Did You Guys All Get Burnt By Colt Or Something?

[Ash]

One would have to drink the "Kool-Aide" to buy some Colt products these days. Unless, of course, that same drinker had money to burn and didn't care that they were spending more on less. If Colt were still as great in reality as in some people's minds, they would not have gone through all that financial trouble. They would have a decent double action auto and DA revolvers as well.

Devotion to Colt can be as silly as to Glock, sillier in some cases.

Ash

 

[45auto]

It's easy to "whack" Colt around because at one point, they were #1 in sales and now, they are probably 3rd or 4th in 1911 sales. Give S&W another couple of years and Colt will, no doubt, be 4th or 5th.

Bad things happen when you don't respond to the marketplace, either in quality, models offered, service, etc.

 

[brickboy240]

I used to have a Series 80 Govt. Model. I spent nearly 800 dollars for the thing. It had some issues, like a weak extractor and I did not like the plastic mainspring housing and trigger. I had a few jams here and there throughout its shooting expereinces...not alot...but some. It got stolen from my truck years ago.

I bought a Springfield Mil-Spec a year ago and the hting has not given me a lick of trouble. This pistol cost me about 425 bucks.

I dislike Colt, becuase I bought into the "its got to be a Colt, if its a 1911" philosophy years ago, when I could have bought the SA and a reloading press for the same money.

The Colt was a decent pistol, its just that they're pricey and it is VERY possible that you can get a 1911 that performs as good or better for much less cash outlay.

If you feel better by seeing "Colt" on the slide...fine...but my experiences showed me that you CAN get as good or better 1911 for less money. Springfield and Kimber have proven it.

-Brickboy240

 

[Silent Bob]

I have owned several 1911s, and Colts have always worked the best for me. Springfields less so, and the one Kimber I had, well, suffice it to say, it was the first and last Kimber I owned.

 

[Sean Smith]

Devotion to Colt can be as silly as to Glock, sillier in some cases.

Yeah, aside from accuracy and reliability, and being cheaper than a Kimber, what was I thinking?

 

[Dr.Rob]

Colt still makes a darn fine 1911, they've had more practice than anyone else.

The 'horror stories' of teh Gold Gup comes from tightening teh tolerences (read clearences) that a 1911 needs to run well.. an Old Colt might rattle when you shake it, but it goes bang every time.

"Accurizing" (by gunsmiths who look suspiciously like your cousin Ed who made a waffle iron from a manhole cover) caused a whole new secondary market.. fixing messed up guns.

I think the SAA is overpriced. I also think Colt's 38 Super still looks like a Custom Shop piece, compared to a Springfield or Kimber. And yes, you do pay for the lil Pony.

But I like the Pony.

I realize Colt isn't 'run the way we want it' but I'll likley keep buying Colts--old ones and new ones.

 

[Steelharp]

Just remember what somebdy once said... (no, I can't remember who...)

"The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you."

 

[spacemanspiff]

having watched as the gun-manufacturer cagematches have unfolded the last few years, i decided to get some hard data. so i posted this poll to see who bought what.

turns out colt is not at the bottom of the list. hmmmm. they still have a good amount of customers, so they are doing something right.

in fact, as far as i can tell their biggest hurdle is that their facilities arent large enough to fill the orders they have.

colt pistols sell like hotcakes, while every gunshop and their brother sells glocks, or should i say, has more glocks in their inventory than they know what to do with.

whether or not colt products are any better than their competitors, who cares? just about every manufacturer out there has success and failures with their quality control. every manufacturer has batches of lemons.

people who buy colt products often do so because of the colt name. if they wanted to buy something that their local gunshop had a ready supply of, they'd choose the kimber, or the glock or the sig, because the market is flooded with those products.

 

[Krag]

Colt's products always were overrated. Webley and S&W made a better revolvers in the 19th century; S&W made better DA revolvers from 1896 onward; they had a "captive market" with the 1911 for several decades and once real comeptition showed up, they (for all practical purposes) couldn't handle it and folded.

Colt has been a joke for the past 30 years and living on borrowed time due to their (undeserved) reputation.

You're right, I don't like them or their products!

 

[Chuck R.]

I can only go by personal experience, I currently own:

6†Ultimate Stainless Python (1980s)
Gold Cup (1980s)
4 ¾ SAA in 45Colt 3rd generation (1996)
5 ½†SAA in 45 Colt 3rd generation (??)
7 ½ SAA in 45 Colt 1st Generation

I’ve also owned (2 )1911A1s, a Royal Blue 6†Python (1970s), a MKIII Trooper (1970s).

Other than a broken firing pin in the Blued Python while dry firing, I’ve never had a problem with one of my Colts. Both of my 3rd generation SAAs came from the custom shop, and I can’t find flaw with the fit or finish. So far, I’ve been pretty happy with the company.

I do think they missed an opportunity by not jumping on the “semi-custom†1911 bandwagon sooner, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one of their guns.

Chuck

 

[Maddock]

Colt’s QC has been very uneven over the last 25 years or more while they price their products as if they held to the standards of the “Golden Yearsâ€. As an example – the Gunsite Service Pistol retails for around $1298 or the same price as a Yost-Bonitz 1* 1991A1 Pistol package which includes the base pistol. I've seen both and the Colt Gunsite, while a nice pistol, is not in the class of the Yost-Bonitz.

 

[Krag]

I have owned five Colt products over the years (OK, so I'm a slow learner ): a Combat Commander, two Pythons, a Detective Special and an early CAR15.

ALL of them were returned to the factory multiple times for problems - NONE of which were ever corrected. I assume Colt felt that "customer service" was some kind of big joke? :banghead:

I traded them all in on other brands which did work as expected. If you gave me the choice between a Colt or a sharp rock I'd ask you one question: "Flint or slate?"

 

[Dienekes]

Colt has been mismanaged for more years than I have been alive. They have also dropped more good guns than most companies have ever made. Not to mention that S&W took the postwar law enforcement market away from them without even breaking a sweat.

My guess would be a lack of imagination/leadership, labor costs, and no feel for the product or the customer.

Sort of reminds you of Detroit.

 

[Bacon]

I'm not a big Colt fan and when I bought my first 1911 20 years ago it was a Springfield because of Colt's QC issues I had read about in the gun rags. Bought an early model Kimber when they came out. Liked it. Read that Colt has been making good 1911's lately and finally bought a Govt. Model XSE. Guess what? It's an accurate shooter. Nice fit & finish. I like it alot. Both the Springer and Kimber have been sold. The Colt stays.

Steve

 

[Boss Spearman]

Colt is working on the smart gun, a far worse thing than what S&W did. I'll never own a Colt after seeing their rep talk about how they owe it to their consumers to make their guns 'safe'.

 

[Steelharp]

You know, every company out there has made great guns, good guns, and stinkers. Not every stinker can be caught before it hits the consumer end of the pipe. Neither can every lousy car, or washing machine, or refrigerator, etc. Heck, you can't catch every lousy person before they do something wrong. We've all seen the 300,000 round Glock, and the one that went kaboom. The dead reliable Springer, and the one that wouldn't feed anything. I would imagine, with Beretta being in business longer than anybody, they've probably had more guns screwed up in 400+ years than a company that's been around since the 1980's.

I've been lucky; every Colt, Glock, Ruger, S&W I've ever owned has run just like it should. The only POS I ever had was a Wilson. I know, that's rare... but how many guns have they made? Many, but not as many as Colt has made in 150+ years.

If you get a great gun, enjoy it, depend on it; if you get a good gun, enjoy it, but don't trust your life to it; if you get a stinker, get it fixed, or sell it, but at any rate... kwityerbitchin'.

I shall now remove myself from the soapbox...

 

[No_Brakes23]

I absolutely love my Series 70, but my dad bought 6 or so of them in '78 and modded them all, so I can't even judge Colt based on my pistol. The sights, thumb safety, & spring were all changed, and various parts were modified. It is without a doubt my favorite weapon to fire.

I have fired a King Cobra, and I liked it a lot, but Smith and Ruger both make good revolvers that I enjoy firing, too.

That said I have little to no respect for firearms companies that puss out, so I won't be buying a Colt or S&W anytime soon, and even though I could easily find several Rugers I would love to own, I am not buying one anytime soon, (Guess I am screwed as far as wheelguns go.) Besides, other people make better stuff for less.

 

[Dienekes]

Steelharp--Sorry but I can't agree about quality control being a random thing and the inevitability of junk. Granted, Murphy's Law is always a factor, but a real committment to quality (W. Edwards Deming, et al) makes a difference.

Postwar Japan was an economic and industrial basket case and essentially reinvented itself. Detroit took its customers for granted (like some gun companies I could mention) and assumed that we would continue buying whatever they made regardless of quality. Wrong.

American companies--including Colt--can and have made world-beating first class products and can do it again. But first they have to *want* to.

I keep seeing where this or that company has a "great service department". Bull. When I buy a gun I want it to be right out of the box and work properly for many, many years. The story goes that in the early years Ruger's service department was a cigar box full of parts on the secretary's desk. Not sure if it is true but it's something to shoot for. I do know in my early years of this stuff guns had an eerie way of working every time (and I miss that).

As things now stand a police trade-in Model 10 revolver is probably the most reliable and trustworthy gun out there at any price....

 

[TheDutchman]

I Have a Few Colts:
GM 70's .38 super
3rd Gen DS
SS Mustang II
1991a1 Commander
They all work Great no problems.

 

[Ash]

Well, I do have a Colt Trooper Mk III that is a fine revolver with a wonderful trigger. My mother has a Colt New Service in .45LC that is equally good. I have never owned any of the snake revolvers, but the Colts I have owned or been around have been good (but the newest one was made in the late 1970's or so).

Ash

 

[Tom Servo]

Just my own experience, but I've had two Colts in the family, and both were clunkers. The first was a '68 1911A1 that my father had, which needed about $450 worth of gunsmithing to get through more than one magazine without a jam. Second was a Defender I had back in the '90s, which ran me more than an equivalent Kimber would these days. It would ONLY eat light-grain ammo, and it just couldn't get through a box of JHPs. After what I spent on it initially, I wasn't spending any more, and I sold it.

Colt put me off 1911s for years.

From what I've heard from retailers, Colt thumbed their nose at the civilian market for decades, saying "well, we've got all the military contracts." Thing is, they no longer have those contracts, and they're STILL failing the civilian market. Oops.

 

[Kramer Krazy]

Ok, I'll add my 1.67 cents in here (after taxes) on my Colts:

1) 70 Series Gold Cup ('70's manufacture) - flawless
2) 1989 Government Model 1911 - flawless
3) 1982(?) Officer's Model - nothing but problems until recently cured by 1911Tuner
4) 1993 Anaconda - flawless
5) 2001 Python - flawless
6) 1971 Detective Special (about 300 rounds, so far) - flawless
7) 1990 AR-15A2 - flawless

I'm always watching out for good deals on Colts, but they seem to be far and few between. I've been more recently looking at old Police Positives, Detective Specials, Agents, Cobras, and the like. All of their 1911s and Mustangs have gotten ridiculous on prices, but you can still find decent deals.....I regretably passed on a Mustang Pocketlite for $339 with holster and three mags a month ago.

 

[Sean Smith]

Wow, alot of anti-Colt hysterics here.

 

[Berg01]

I look at it this way; when you can get a product (as an example) from Rock River Arms like their National Match Hardball pistol for @$1,500.00, how in the world do you get a truly comparable product out of Colt for anywhere near that price? You could take a Series 70 custom reissue for around $800.00, and then spend the additional $700.00 with a good pistolsmith, and then perhaps get something that is very close in form, fit, function, and overall quality. Unless you pick you modifications carefully with a very good 'smith, that could be a big MAYBE.

Another example is the STI Trojan, which I think is a very good 1911 for the money (@1,000.00). Is there really a Colt today that compares to it at that pricepoint?

But the real issue is, with the RRA, you get in line once for delivery. You may not have to wait for the Trojan. Otherwise you're in line twice, you have to wait on Colt, and then wait on the pistolsmith work.

Just my own $0.02 worth of viewpoints; yours may differ, and thats fine by me.

 

[spacemanspiff]

the flipside, berg, is that it takes other manufacturers that much more work and money to make what colt has already perfected.