Colt to refocus retail production on handguns

[RETG]

They may survive as a military supplier. But why anyone wants their ARs at the price they charge is beyond my ken. There are a number of manufacturers with as good or better quality for cheaper.

Concentrate on handguns? That will work well... not. Expensive Cobras only have so big a market. And they won’t break into the already saturated 1911 market. And new guns? As evidence against that, I give you the Colt 2000...

Weatherby, Barrett, SIg, H&K and others still sell, so there is a market for the high-end weapons and it is questionable if they are any better than less expensive weapons of the same type and caliber.
I am not standing up for Colt. I don't own a Colt, and probably never will.

 

[tipoc]

You may want to read what the Keefe report from American Rifleman has to say on the subject of Colt and the price of their MSRifles.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/ar...wsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=0919

In a nutshell, both Colt and FN build complete rifles on their production lines. This enables them to produce 1,000 rifles a day or more to meet their military suppliers and contracts. (Also they are required to meet the specs of the militaries and law enforcement involved and the paper work that goes with it.) But it also means that in comparison to the companies that are basically builders of ARs made with uppers and/or lowers made by someone else, neither Colt nor FN can meet the same price point. As folks know there is an abundance of makers of AR parts out there. Colt also produces weapons at it's facilities in Canada.

Anyway read the article and see.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Colt making new handguns will be like making new Murphy Brown episodes.

Most of the snake guns weren’t really hot sellers when they were freely available. They only became collectible once the supply was fixed. People were buying them as investments, not shooters.

I just don’t see people paying a premium for new production Colt handguns until they inevitably stop making them again. Paradoxically, the Colt collectors world depends on Colt NOT making guns to keep their value up.

You had it right the first time. People buy new Colts as shooters and pay a premium to buy them. I've got a bunch of Colts that I bought new. Never once thought about the collector value because I shoot the carp out of all of them. I treat my 1911's like I treat my lawn mower. I keep them clean mostly and fix them when they break.

Once out of production they start being sold to collectors. No paradox there. That happens to just about everything that collectors collect.

Colt AR-15 rifles are not collectable because there is no guarantee that Colt won't produce them for the civilian market again. And even if they didn't there's a million or more of them out there already.

Colt doesn't "NOT" make firearms to keep their value up. They make firearms to sell at a profit. When there isn't enough profit left they cease production just like any automobile manufacturer. SAA's is a good example. No reason to try and compete with a bunch of lower quality Italian clones. They just took themselves out of the race to the bottom with AR's also. I expect many more AR builders will do the same soon.

 

[Sulaco]

Meh, I have never owned anything made by Colt and don't intend to. Nothing they make even remotely interests me.

 

[Jack B.]

Colt fan here. Probably always will be. I've owned a Gold Cup 45ACP and 2 Trooper MKIII's. Three of the finest guns I have ever owned. I must admit I've never owned one of their rifles but I'll bet they are quality guns. You get what you pay for.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

While there are certainly some companies I don’t buy from, I welcome any increase in variety and availability in the handgun market. If they feel the AR market is flooded, ok.

Regarding pricing, maybe they can take a page from HK’s recent play book.

 

[dh1633pm]

I have used many a Colt when I was in the Air Force. There are a lot of comments here. And some very good ones at that. Seems that Colt doesn't even have the time to make AR's when they are busy making M4's. I am glad they are expanding in the handgun market. I sure as heck like what I see. Yes, the quality for a time went down. Seems to be on the uptick. Its good to have many players in the firearms market. Its good for all of us. Would I buy a Colt? Sure would, if it meets the quality mark.

 

[jmorris]

They could always hire more people in their refinishing shop. I contacted them about 4 years ago to get in line....

They would do good to get back into revolvers. People are paying such insane prices for them, I have thought a time or two about selling some of them.

 

[SharpDog]

All 1911's and Revolvers or do you think we'll see some new platforms ... ?

Might make sense for Kahr to buy Colt ... What do y'all think ?

 

[Texas10mm]

They could always hire more people in their refinishing shop. I contacted them about 4 years ago to get in line....

They would do good to get back into revolvers. People are paying such insane prices for them, I have thought a time or two about selling some of them.

Hiring is one thing. Training is another. Many skills and a lot of knowledge has been lost at Colt as older workers have retired.

IMHO sometime down the road Colt will go out of business. Some other company will buy the NAME. That company MIGHT then move production to a southern state where costs are lower and the union presence is lower. They would then produce firearms with the Colt name.

Of all the companies out there that MIGHT do this the first that comes to mind is Ruger.

 

[George P]

Do the math and see what each unit costs; WAY too much for the volume of units.

 

[George P]

All 1911's and Revolvers or do you think we'll see some new platforms ... ?

Might make sense for Kahr to buy Colt ... What do y'all think ?

Why would Kahr want to lose money buying Colt?

 

[Riomouse911]

There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.

John Ruskin

Just food for thought.

Isn’t that the motto printed on every Yuan note in China?

Stay safe.

 

[Old Dog]

Lately, every thread even tangentially referring to Colt products reminds me of an old custom at graveside funeral services where every mourner throws a handful of dirt down on the casket after it's been lowered into the grave ...

 

[wanderinwalker]

Another Colt fan here. There must be something wrong with my 6920, my blued Competition Model in .45 ACP and the stainless Competition Model in .38 Super I had. For everything I've read and heard about how Colt makes sub-par guns at premium prices, all of mine have been well put together, 100% reliable and fantastic shooters at good prices. And these are all recent production guns, within the last 5 years. (Full disclosure, I DID overpay for the 6920 because I bought it during the Banic for my 30th birthday. But then I had the Colt I wanted.)

Is Colt behind the market on their offerings? Quite possibly. I wanted a 1911 for a LONG time, and I really wanted a Colt, but Colt didn't make what I wanted until they introduced the Competition Model. Until then my options were an imported gun (yawn), a Springfield Armory (maybe), a pretty gun of questionable quality from a marketing company (Kimber), a pretty gun with well-known questionable internals and odd slide contours (SIG) and some others I've left out of the discussion.

They could always hire more people in their refinishing shop. I contacted them about 4 years ago to get in line....

They would do good to get back into revolvers. People are paying such insane prices for them, I have thought a time or two about selling some of them.

Thing is, the new production Colt revolvers are not, and will never again be the double V-spring action of the Colts of lore. Part of the allure, and part of their failing, is that beautifully intricate, hand-fitted, finely-polished and fragile lock-work. Yes, the Python is a thing of beauty, and built on the .41-caliber frame it's structurally a much more durable gun than any S&W K-frame .357 ever built. But internally it's archaic and steady use as a shooter WILL wear the hand and lead to heart-ache.