I've wanted a 1911 style pistol for a while. Many years I've looked at this and that and the other. Now I'm in a spot where I can go ahead and plunk down the money. I asked my lgs if they could order me a Colt Combat Commander, 1991 O4691 Model. They said sure but it's an allocated item so it might be a while. I was not familiar with what allocated meant at the time.
My lgs is an hour away, three weeks went by and while I was down there grocery shopping I went in there and inquired about my order. The answers were "Whenever Colt makes some more" and "A grocery store in Tennessee will probably get ten before we get one". Ok then. I'm in California if you didn't catch that one.
Another week goes by and I get curious. I email a guy at Colt and asked when their next production run of Combat Commanders was going to be. The guy at the store did say whenever Colt makes some more. The chap at Colt was very helpful and didn't answer my question straight away. He said "Ask your dealer what distributor they actually ordered this firearm from. Not asked about it or called and said hey when you get one… but actually put an order in. When I get that information I can tell you when we ship to that distributor and try and give you a better idea of a time frame. Then I’ll work our end to see if we can shake the tree and get one allocated for your dealer".
So I did. I talked to the guy that does all the special ordering at my lgs and he said that with my order he has placed the item on his "wish list". He went on to explain that this is a sort of "I'd like to have" list that involves five or six distributors. He also mentioned who his main "Colt guy" was but that doesn't matter here.
I replied back to Colt with that information and received the response "Please don’t take offense to this… The “wish list” will never get you a Colt gun." I laugh at that now, bit discouraged at first. I like customer service served straight up. He went on to say "We have back orders for 6 months to 2.5 years depending on the model. If the firearm is not actually ordered you will never have one allocated for you. Trust me on this. Unless a distributor puts your dealer in front of another customer who has actually already paid then you will not get that firearm. Unless your dealer is high on a distributors list?".
So after mulling this over it seems what I need to do to have the best chance of getting my hands on what I want is find a dealer that is willing to take all my money and actually turn around and spend that money by placing an order with a distributor. Preferably with one of the distributors most likely to be allocated these when they do ship out.
Am I on the right track? What's the best way to ensure yourself a hard to find gun, like this one.
My lgs is an hour away, three weeks went by and while I was down there grocery shopping I went in there and inquired about my order. The answers were "Whenever Colt makes some more" and "A grocery store in Tennessee will probably get ten before we get one". Ok then. I'm in California if you didn't catch that one.
Another week goes by and I get curious. I email a guy at Colt and asked when their next production run of Combat Commanders was going to be. The guy at the store did say whenever Colt makes some more. The chap at Colt was very helpful and didn't answer my question straight away. He said "Ask your dealer what distributor they actually ordered this firearm from. Not asked about it or called and said hey when you get one… but actually put an order in. When I get that information I can tell you when we ship to that distributor and try and give you a better idea of a time frame. Then I’ll work our end to see if we can shake the tree and get one allocated for your dealer".
So I did. I talked to the guy that does all the special ordering at my lgs and he said that with my order he has placed the item on his "wish list". He went on to explain that this is a sort of "I'd like to have" list that involves five or six distributors. He also mentioned who his main "Colt guy" was but that doesn't matter here.
I replied back to Colt with that information and received the response "Please don’t take offense to this… The “wish list” will never get you a Colt gun." I laugh at that now, bit discouraged at first. I like customer service served straight up. He went on to say "We have back orders for 6 months to 2.5 years depending on the model. If the firearm is not actually ordered you will never have one allocated for you. Trust me on this. Unless a distributor puts your dealer in front of another customer who has actually already paid then you will not get that firearm. Unless your dealer is high on a distributors list?".
So after mulling this over it seems what I need to do to have the best chance of getting my hands on what I want is find a dealer that is willing to take all my money and actually turn around and spend that money by placing an order with a distributor. Preferably with one of the distributors most likely to be allocated these when they do ship out.
Am I on the right track? What's the best way to ensure yourself a hard to find gun, like this one.
