Rumor control: Colt to stop civilian AR sales?

[paradox998]

I keep hearing rumors that Colt is going to stop civilian AR sales/production and only sell to LE and military buyers. Can anyone confirm or debunk this rumor? Is this just a scare tactic to push Colt AR prices higher?

 

[R.W.Dale]

EH who cares!

If there ever was a company who cared less for the consumer than H&K it would be Colt

 

[jerkface11]

As far as I know Colt suspended civilian sales years ago. The only ones you can get are the law enforcement models and that's only because some of the distributors don't care what Colt says.

 

[bonedust]

Having spoken to Colt at a dealer show last week, Colt is, and has been for some time, shipping guns to gun shops for civilian sales. A few years back they did suspend civi sales for the better part of a year. The Colt rep at that show said they had no intention of doing so again in the predictable future. We have recieved Colt shipments recently.

 

[ArmedBear]

Colt is screwed, long-term, if they don't figure something out.

The US military seems determined to replace the M16 platform, whether or not it makes sense. All it will take is the perfect storm of political connections and someone will get a contract to build "the new rifle."

Colt has not ended civilian sales, but they sure aren't doing much to build them.either. At this point, Colt is not a significant player in the civilian market for the guns that made them famous. When they inevitably lose the government contract for military rifles, then what?

 

[bonedust]

we are not the only govt contract on the globe yanno...

 

[Eightball]

Wouldn't surprise me, they've done it before. And yet people still buy 'em up.

 

[feets]

The gun that made Colt famous?
Would that be the Single Action Army (SAA)?
Perhaps it was the Colt 1911 Government model?

Oh yeah, I think they made some of those black rifles. What were they called again?

 

[TexasRifleman]

I keep hearing rumors that Colt is going to stop civilian AR sales/production and only sell to LE and military buyers. Can anyone confirm or debunk this rumor? Is this just a scare tactic to push Colt AR prices higher?

There are 2 companies.

Colt Defense and Colts Manufacturing

Colt Defense has already stopped civilian sales. Dealers, however, can still buy products from both companies if they can find a wholesaler.
That's why the LE models are still sold.

This is old news and just fear mongering from some dealer in my opinion.

Here is the webpage listing AR models they intend for "civilian" sales:

http://www.coltsmfg.com/cmci/rifles.asp

Don't like it? Don't do business with Colt. It's not like they are the only game in town, but they certainly have NOT stopped civilian sales.

I personally don't do business with them because I think their stand on models like the LE6920 is silly.

 

[Gunnerpalace]

This is why HK hate surprises me when people compare them to colt:

Read this gem:

First, Colt never sold machine guns to the public. They had a strict policy against it, and dropped a few dealers (and distributors, IIRC) for selling to otherwise legally qualified civilians. Colt intended for its MGs to only go to .gov or LE.

Second, to my knowledge, Colt never converted any SP1s. Their legal staff would not allow them to do so, for product liability issues. Instead, they would sell an LE agency a new replacement M16 ... and tell civilian SP1 owners to pound sand.

 

[12131]

Yawn! Couldn't care less.

 

[goldie]

colt is going to wind up like winchester.they should bring back the ace, python & diamondback, & re introduce a woodsman in a slightly more modern form.

 

[devildog4329]

Colt already lost the US military contract. Atleats for the USMC. All there rifles are now FN's. Just my feelings i carried a colt A2 for two years and loved it never rusted and was straight shooting. Had a FN A4 for two years and i rusted like junk metal in a scrap yard.