You guys excited for the inevitable resurgence of Colt?

[Old Dog]

Yeah, so the more I think about, the more I think this acquisition/merger/whatever might just work out.

But some things don't require any improvement (okay, so I can't detect those little bitty sights anymore, it still looks and shoots great)...

 

[Drail]

So somebody bought the name. That's all. The company is gone. It's not coming back. If you want a nice Colt - buy an old one. No one is ever going to make guns like the original Colts again. But if they own the name they can stamp it on any piece of junk they produce.

 

[KarateHottie93]

Fail? Yes. Generic? Oh no, if anything it was too radical. IIRC, it was available with both aluminum and poly frames too. If the trigger hadnt been so bad, it might have sold better. I dunno though, I think many folks just couldnt look past the bizarre styling.

Im surprised nobody has mentioned the fact that Colt and CZ did already collaborate on a pistol, though a seldom seen on




The
Actually, if the tooling still exists, I wouldnt be shocked to see a variant of this return. By all accounts it was a good gun, just came too late and was never promoted properly.

My favorite thing about the Colt Z40 is after it flopped, they cut it down and made the RAMI. As already mentioned in the OP, it's easily my favorite carry semi auto.

 

[Old Dog]

So somebody bought the name. That's all. The company is gone. It's not coming back. If you want a nice Colt - buy an old one. No one is ever going to make guns like the original Colts again.

Wow, enough negative vibes there, bro.

Nothing made now is the same as the original version now. But I still like my newer Corvette even though it's not an original Sting-Ray, and GM is a totally different company than it was back in the '50s.

Ever heard of tradition? Recognizing history? Carrying on a name, even if the original namesake is long dead?

 

[Hookeye]

What % of Colt Industries is the firearms group?

 

[Deanimator]

Didn't they try that once. I wanna say the Colt 2000 series. It was an abomination, a hot apple fail of epic measure.

Fail? Yes. Generic? Oh no, if anything it was too radical. IIRC, it was available with both aluminum and poly frames too. If the trigger hadnt been so bad, it might have sold better. I dunno though, I think many folks just couldnt look past the bizarre styling.

A friend had an All American 2000. It had, BAR NONE, the worst trigger on ANY handgun I've EVER seen.

It just kept stacking, and stacking, and stacking until I thought the trigger itself would sheer off before it released. If anything, it was WORSE than a Russian Nagant.

 

[CapnMac]

I wanna say the Colt 2000 series. It was an abomination, a hot apple fail of epic measure.

Colt's version of the SA80--let's let engineers with no firearms experience create a one-off, hand-fitted every part firearm and then expect to mass produce same. Engineering hubris hit a low point (or peak, if you want to look at it that way). Firearms are not just piles of parts you can just slap together--they are a system.
And the industrial engineering to do that profitably in a factory can not be discounted. Yet, it was for the 2000, and the result is history.

So somebody bought the name. That's all.

No, this is not just the name and trademarks. It's the full deal., assets and liabilities, and includes (subject to negotiation) Colt Canada (Dimarco) with all of its military contracts.

One of the best possible outcomes is that CZ gets to divorce Colt and the State of Connecticut, which ought to do a lot to correct the balance sheets. The potential for getting some of the Dimarco innovation into the US could hold promise as well. Another excellent outcome would be the ending of "branding" the logo on random kitsch out of the Company's control. Only the C-suite types imagine that selling the (tm) rights to brand cheap silverware would net enough profits to keep the company afloat. CZ appears to be better focused than that (or less-infected of Ivy League MBAs).

 

[Elkins45]

Colt's version of the SA80--let's let engineers with no firearms experience create a one-off, hand-fitted every part firearm and then expect to mass produce same. Engineering hubris hit a low point (or peak, if you want to look at it that way). Firearms are not just piles of parts you can just slap together--they are a system.
And the industrial engineering to do that profitably in a factory can not be discounted. Yet, it was for the 2000, and the result is history.


No, this is not just the name and trademarks. It's the full deal., assets and liabilities, and includes (subject to negotiation) Colt Canada (Dimarco) with all of its military contracts.

One of the best possible outcomes is that CZ gets to divorce Colt and the State of Connecticut, which ought to do a lot to correct the balance sheets. The potential for getting some of the Dimarco innovation into the US could hold promise as well. Another excellent outcome would be the ending of "branding" the logo on random kitsch out of the Company's control. Only the C-suite types imagine that selling the (tm) rights to brand cheap silverware would net enough profits to keep the company afloat. CZ appears to be better focused than that (or less-infected of Ivy League MBAs).

There are some truly hideous Chinese knives out there wearing the Colt and S&W logos. Whomever gave the OK to that sort of usage ought to give a seminar on brand dilution. CZ needs to put a stop to that on Day 1.

 

[DustyGmt]

There are some truly hideous Chinese knives out there wearing the Colt and S&W logos. Whomever gave the OK to that sort of usage ought to give a seminar on brand dilution. CZ needs to put a stop to that on Day 1.

+1 on that. Many others too. I would bet brand dilution has a really negative impact, putting your name on an inferior product is just not wise. Now if it wasn't mass produced cheap crap that'd be different.

 

[Walkalong]

I believe CZ will produce some nice guns under the Colt name.

 

[JR24]

There's always the, albeit very remote, possibility CZ just wants Colt's military contracts and will pull a direct competitor to their DW line off the market

(of course doubling up on the sales makes more sense)

 

[bearman49709]

...and he designed the iconic models 1886 and 1894 lever action rifles, not Winchester. Yet, they are still called "Winchesters".

Once again I did not make myself clear, something I find myself doing more often lately.
WestKentucky posted Colt did not design the AR15/M16 and I posted John Browning designed the 1911 without quoting his post so it looked unrelated.

 

[orionengnr]

I grew up in CT in the late 50s and 60s. My dad was a WWII vet and had a Colt 1911. First handgun I ever fired.
He took us kids on a tour of the plant in Hartford at least once, maybe twice.
So in a sense, I have some Colt in my veins.

A Colt 1911 was also (not coincidentally) the first pistol I ever bought, and I have owned several others subsequently.
But the more 1911s I owned, the more it became apparent that there are better 1911s out there for equal or less money.

I have owned at least 20 1911s, probably 25 by now. I currently own five or six, and one of them is an DW 1911 (10mm CBOB). Unfortunately, it had some difficulties when I bought it, and the support was less than acceptable. I had it repaired by a trusted 1911 guy, and it is one of my favorites.

So while I have immense respect for CZ as a company, and for the Czechs as a people (probably the most American-like people in all of Europe as far as gun rights go, and probably where I will go to retire if the US continues its Constitutional collapse) I don't think I'll be a customer.

As far as revolvers go, I came to revolvers much later in life. I moved away from CT in the late 70s so the Colt (Hartford CT) vs. S&W (Springfield MA, just a few miles away, and across the border) was never an issue for me. I have been an S&W revolver guy ever since getting into revolvers, call it 2000 or so. But I buy and own mostly older (pre-ILS) ones. And I think I have enough revolvers to last me until they bury me with one of them and my survivors sell the rest.

 

[THEWELSHM]

I have a 1915 new service in .455 Wesley the single action is flawless, the double action is a mans gun..lol, as a new American Friday the 13th 2018. I like to own a piece of each American iron.. I need a Henry and a Winchester and I will be good. Although a Python might be nice ..

Thewelshm

 

[gnappi]

Eh from me.

I'm not a Colt hater, I'm pretty ambivalent about them.

Maybe if they bring a quality that matches their price (even with the pony) I might move to moderately interested.

+1, I have pretty much the same feelings about Colt. There's nothing they have others can't do better for less money. Maybe they're victims of their location, the workforce, or just fat executives but now that they have been left behind (IMO) by the rest of the industry, I don't see "inevitable resurgence" as an option.

 

[3Crows]

Well, there are things that could push a resurgence of wheel guns and limited capacity inherent to the 1911, but, I will not go there. I am getting on to being sorta old and Colt has been the walking dead my entire life.

 

[5whiskey]

I’m more excited for the “inevitable” resurgence of Marlin under the ownership of Ruger.

I’m with Rust Collector. Traditionally, I love Ruger. The fit and finish of their wood and steel guns lately (at least their revolvers) have reminded me more of Brastech or “Remlins” than what was a very close second to Henry or S&W in its better days. I’m not a Ruger hater. I’ve had a few Rugers, but admittedly older ones. The new ones I’ve fondled have left me less than impressed.

Of course I also think the Italian repro firearms have a F&F better than most American options now, sadly.

 

[acudaowner]

I love colt's older guns , but a 50 year old redesign is not going to save the company and make me suddenly want a colt . When i can hardly get the ammo I need for the guns I have and want to shoot .. I will wish them the best of luck I really do want them to succeed all the companies that make guns I wish good luck.

 

[P5 Guy]

Not one way or the other.

 

[MartinS]

A SAA produced as something more than a unicorn.

 

[KarateHottie93]

A SAA produced as something more than a unicorn.

I hope they'll do a less expensive SAA with a transfer bar or Uberti style floating pin safety.

I'm one of those people that mainly carries wheel guns and feels perfectly safe with a single action.

 

[wickedsprint]

If they make a plain jane 1911 with sights and plunger tubes that don’t become unstaked, I’ll probably buy one.

 

[jhb]

I'm sad to see that Americans couldnt and/or wouldn't run this American company well enough to stay alive.


I'm happy to see the Colt name lives on under a company that produces good quality firearms. I hope we see a big return to quality under cz. we shall see though......

 

[Deanimator]

A Colt 1911 was also (not coincidentally) the first pistol I ever bought, and I have owned several others subsequently.

My first handgun was a Series 70 Colt purchased in 1978. I carried it in Korea and as a pay officer at Ft. Knox. It's currently my wadcutter gun.

My other Colt M1911 is a Giles .38 Special conversion from a pre-Series 70 .38 Super.

I've got a New Service which I received as a gift from my aunt's boyfriend.

Back in the '80s, I had a nice 4" Official Police. I traded it for something else. After all, it wasn't like Colt was going to stop making revolvers.

At WORST CZ could leave Colt as bad as they are. More likely, they'll at least come up to Taurus levels of competence, maybe even Ruger, without S&W's ILS finger in the eye attitude.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

I was one of the first 2020 Python buyers and it was a nightmare experience.

If CZ can improve the quality and customer service, I’ll be “all ears” for a new ‘thon.