Colt Trooper M4 5.56 Carbine: Coming to the Range

While the military is searching for a new assault rifle and looking to ditch the 5.56x45mm NATO round, Colt has brought back a familiar name on a brand new gun.

This week, Colt introduced the Colt Trooper, a direct impingement semi-auto AR with an M-LOK handguard.

The Trooper takes its name from the classic wheel gun that rode in the holsters of many law enforcement officers from the 1950s through the 80s, which was a medium frame double-action revolver with a six-round cylinder, chambered for .22LR, .38, and .357 Magnum calibers. It was intended to be a more affordable version of the Colt .357 and later the Colt Python. It is somewhat appropriate, now, that this new patrol carbine should have the same name.

The new Trooper carbine features a 16.1-inch barrel and notably a Centurion Arms forend with a Picatinny top rail that meets a top rail on the receiver for mounting optics has M-LOK slots at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock for all other attachments.

When fully loaded, the carbine weighs 6.5 pounds with an upper and lower of black hardcoat anodized 7075-T6 aluminum. The Trooper sports a single-stage trigger, an A2 style grip, and comes with a 30-round black Magpul PMAG. The telescoping M4-style stock creates an overall length of 32 to 35.5 inches.

“The Trooper offers a really great opportunity for fans of the Colt AR-15 platform,” said Justin Baldini, product director for Colt, in a statement. “We set out to create something that is right in line with what today’s Colt M4 customer wants, so we started with our industry-standard LE6920 and worked with Centurion Arms to develop a new M-LOK capable free-floated forend just for the Trooper.”

The Trooper is hitting gun shops now and the MSRP is set at $1,049.