Is Colt Dead?

[Old Fuff]

Frankly, I'm surprised that Colt hasn't been bought out by a more competent manufacturer simply for the "name value" and rebranding opportunities. Say a Steyr M9 offered domestically as the new Colt Trooper (Auto).

Colt would love to sell their handgun division - it's been up for sale for decades, but the asking price is way over what anyone's willing to pay. The various contenders can make Colt-style guns (1873 and 1911 models) under their own names, make more money, and out-produce Colt while doing it. In addition some of them do what Colt would be doing if the parent corporation supported them – which is make other guns as well.

Obviously a competitor does not need the Colt name to sell Colt's own handguns - or AR-15 rifles for that matter.

Hopefully it will dawn on everyone that the top-brass at Colt’s don’t give a rip about making handguns beond what they are doing now. They might or might not come back into the polymer frame/service pistol market and try to cut themselves a piece of the law enforcement & military pie. They have noticed that Smith & Wesson successfully did that with their new Military & Police lineup of guns.

But in and of itself, that won't make Colt the kind of major player they once were.

 

[HexHead]

Lightweight (15 oz or less). 6-shot. .38 Special. Fixed Sight. Cobra. Agent. With a Colt Pony on the side...

I'd buy one of those. I've been keeping my eye out at gunshows for an original one. I'd like to see them capitalize on the pocket .380 craze and bring back the Mustang too.

There's nothing wrong with the stuff Colt is turning our today. Most of my pistols are carry oriented, yet my New Agent has turned into my default. I realllly like that little pistol. And my Mustang probably gets carried second as often. So on any given day, I'm probably being protected by a Colt.

 

[HexHead]

What? A striker-fired Colt/Browning with a plastic frame, one locking lug and no manual safety that requires pullin' the trigger in order to strip it?

Yep. That one changed the game all right. It generated a lotta traffic at ERs for leg surgery.

I'm sorry, but anyone that field strips a firearm without first making sure it's unloaded is just askin' for it.

 

[Harve Curry]

Colt should leave Connecticut , better late then never. Montana would be a good choice to consider. Connecticut is not a firearms friendly state and one of their laws requires Colt SAA's have a rediculously heavy trigger spring when it leaves the factory. Mine came with a note in the box stating so. Simple to fix but the tip of the iceburg of what Colt is up against.

 

[goColt]

I don't often post but I thought I put in my $0.02...as you can tell by my screen name, I like Colt firearms a lot so bear that in mind.

Is Colt dead? Definitely not. No company that is on its last leg puts out new models as Colt has done in the past few years. Yes, I know some are 're-issue' and therefore are not really NEW but that is splitting hairs.

Is Colt ever going to regain it's past glory? Most likely not but stranger things have happened.

What happened to Colt is what has happened to almost all manufacturing in the US and most recently with the US Auto Industry. Labor costs have skyrocketed, fierce competition from abroad, intrusive government involvement and finally poor management. Some of these are the fault of Colt some are not. Sadly, all have taken a toll that seems to have damaged Colt to the point of almost putting them out of business several times but they've survived.

You can google Colt and read the various problems that have plagued Colt for decades.

As for wishful thinking of Colt getting back into the DA revolver. I don't see any chance for that. As much as I'd like to see many of them return, I think it would be catastrophic for Colt to expend its limited resources on a part of the market that does not seem to be rapidly expanding and already has vast and varied models to choose from. They tried that with the Magnum Carry and that ended poorly for one reason or another. I think Colt should stick to what it does best, and that is make 1911 style automatics. However, I think they should expand their automatics to the ultra-concealable realm by introducing a silly-small 9mm, sorta like they did with the Pocket 9 but without violating copyrights this time.

Finally, I would like to say that many of Colt's competitors that have been mentioned including Kimber, Glock, even S&W (specifically they 1911 and AR entries) as well as many others are now standing on the shoulders of giants...and one of those giants is Colt. The 1911-style handgun and the AR-15 style rifle are two of the most copied models in the world and as the old saying goes imitation is the best form of flattery. Can Colt rest on its laurels and survive? Absolutely not!! However, if the recent models and recent news coming out of Hartford is any indication of what is to come, I think we will enjoy Colt firearms for a long time.

 

[Old Fuff]

Colt SAA's have a rediculously heavy trigger spring when it leaves the factory. Mine came with a note in the box stating so.

Well at least they didn't put in a internal lock...

Yet....... :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

[skoro]

Sure doesn't seem that way to me. If I'm not mistaken, they're selling all the handguns they can manufacture about as quickly as they're coming off the production line.

To me, that signals healthy interest.

Of course, I realize that the company is mostly concerned with government contracts on their M4 these days. And that status is always dependent on political whims.

As far as their handguns go, they're obviously a niche producer. I don't have any interest in their SAA line, but their 1911s appear to be alive and kicking. Should they expand into other offerings? That may be too risky and require captial investment that could doom them if it weren't successful.

Personally, I like their 1911s and hope that they continue production of that fine pistol well into the 22nd century and possibly beyond. The 1911 is one of those "all-American" icons. People who've never held a handgun recognize the term, "Colt 45."

 

[atomd]

People who've never held a handgun recognize the term, "Colt 45."

Billy Dee Williams sells that, right?

 

[Old Fuff]

If I'm not mistaken, they're selling all the handguns they can manufacture about as quickly as they're coming off the production line.

True, but misleading. The main reason they sell all of the guns they make is because they make very few of them. Colt's competitors make substantially more 1911 style pistols or 1873 revolvers, and they are also successfully selling product - but they are selling much more of it.

Colt isn’t growing much because they’re sales don’t generate enough cash flow to do more then what they are doing; which in terms of a manufacturer (as opposed to a custom shop) is very little. To grow they need outside investment or cash from the parent corporation, and they are getting neither.

People who've never held a handgun recognize the term, "Colt 45."

True again, but most of them aren't interested in buying guns. They also recognize the name, Smith & Wesson - and S&W makes more 1911 style pistols and AR-15 commercial rifles then Colt does.

 

[HexHead]

Colt Defense is generating enough product to keep them going. For now. Colt Mfg. is keeping them in the public eye. I think if they lose the M4 contract, we'll see all kinds of emphases on their commercial product with them releasing some of the best AR platform and 1911 based product.

And if they're making SSA revolvers, there's no reason they can't make DA revolvers again too. They just need to target the hot carry segment and rerelease a snubbie.

 

[Joe Demko]

WRT selling all the pistols they make: I think that they are able to do so only because of the lingering cachet of the Colt name. I doubt that SAA's and 1911's at the same quality point could be sold for as much by a maker without the famous name. People who buy them specifically want one made by Colt. The exact same gun at the exact same price marked "JAD Inc." would never leave the shelf.

 

[Old Fuff]

And if they're making SSA revolvers, there's no reason they can't make DA revolvers again too. They just need to target the hot carry segment and rerelease a snubbie.

Yup, and because the decision makers at Colt have the same foresight and insights that you and some others do, they just went out and auctioned off their whole engineering archival collection. They sold all of the production samples of what they used to make, and the prototypes of new ones they might have made. So now everything relative to snubnose revolvers is gone. For that matter everything they had concerning any double-action revolvers – going back to before World War Two is gone.

What would make anyone believe that Colt’s top management had any thoughts or plans to resume revolver production in the future, when they disposed of everything they had that might facilitate doing it?
:banghead:

 

[5knives]

I've learned to constantly remind myself that the current owners of the various brand names, has little or nothing to do with my memories of those companies from the forties through the sixties, their traditions or commitment.

re: The recent history of the U.S knife manufacturers, brand names.

The names remain the same, but nothing else is.

Regards,

 

[Guillermo]

How long will it be when the Colt logo is molded into a polymer frame?

I think I am going to vomit

 

[earlthegoat2]

I would love to see a reintroduction of the Magnum Carry. I dont even care if they use MIM parts and farm it out to India as long as it looks and works good. Im in dire need of a six shot snub that is smaller than a K frame.