The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > Hogan's Alley > Handguns: The Revolver Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 21, 2013, 03:14 PM   #1
rambutan316
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2013
Posts: 18
Was the quality of Colt in the eighties bad?

I've been looking for a single action 22 for fun target practice, and I've been looking at a Ruger Single Six or Ten. But I also stumbled upon this Colt on Gunbroker:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=326317360

Although it looks overpriced, it looks really nice and its brand new with the box. Would this be a good alternative to a Single Six/Ten? I've heard that Colt made some pretty bad stuff during this time due to the strikes. Would it be too much of a risk to get this revolver? Thanks!
rambutan316 is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 12:24 AM   #2
Dfariswheel
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 4, 2001
Posts: 7,477
You can't buy guns based on the year made, guns aren't vintages of wine. There are no "good" or "bad" years just good or bad guns.
During the 80's Colt strike quality did fluctuate, but Colt made far more good guns then bad, and everyone else's quality was down too.

When you buy any gun new or old you run a risk of getting a lemon.
I'd suggest making sure the seller offers a standard three day inspection period, and make sure the three days don't start the instant your Dealer gets it.
If it does, make sure the Dealer will let you check it over in the store.
Dfariswheel is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 06:52 AM   #3
warningshot
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 7, 2009
Posts: 995
Quote:
Was the quality of Colt in the eighties bad?
Yes.
warningshot is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 07:57 AM   #4
highpower3006
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 30, 2011
Location: Savannah TN
Posts: 1,217
Quote:
Quote:
Was the quality of Colt in the eighties bad?
Quote:
Yes.
Kind of a blanket statement and it ain't necessarily so. I have a 1984 production Colt single action that I bought NIB a couple of years ago. The fit and finish on it look as good as any other Colt single action I have seen. It is reasonably accurate (I can't see that well anymore) and has as good a trigger as the second generation Colts I have handled.

All that being said, I would not recommend buying any gun without inspecting it first.
highpower3006 is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 11:15 AM   #5
Revolver1
Junior member
 
Join Date: January 21, 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 150
I know the Series 80 1911 was bottom of the barrel garbage. Couldn't sell it fast enough!
Revolver1 is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 11:26 AM   #6
L_Killkenny
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2007
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2,676
Quote:
There are no "good" or "bad" years just good or bad guns.
Not true. There is no doubt that certain year Winchester 94's were poor enough to classify them as bad years, same with some of the current Marlins, same with many guns. I suppose you would say that american auto companies were't making **** poor cars in the late 70's too? Guns are no different. Saying there was no bad years is like saying there are no bad designs.
L_Killkenny is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 11:31 AM   #7
micromontenegro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 28, 2010
Posts: 645
Within what DFariswheel says, which is quite true, and in my very limited experience, Colt revolvers tended to be very good in the early 80's. Autoloaders, not so much.
micromontenegro is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 12:02 PM   #8
BigJimP
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 23, 2005
Posts: 13,195
Quality in the 80's wasn't great ...but you sure can't say that all Colt's made in that period were bad.

But I suggest you buy your guns thru a local dealer where you can inspect them carefully vs over the internet...unless they're new guns that you can't get locally for some reason.
BigJimP is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 12:10 PM   #9
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
Let's get beyond the specific question. Those Colts are pretty, and the quality is good. But that gun is (IMHO) overpriced. Further, it is not untouched because it has drag marks.

The question for Rambutan is whether he wants a pretty gun to look at or a gun to shoot.

If he wants to use the gun, my advice is to buy a Ruger which will keep going about forever and not have any collector value to lose every time it is fired.

If he wants a nice gun for a collection and doesn't mind paying for the Colt name and appearance (and paying $800 for a $600 gun), then he should go with the Colt.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 01:20 PM   #10
rambutan316
Member
 
Join Date: January 4, 2013
Posts: 18
Thank you everyone for the help. It looks like I will pass up on this one. For a lot less money I can get a Single Six which will be a lot cheaper and probably more reliable, too. I went to the store the other day and handled a Single Six and it fit my hand perfectly. It's balance was great and I think it looks great too in stainless steel. I agree that its best for me to see a gun in person before buying, too. Thanks Jim, for also pointing out that cylinder line. I would have taken their word that it is brand new and would have missed seeing that detail.
rambutan316 is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 03:04 PM   #11
DFrame
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 7, 2008
Location: central Illinois
Posts: 451
If you like the single six by all means buy it. But also pay attention to what dfariswheel said. He is 100% correct!
__________________
Mark Lane to William Buckley: "Have you ever referred to Jessee Jackson as an ignoramus?"
Buckley: "If I didn't, I should have"
DFrame is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 03:35 PM   #12
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
Dfariswheel is correct, sort of. There are no "good" or "bad" years in firearms production, not in specific companies or in general. But there are periods when a company, for whatever reasons, allows its quality control to slip or its production quality to decline. That might be due to worker morale, union problems, strikes, speeded up production, worn out machinery that can't be replaced, lack of liquid capital, and/or more.

The first quality control has to begin with the individual worker. He or she must spot the badly machined part, the wrong temperature in the heat treating, the poor polish job on the frame. By the time a product gets to final inspection, it becomes very expensive to fix problems and there is a tendency to "let it go."

What can companies do? The list of problems pretty well includes the solutions. But solutions are easy to determine, not so easy to implement, so we will continue to have "good" and "bad" periods. As an example, there has been a lot of criticism of a certain foreign company over QC issues. Their designs are first rate, their materials the best, their machinery world-class, yet their production workers and inspectors either are not motivated or aren't paid enough to really care about quality. The result is a large number of complaints, an overwhelmed Customer Service, and loss of repeat buyers.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 03:45 PM   #13
Brian48
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 21, 2001
Location: Boston, People's Republic of MA
Posts: 1,615
Colt indeed had some labor issues in the mid to late '80s that seemingly affected Q/A. I am more familiar with the auto line than the revolvers, but I can attest that many of the new guns that came my way needed a little work to get running right. Cosmetically, they looked OK, but functionally they could not compete with Springfield, whom I believe was probably their biggest competitor at the time.

In the early '90s, I remember Colt making a concerted and very public effort to turn this perception around once the labor issues were resolved and new management was in place. This was around the time Colt changed the 1911 product line a little with the introduction of the Enhanced models as well as the budget 1991.
__________________
Proud to have served.
Brian48 is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 09:50 PM   #14
22-rimfire
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 19, 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,323
Colt's quality was not bad during the 1980's. Many fine DA revolvers were made during this time. Some of my favorite Diamondbacks were made during the 1980's. There were some lemons. I personally would buy the Ruger to shoot.
22-rimfire is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 11:01 PM   #15
Doc TH
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 15, 2005
Posts: 633
If you are looking for a "user" revolver, get a Ruger and use the $ you save for ammo. The Colt is priced as a collector's item.
Doc TH is offline  
Old January 22, 2013, 11:13 PM   #16
sam colt
Member
 
Join Date: February 11, 2012
Location: nc
Posts: 93
colt quality

I worked in a GS part time in the 80s and I would have to say that quality was lacking not only at Colt, but S&W was putting out some real trash also. Had a Colt Trooper come through that had NO rifling at all, smooth as a babies butt. Had a Model 24 Smith that the front sight was canted way to the right. However I will say that all the Colt SAAs were damn near perfect. They seemed to take a lot of pride and care in making that gun.
sam colt is offline  
Old January 23, 2013, 11:34 AM   #17
JED1177
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 6, 2006
Posts: 238
thats why it is important.....

to personally inspect every gun you are considering for purchase. All of the companies have gone thru some poor quality times.

I personally handled a Ruger Speed Six that looked absolutely gorgeous....upon closer inspection, the barrel had never had the bore cut in it! Solid block of steel! Everything else was functional.

Can you imagine the surprise if that thing was loaded up and fired by someone who didn't inspect the gun or wasn't familiar with revolvers at all?

The owner had a huge price on the revolver since it clearly was something special, but only as a conversation piece. It certainly wasn't a revolver!
JED1177 is offline  
Old January 24, 2013, 05:43 PM   #18
rodfac
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 22, 2005
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 3,619
Guns, like the men and women that use them, are individuals...you find the good and bad in any vintage. I've got a Series 80 Gold Cup that's a tack driver...but gotta be honest here...I prefer the ones made before the lawyer generated "fix" to the trigger mechanism. I'd not be put-off by the manuf. date...inspect, then decide.....Rod
__________________
Cherish our flag, honor it, defend it in word and deed, or get the hell out. Our Bill of Rights has been paid for by heros in uniform and shall not be diluted by misguided governmental social experiments. We owe this to our children, anything less is cowardice. USAF FAC, 5th Spl Forces, Vietnam Vet '69-'73.
rodfac is offline  
Old January 24, 2013, 09:46 PM   #19
stepmac
Member
 
Join Date: January 17, 2013
Posts: 41
I own and shoot a couple of 80's Colts. A 1911 and a SAA. I like'em both. The 1911 was a cheap Colt, with a rough finish. Shoots great. Works fine. So does the SAA.
stepmac is offline  
Old January 26, 2013, 06:42 PM   #20
mete
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 14, 2004
Location: NY State
Posts: 6,575
The big 3 handgun makers had serious problems in the late 70s -early '80s. Lots of labor problems ,companies forced to hire unqualified workers.rapidly rising labor costs etc. Colt had the additional problem of ownership.Those of us who had to repair brand new guns had a very distastfull job .I set up a check list like an aircraft flight check. Compliants were frustrating to hear from new shooters .S&W was the worst, then Colt ,then Ruger .One cop friend checked a box of new S&Ws ,closed up the box returned them and ordered Rugers for his dept.
__________________
And Watson , bring your revolver !
mete is offline  
Old January 26, 2013, 08:25 PM   #21
jrothWA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 11, 2006
Posts: 2,519
Bought a Series 70 Colt Combat Commander,

NIB, got home and racked the slide back and GLARED at the spring plunger housing flopped on the table.
Looked at the box the proudly proclaimed: "Proudly made by the UAW."

Local smith replace and staked in for $40, because of someone could do their job.

As said above the SAA were basically flawless.
jrothWA is offline  
Old January 27, 2013, 01:39 PM   #22
22-rimfire
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 19, 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,323
The late 70's and early 80's were high inflationary times. There was tremendous pressure to keep costs down. I bought a house in 1981 and many were paying 18-19% interest on home loans. Then they had the problem with labor. Everything was working against Colt (and sometimes they seemed to make some odd decisions). Law enforcement were transitioning to semi-autos things weren't so great for revolver manufacturers. Eventually by 1986 most of the old style DA revolvers were discontinued, but the Python and a few others remained. Colt had an ownership change in 1990 after declaring Chapter 11 in 1989 (as I recall).
22-rimfire is offline  
Old January 28, 2013, 08:36 PM   #23
327 FM
Member
 
Join Date: July 3, 2012
Posts: 89
UAW
327 FM is offline  
Old January 28, 2013, 11:18 PM   #24
shootniron
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 16, 2011
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,599
I saw some pretty bad Colts in the 80's and I actually think that had a lot to do with Kimber making such a quick rise to stardom...that and the fact that the early Kimbers were great guns and a great value.
shootniron is offline  
Old January 31, 2013, 08:51 PM   #25
brit3
Member
 
Join Date: March 11, 2007
Location: N/E Ohio
Posts: 45
I bought a NIB bright stainless King Cobra that was extremely out of time out of the box. It was so bad it wouldn't fire during slow DA pulls.
brit3 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:57 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.06282 seconds with 10 queries