Colt's most embarrassing failures in the company's history

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GunnyUSMC

GunnyUSMC

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The Colt American 2000. It was introduced in 1990 when all the Wonder Nines were hitting the market. It was a Polymer frame, locked-breech, rotary barrel, semiautomatic 9mm with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. There was also an Aluminum frame called the All American 2000.
The pistol was designed by Reed Knight and Eugene Stoner of Knight's Armament, but once it was bought by Colt, Knight and Stoner had nothing to do with the final design. Originally the pistol was to have a 6 lbs trigger, but Colt saw fit to make it a 12 lbs trigger.
Colt's hopes was for this pistol to enter the law enforcement market, as many police departments across the US were transferring from revolvers to semiautomatic. It ended up being an embarrassing failure.
The pistol was plagued with reports of inaccuracy and unreliability, and suffered even more after having to be recalled in 1993 due to a safety issues.
The American 2000 was in production from 1992 to 1994 with less then 20,000 manufactured.
I had the pleasure of shooting one today. I can't say that it's a fun gun to shoot, it does have one of the worse triggers ever put in a pistol.
I remember when this gun hit the market. There was high hopes for it, but it seems like disappointment was the only thing it delivered.
Today they are sought after by Colt Collectors. I think they are the only ones that want them.
1E9FAD23-093B-4EAC-93A9-0C72C83D2E2A.jpeg BF9CCDF9-4334-41A5-AF76-CB2EB688665D.jpeg 4B1462C1-7742-4D85-9D24-FC81EFF95426.jpeg
 
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It was the pistol that gave a rotary barrel lock-up mechanism a bad name in the minds of some. Which was somewhat unfortunate for the Beretta/Stoeger Cougars and the Beretta Storm PX4s.
 
A friend inherited a Colt Model 2000 from his father-in-law. Like most of the Colt 2000s at the time, it had been sent back to Colt for a safety recall. (That sort of recall was not as common as they are now, and caused quite a stir.)

It was an ugly gun, and as noted above, the trigger was heavy and strange. I got to shoot a full magazine through it. I didn' shoot it well, but that was probably because of the heavy trigger.
 
Apropos Colt, a year ago Ian McCollum posted a long video on topic of the general history of the company, which included its descent into the disrepute and the attendant failures. It's pretty long, 35 minutes, but might be informative:



Also, a few years back, he posted a video specifically about the All American 2000 (only 10 minutes long):

 
I saw the 2000 in a gun shop about 5 months ago. I don't know what it was, got to handle it and put it back. Miseble trigger. The guy behind the counter even said it was a terrible gun.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
The Colt American 2000. It was introduced in 1990 when all the Wonder Nines were hitting the market. It was a Polymer frame, locked-breech, rotary barrel, semiautomatic 9mm with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. There was also an Aluminum frame called the All American 2000.
The pistol was designed by Reed Knight and Eugene Stoner of Knight's Armament, but once it was bought by Colt, Knight and Stoner had nothing to do with the final design. Originally the pistol was to have a 6 lbs trigger, but Colt saw fit to make it a 12 lbs trigger.
Colt's hopes was for this pistol to enter the law enforcement market, as many police departments across the US were transferring from revolvers to semiautomatic. It ended up being an embarrassing failure.
The pistol was plagued with reports of inaccuracy and unreliability, and suffered even more after having to be recalled in 1993 due to a safety issues.
The American 2000 was in production from 1992 to 1994 with less then 20,000 manufactured.
I had the pleasure of shooting one today. I can't say that it's a fun gun to shoot, it does have one of the worse triggers ever put in a pistol.
I remember when this gun hit the market. There was high hopes for it, but it seems like disappointment was the only thing it delivered.
Today they are sought after by Clot Collectors. I think they are the only ones that want them.
View attachment 804699 View attachment 804700 View attachment 804701
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Gunny,

Is that a crime scene pistol, and if so, did it function during its use?
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
View attachment 804728
Ahhhhh, so many flops to choose from- the Pony, Pocket 9, Magnum Carry......but this one takes the cake for me: the Z40. What you get when you mix a CZ75 and a 1911.......:barf::alien::what:
Click to expand...

If I recall CZ had sub-contracted a lot of the parts for this and when Colt killed it they put out the CZ40 to recoup what they could.. I have one of the CZ made guns, IMHO its a long way from being a "turkey".
 
I remember the All-American. When I first picked it up I said "Wow, I really like the grip on this gun. It's better than the Glock!" And then I tried the trigger, which reminded me of a squirt gun trigger, but A LOT heavier. After trying the trigger, I put it down and walked away. Sure don't regret that!
 
Don’t forget the “smart” version of the 2000. It had an electric lock on the side that prevented the gun from firing unless the shooter had on a bracelet that generated a blue-tooth signal that enabled the firing mechanism.

Colt errantly banked on the Dims when in the ‘90’s had alternately control of either the executive or legislative branches of the government and hoped its contract relationship with said government would put it in the catbird seat if such draconian laws were passed.

Also too bad they can’t/won’t follow S&W’s lead in production of a “Classic” line of revolvers. I’d be in line for a new production Python, if they get it remotely right.
So much botched/missed opportunity!
 
wally said:
If I recall CZ had sub-contracted a lot of the parts for this and when Colt killed it they put out the CZ40 to recoup what they could.. I have one of the CZ made guns, IMHO its a long way from being a "turkey".
Click to expand...

I don't think they outsourced (or sub-contracted) much (if anythng), for except for the roll marks on the slide, and the fact that the Z40 was DAO while the 40B was DA/SA with a safety (allowing cocked and locked) the guns were virtually identical and used many standard CZ-75 parts..

CZ introduced the CZ-40B at bargain prices and sold quite a few, and then discontinued the line. A year or two later, they did another run or two. And because they had a bunch of .40B slides left over they created a "frankengun", the CZ-40P, which had a slightly altered P-01 frame and the 40B slide. The Kadet Kits don't work on the 40B or the 40P. The mags are compatible with all CZs, if you change the base plates.​

Converting a CZ-40B to DAO is a simple process of removing a part or two. I've only seen one Z40 in the wild -- as I understand it, only about 800 were produced -- but I've never had a chance to handle one or try the trigger, which is supposed to be very nice.

I envy you your Z40, and if you ever get tired of it, let me know... I may have something you'd like better. (But, that said, if it were mine, I'd probably keep it.)
 
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GunnyUSMC said:
I had the pleasure of shooting one today. I can't say that it's a fun gun to shoot, it does have one of the worse triggers ever put in a pistol.
I remember when this gun hit the market. There was high hopes for it, but it seems like disappointment was the only thing it delivered.

Today they are sought after by Clot Collectors. I think they are the only ones that want them.
Click to expand...

I remember when they were being discounted, handled one, pulled the trigger, and walked away. In hind sight, should have bought one, because now they are collectable. I do think the package was too advanced for the times. Crappy triggers are now the norm on service pistols. These double action only pistols, Glock type triggers, striker fired pistols, that is what I see on the covers of Gun Magazines. I remember when pistol shooting consisted of shooting a pistol at 25 yards, timed and rapid fire, and 50 yards slow fire. That has gone away and now 15 yards is considered extreme range. Who needs a decent trigger to point and squirt? The Colt might have made it in today's market.
 
Slamfire said:
I remember when they were being discounted, handled one, pulled the trigger, and walked away. In hind sight, should have bought one, because now they are collectable. I do think the package was too advanced for the times. Crappy triggers are now the norm on service pistols. These double action only pistols, Glock type triggers, striker fired pistols, that is what I see on the covers of Gun Magazines. I remember when pistol shooting consisted of shooting a pistol at 25 yards, timed and rapid fire, and 50 yards slow fire. That has gone away and now 15 yards is considered extreme range. Who needs a decent trigger to point and squirt? The Colt might have made it in today's market.
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Modern triggers are designed to PREVENT discharging the weapon more than actually assisting the round in connecting with its target.......and the liability lawyers have just as much say in the design as the engineers.:cuss:
 
Slamfire said:
I remember when they were being discounted, handled one, pulled the trigger, and walked away. In hind sight, should have bought one, because now they are collectable. I do think the package was too advanced for the times. Crappy triggers are now the norm on service pistols. These double action only pistols, Glock type triggers, striker fired pistols, that is what I see on the covers of Gun Magazines. I remember when pistol shooting consisted of shooting a pistol at 25 yards, timed and rapid fire, and 50 yards slow fire. That has gone away and now 15 yards is considered extreme range. Who needs a decent trigger to point and squirt? The Colt might have made it in today's market.
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You know, if you really have a hankering for one of those, they have about three of those for sale over at Century Arms right about now.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Modern triggers are designed to PREVENT discharging the weapon more than actually assisting the round in connecting with its target.......and the liability lawyers have just as much say in the design as the engineers.:cuss:
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the triggers you find on a lot of Ruger pistols, and the warnings on all their firearms.
 
Slamfire said:
I remember when they were being discounted, handled one, pulled the trigger, and walked away. In hind sight, should have bought one, because now they are collectable. I do think the package was too advanced for the times. Crappy triggers are now the norm on service pistols. These double action only pistols, Glock type triggers, striker fired pistols, that is what I see on the covers of Gun Magazines. I remember when pistol shooting consisted of shooting a pistol at 25 yards, timed and rapid fire, and 50 yards slow fire. That has gone away and now 15 yards is considered extreme range. Who needs a decent trigger to point and squirt? The Colt might have made it in today's market.
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I don’t think anyone has ever made a trigger as bad as the one on the American 2000. The prototypes were said to be vert nice guns. Then Colt’s engineers got ahold of it and screwed the the whole thing up.
 
I am one of the few people in the world who liked the Colt 2000. Mine is reliable and reasonably accurate with hollow point ammunition. It may have had better accuracy than that, but I have never been a terrific shot. The trigger is strange, but on mine, at least, if I just kept up a long steady pull, I could do all right. Recoil was mild because of the sheer size of the thing, and the sights were good. Also, one of few generally acknowledged good qualities of the gun was that the grip was quite well shaped.

Mine is one of the regular production run with the polymer frame, not the special pre-production aluminum framed guns.

Colt briefly advertised a short-barrel conversion unit for the 2000. That was one of the advantages of the design, the whole nose of the slide came off for disassembly and could be replaced by a shorter one. Has anyone ever seen one of those in the flesh?
 
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