was released by NRAblog. Few details exist so far but we do know that it is chambered for .308 with a 22-inch barrel with a 1:10 twist topped off with a SureFire muzzle brake. It’s a bit of a beast weighing in at over 13 pounds.
The receiver is from Cooper Firearms receiver with an M4 style pistol grip. This aesthetic can be very important for the shooter who doesn’t want to stick out in a crowd of M4s.
Tags: Colt Defense LLC, NRA, Surefire
The barrel seems like overkill to me. For the typical .308 cartridge, after 18 inches of barrel the bullet only picks up about 4-5% more muzzle velocity. That’s not enough for me to justify transporting a .308 weapon with an extra long barrel.
I saw this monster at St. Louis this year-lots to say that I like but Colt (cooper actually) is nuts on price. They were surrounded by target and pricesion rifles on all sides and neglected to see that they are overpriced. The audacity to introduce a price point higher that the number one shooter in the USA (Savage) without so much as a match to show for itself. I hope colt is following the blogs and get the message that in the worst economy in 70 years, a checkered reputation, and almost non-existant customer service, they are stretching out thier neck in a market flush with cheaper, made in usa rifles not cobbled together by a committee.