CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Yes, we established this. However, there are plenty of folks who will gladly pay a lot more than that for a "range toy", along with those for whom it is more than just a passing interest.
Is Colt gone?
- Thread starter Mycin
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BSA1
member
Having being burnt badly by the shoddy quality of the new Colt SAA I brought in 1996 I have no interest in new production ones.
However I have a mild interest in buying a USED COLT SAA provided I can closely inspect it before buying it (which means no Internet purchase).
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
1996 was a long time ago in terms of Colt SAA quality. The guns of the last several years have been better than ever. I'd rather have a USFA but will take what I can get as long as it is good.
Cannibul
Member
You forgot the purple sarcasm font.
My first SAA was 94, not a bad sample.
Two since then, quite good, actually.
During the early 90s Colt was not building the guns to be fired, the company considered them collector pieces.
When CAS grew, along with demand, quality improved as Colt started to take the guns seriously & view them as actual shooters.
BS, you're living in the past there.
Denis
Two since then, quite good, actually.
During the early 90s Colt was not building the guns to be fired, the company considered them collector pieces.
When CAS grew, along with demand, quality improved as Colt started to take the guns seriously & view them as actual shooters.
BS, you're living in the past there.
Denis
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
I have one from the `90's that's very well done. It's no USFA but it's nice for a Colt.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
THREE!!!
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
It very well could be.
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy
Sure seems to be a lot of Colt bashing going on here.
I have something like 30 Colts. The two 2nd Gen SAAs you can see in my avatar on the left, a couple of 1st Gens, some Police Positives, New Services, Official Polices, Army Special, Officer's Model Target, and a bunch of Semi-Autos including a few 1911s (one from 1916), a 1903, a 1908, and a couple of Vest Pockets. My latest project gun is a Richard's Conversion that I hope to shoot with Black Powder cartridges soon.
In one sense, it doesn't matter to me too much what happens to Colt because I wouldn't be buying any of their new products anyway, just like I won't be buying any of S&W's new products either.
But in the other sense, as a collector of historical firearms, I mourn what has happened to a company that was once at the forefront of firearms development. If Colt had not been the great company they once were, I would not have all those great firearms to collect.
I have no opinion to share on the recent machinations of the management of the company. I do not know enough about the decisions made at the upper levels of management to speculate on what went wrong. Rather than guess, I will leave that to those with more inside knowledge than I.
I do know there is plenty of demand for the SAA, I see it all the time in various gun boards. Plenty of demand. Plenty of customers ready to plunk down cash on the barrel head to get one. And yes, I do shoot my 2nd Gens in CAS. There are not many of us that do, but I do.
I have known for sometime that Colt was severely understaffed for turning out the SAA, that's why they can't keep up with demand. I won't speculate on why they have turned their back on that market.
I will tell you that owning a couple of 1st Gens and a couple of 2nd Gens, as well as a few Ubertis, the Italian guns just do not have the same quality, or fit and finish as a Colt.
You can take that to the bank.
Sure seems to be a lot of Colt bashing going on here.
I have something like 30 Colts. The two 2nd Gen SAAs you can see in my avatar on the left, a couple of 1st Gens, some Police Positives, New Services, Official Polices, Army Special, Officer's Model Target, and a bunch of Semi-Autos including a few 1911s (one from 1916), a 1903, a 1908, and a couple of Vest Pockets. My latest project gun is a Richard's Conversion that I hope to shoot with Black Powder cartridges soon.
In one sense, it doesn't matter to me too much what happens to Colt because I wouldn't be buying any of their new products anyway, just like I won't be buying any of S&W's new products either.
But in the other sense, as a collector of historical firearms, I mourn what has happened to a company that was once at the forefront of firearms development. If Colt had not been the great company they once were, I would not have all those great firearms to collect.
I have no opinion to share on the recent machinations of the management of the company. I do not know enough about the decisions made at the upper levels of management to speculate on what went wrong. Rather than guess, I will leave that to those with more inside knowledge than I.
I do know there is plenty of demand for the SAA, I see it all the time in various gun boards. Plenty of demand. Plenty of customers ready to plunk down cash on the barrel head to get one. And yes, I do shoot my 2nd Gens in CAS. There are not many of us that do, but I do.
I have known for sometime that Colt was severely understaffed for turning out the SAA, that's why they can't keep up with demand. I won't speculate on why they have turned their back on that market.
I will tell you that owning a couple of 1st Gens and a couple of 2nd Gens, as well as a few Ubertis, the Italian guns just do not have the same quality, or fit and finish as a Colt.
You can take that to the bank.
Gordon
Member
But we are talking new Colts , for SSA that would be gen 3+
) ) and the last one I saw was no gem in 2015, the last Colt "magnum carry" DS that I saw were rougher than a cob as were the last few years 1911s. Of course they shoot but ......
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Yup, this thread is about current products, and as I said, I have no intention of buying any new ones. Just wanted to post the view from where I sit.
I do know one guy who buys 3rd Gens though, a fellow Cowboy Shooter. He has quite a few at this point. Not sure exactly when they were made, but I think most of them are quite recent. I have had a chance to examine a couple of his quite closely. My probably biased opinion is they were not quite as well made as my 2nd Gens, but still they were quite good. I do believe he had them worked on by a friend who is an expert at tuning the SAA, they probably all needed the hammer spring lightened. But the machining, from what I could see without taking them apart, he wouldn't have liked that, was quite good.
I do know one guy who buys 3rd Gens though, a fellow Cowboy Shooter. He has quite a few at this point. Not sure exactly when they were made, but I think most of them are quite recent. I have had a chance to examine a couple of his quite closely. My probably biased opinion is they were not quite as well made as my 2nd Gens, but still they were quite good. I do believe he had them worked on by a friend who is an expert at tuning the SAA, they probably all needed the hammer spring lightened. But the machining, from what I could see without taking them apart, he wouldn't have liked that, was quite good.
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GuitarsAndGuns
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- 82
I would gladly pay 1500 for a new SAA if I could find one lol. I have 4 colts and my newest 1911 is fantastic quality.
Armybrat
Member
This 2015 made Series 70 stainless I bought new is flawless in fit & finish. So much so, that my DIL wanted it.
Clark
Member
I have 51 Colts but know very little about them compared to everyone else here. If I see them in a pawn shop, I often buy them.
Reading Kuhnhausen's books on double action Colts, it seems the parts are hand fitted. At least the hand, which is a part I seem to often want to replace.
I am hoping the next generation of CNC will do hand fitting.
My son is a software engineer at Google and what he tells me about self driving cars makes my head spin.
Reading Kuhnhausen's books on double action Colts, it seems the parts are hand fitted. At least the hand, which is a part I seem to often want to replace.
I am hoping the next generation of CNC will do hand fitting.
My son is a software engineer at Google and what he tells me about self driving cars makes my head spin.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
USFA really showed us what can be accomplished with a very well run, well maintained CNC shop. Their exquisite sixguns were as much the result of excellent machining as anything else.
farm23
Member
I have never seen a USFA , but in spite of making a great gun they did not have enough volume or profit margin and poor management to stay in the quality firearm business. Colt will not survive on SAA and new double action revolvers. I truly hope they stay in business but a lot of past mistakes make that hard.
Probably the best thing that could happen to Colt now is if they were bought by a private individual and were reverted to a privately owned firearms enthusiast family business. Seems many really good things can go south eventually once a business becomes publicly traded.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
USFA tried to do too much in-house. Virtually everything. You simply can't do that and be profitable. That and we live in a world with all this short-sighted "if it ain't a Colt, it's just a copy" nonsense. Which kept them from being able to charge what the guns were really worth. Looking beyond the name and judging the product based on merit, one realizes that for $750, you were really getting a $2000 sixgun.
Olympus
Member
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- Jul 14, 2008
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From a dealer's perspective, Colt really pissed a lot of dealers off with their "stocking dealer" requirement. Now a lot of companies offer "stocking dealer" pricing or specials, but not actual requirements. So when a company tells me that my business has to keep on hand at all times at least one Mustang, one Officer/Commander model, one Government, model, one Premium model, and one AR just to have the ability to sell their product, you can count me out! Colt is terrible enough at managing their own business, they sure as HELL don't get to tell me how I run mine. They don't seem to understand that a lot of gun shops in small towns don't or can't afford to keep that kind of inventory in stock at all times, just of ONE brand. Here's an example, a good customer comes into my shop and says "hey, I saw a Colt Competition at Cabela's the other day and I think I'd like to order one, can you get one for me?" And that's a frequent request in my shop with all kinds of different brands. But in this case, I would have to turn a very good customer away to do business somewhere else just because Colt tells me that I can't order their guns unless I keep their minimum required inventory in stock at all times. What a crock of BS and this is felt the same way by a LOT of other dealers. So by implementing this policy, they've actually ended up costing themselves an unknown number of sales.
From a historical standpoint, I'd hate to see Colt gone. But from their current state, it would not bother me one bit if they went the way of the dinosaur. They're still producing 1911s with sloppy fitting grip safeties, poor fitting mag catches, thumb safeties that overtravel, and Series 80 firing pin safety mechanisms that just about every other brand has realized customers don't want and utilized a firing pin safety that doesn't involve the trigger mechanism or simply eliminated altogether. When a customer or friend asks me what I think about Colt 1911s, my answer is always the same. They make a great $700 1911 for $1000 or more.
From a historical standpoint, I'd hate to see Colt gone. But from their current state, it would not bother me one bit if they went the way of the dinosaur. They're still producing 1911s with sloppy fitting grip safeties, poor fitting mag catches, thumb safeties that overtravel, and Series 80 firing pin safety mechanisms that just about every other brand has realized customers don't want and utilized a firing pin safety that doesn't involve the trigger mechanism or simply eliminated altogether. When a customer or friend asks me what I think about Colt 1911s, my answer is always the same. They make a great $700 1911 for $1000 or more.
SteadyD
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I've heard several gun shop owners complain of the requirement to purchase a minimum number of Colts per year (25?). Might not be a big deal to a large operation but for a shop in a small town, they may not sell 25 Colts in 3 years, let alone 1 year. I had to bypass my two favorite small town shops in order to get a LE6920 because of that stipulation and they both swore to never carry Colts because of it.
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