What happened to Colt's 1911?

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Whistling Moon

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i've always been curious as to what happened to Colt's producing their 1911 pistols, but research today gives me no real answers. Colt's website shows no pistols for sale, and their history page explains nothing about stopping production. wikipedia says that they faced heavy competition from other companies with the 1911 design as well as their own older pistols flooding the market away from them.

does anyone have any info on this transition for stopping production for their pistols and if they have any plans for starting up again in the future? its been what, 15 years since the series 80 in the mid 90's if i'm not mistaken. i think a lot of people would be interested in buying a new 1911 from the legendary Colt.
 
WHAT?! I have never, EVER seen a brand new Colt in any shop. Only a few Colts i've seen on Gunbroker just says NIB and i just figured those were leftovers or something. I am absolutely dumbfounded to see this. i've been to the website www.colt.com and it says nothing about pistols, only assault rifles. I cannot believe I went all this time not knowing about this!
 
Umm...you can find new Colts pretty easy.
They don't make any model called the "1911" anymore, but they still make plenty of 1911s with different names. Just check out the link almostfree posted.
 
My local shop has a number of colts ranging from Defenders to full sized government models. I am personally waiting to see one of the new Railed ones.
 
I bought an XSE a few months ago, and was drooling over a Combat Elite last week. Colt just doesn't produce as many as some of the "puppy mills" do.
 
2009 Catalog

I recieved a 2009 Catalog from Colt earlier this year. They still make them and have a custom shop as well. I did notice that my local gun shop's prices on new Colts are higher than the list prices on the price sheet they sent me with the catalog.
 
That's interesting. I was at my local gun shop last week and they had a dozen or so. I even put a brand new Lightweight Colt Commander on layaway.

No problems here finding new Colt 1911s. But I have noticed that online stores can't keep them stocked--the demand is so high, they sell out quickly.
 
Colt is very much alive.
My first Colt was purchased 30+ years ago and my last new purchase was a Colt.

They suffered in the early 90's for different reasons, some self induced. The pistols of that age are a real crap shoot and I will admit I do not own any in that range.

The latest products are first rate in quality control.

As has been mentioned, I see them in shops all the time. And they don't stay around long:)

A Colt is always the right answer!

Your experience may vary, but if it does oh well.......
 
Demand for COLT 1911's is very high. Just go look on Davidson's inventory list and you'll see most every COLT 1911 model is sold out or "allocated"....

I occasionally see a few COLT XSE's at Gander Mtn in the display case for $150-$200 over retail and they don't last more than a couple of weeks.

IMO COLT is working hard to sell 1911's to the public. The Combat Elite, COLT Rail Gun and the new Special Combat Govt models show they are willing to make what we want to buy and at a price we are willing to pay. Colt has always kept it's exclusivity by keeping prouduction numbers kinda low. You just have to ask around or worst case special order one. It just makes it all the more worth it when you do get one.

I feel like we are on the verge of seeing COLT, make a huge comeback. The quality and workmanship of the pistols is high and the availibilty to the public is getting better. As long as they can keep the balance of both without skewing one or the other (like they did on the quality in the late 70's/early 80's), I think it's a good model for profitibility.

My latest 2 COLT's.

I bought this Commander last year.

Colt_Commander.jpg

I bought this Combat Elite earlier this year.

ColtCombatElite.jpg

I'm very happy with both. Next year (maybe later this year) I'm looking forward to adding a Special Combat to the collection.
Will
 
I think a lot depends on the gun shop, and what flavor of KoolAid they prefer. I spotted a brand-new Colt M1911A1 WWII repro in a display case, and asked to see it. The guy said "Colt? Huh, I didn't know we even had any. You don't want a Colt, their quality is crap, What you need is a Kimber!"

I glanced around the shop, at the huge Kimber banners on the walls, the Kimber placemats on the countertops, the Kimber stickers on the doors/windows, Kimber swag everywhere I looked, and said "mmm hmmmm". The Colt went home with me. Damn nice pistol, but I found a Colt 01911 WWI repro later on, and that's the sweetest pistol I've ever owned.
 
well this is certainly a pleasant surprise to me. i have never owned a 1911 and i think i'll be getting a Colt for my first one. i would imagine they must have plans then for 2011, which should be the 100th anniversary of the 1911 right?

So i don't know a whole lot about the 1911's... if i order one from the custom shop, how much would that cost and what kind of common modifications do people usually get for these? i see wilson combat and les baer guns are super pricey. what do those guns have that the off-the-shelf 1911's don't?
 
The guy said "Colt? Huh, I didn't know we even had any. You don't want a Colt, their quality is crap, What you need is a Kimber!"
Click to expand...

My favorite LGS for new guns is a Kimber pusher. They usually do have a few Colts in stock though. When I bought an XSE there a few years ago they tried softly to persuade me to look at the Kimbers. Nothing against Kimber, but I just have an attachment to Colt produced 1911s.
 
Now that's pretty funny. Previously someone disagreed with me when I said Colt doesn't care about the civilian market much. That might change one day but who knows. I used their website as an example and here's yet another person who couldn't get on their website to see what they have to offer. :D

But yes, they are alive and well and making pretty good pistols (what the heck is with plastic MSHs though. Sheeeeeeesh).
 
:scrutiny:
Colt Tactical Pistol
colt-tactical-pistol.gif
 
i see wilson combat and les baer guns are super pricey. what do those guns have that the off-the-shelf 1911's don't?
Click to expand...

Those pistols are mfgr'd from the best materials available, hand built and hand fitted in almost every way. They are quite reasonable $$$ wise for what you get. Some are just short of a full custom (one off smith built) gun by the virtue of the fact that Baer, Wilson and Brown build guns with a set amount of features/options and everybody can buy them, where as a one off custom is built just for you and only limited by your imagination/pocket book and the chosen smiths availibility (sometime many years wait).

I think about 85% of the 1911 owners are content with an off the shelf pistol from one of the major mfgrs (COLT, Kimber, ect). 10% buy a semi custom Baer/Brown/Wilson.... 5% want a full house custom Harrison, Novak, Clark ect.

I have a Les Baer Premier II and believe me it was worth the $$$. Of course my COLTs were well worth the $$$ I paid for them - but there is a noticable difference in the fit, finish and accuracy. It's just 2 different classes of 1911 pistol.
Will
 
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does anyone have any info on this transition for stopping production for their pistols and if they have any plans for starting up again in the future?
Click to expand...

Omg, good thing you posted here. Try M1911.org and 1911Forum as well.

You really need to get out more!!
 
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