New Colt Revolvers!!!!!!

[Skans]

Too many unrealistic expectations by some Colt fans, I think.
Denis

I think it would help if Colt first produced limited numbers of high-end revolvers, in line with what Korth produces. This would at least serve to establish the level of quality that Colt is capable of. Then come in with a line of production 38's and 357's.

Colt going head to head with S&W on a production .38? Good luck with that. Whether Colt likes it or not, they will not only be competing with S&W, but with all of the older models of Colt and S&W 38's that are already out there.

There are only 2 revolvers that interest me right now: Kimber's new 357 and the S&W 627 8-shot .357. I'm just wondering what will set this new Pony apart from what is already out there?

[snubbyfan]

Hard to see how this Colt will unseat the S&W 637 @less than $400 or the S&W 637 Performance Ctr. @ under $500. I certainly won't be replacing my S&W 638 snubby with the new Colt. I'm sure collectors will eat them up though...but will that be enough sales to warrant a long production run?

[TruthTellers]

Colt uses pristine steels made of iron ore mined from Mount Olympus

The real key is how they polish the finish.

They must use something really abrasive, maybe Hilary Clinton's breast milk? That stuff can't come cheap either.

[TruthTellers]

Maybe I'm being hard on Colt here, but I'm not like some people here who value a gun on it's collectable ability or potential value in the future. To me, all prices go up over time, especially when people find out something is a good value for the low price. It happened to the SKS, it happened to the Mosin-Nagant, and it'll happen to other guns I'm currently trying to add to my collection before people figure out they're not crap for under $200.

Do I base a lot of my dislike on people's experiences with Colt guns in the past? Yeah, but for the prices people paid for them, I expect them to receive a product that's not defective. I remember last year on another forum someone was asking about whether to get a Uberti SAA clone or a Colt SAA. Of course, everyone on a gun forum being hardcore enthusiasts, all except for me and a few others said get the Colt because... COLT! And because of the difference in the steels which is a pointless statistic to me as I've never heard or read of anybody complaining about the Uberti Cattleman in any way other than it wasn't a... COLT!

Someone who spends $1500 on a Colt is putting that right in the safe and you know what? Guns should be bought to be shot. I know, some must think that sounds silly.

Given Colt's recent financial issues and lack of ingenuity, those who really want to get their hands on a newly made Colt might want to grab these up quick, because if they don't sell, Colt's going to have put a lot of money into something that didn't sell and they may never bother with DA revolvers again, if not just close its doors for good.

If you want my guess on the quality Colt will deliver, I expect it to be on par with that of good Taurus with a price tag more than a S&W.

I liked Colt, the Colt of the 1800's and early 1900's that were literally on the cutting edge of firearms technology and were of the highest quality. Then at some point in time, Colt rested on its laurels and lived off the military contracts and left innovating alone. While it's nice to see Colt getting back into the DA revolver market, I know if I went to the Colt booth at SHOT show next month and asked them what makes it better than what Smith or Ruger make now, I'd get the same answer... It's... A... COLT.

[Model12Win]

The fact that this new Colt's is a Colt's of Colt's will mean it'll sell hotly. The collector boys and safe queeners will snatch them up lickity split.

[smee78]

I'm with Truthtellers on this one. I'll just keep my Smiths and Ruger s and be happy with what I have.

[lamarw]

I am also not a fan of rubber grips. It also does not appear to have a decent rear sight (target sight) or what ever.

Those touches and with such a low entry price causes one to lack optimism about the true quality of design and materials or finish.

Of course, maybe they can justify it as only a snub nose for close-in duties.

[TruthTellers]

Those touches and with such a low entry price causes one to lack optimism about the true quality of design and materials or finish.

It's like DPris said earlier in this thread: People are going to be comparing this to older Colt's back when they were made with hand-fitting. That's not going to happen today because that costs a lot of money and the parts are going to be made similarly to the way Smith and Ruger do it now.

My thoughts are Smith and Ruger have been making DA revolvers that way for decades now where Colt hasn't. Smith and Ruger employees know how to build them where the Colt employees don't, so there's an experience gap and a learning curve that Colt's going to have to go through.

IMO, the first shipments of these Colt's are going to have quality issues and people will be saying exactly what Denis said, "It's not this or that! It's not like it use to be!"

You say the entry price is low, but I'm willing to bet a S&W J frame or Ruger LCR is going to be better and for less whatever price Colt sells them for, be it $700 MSRP or $1500 MSRP. The skill level of the employees at Colt just isn't there.

Bottom Line: Money doesn't mean everything.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by TruthTellers

If you want my guess on the quality Colt will deliver, I expect it to be on par with that of good Taurus with a price tag more than a S&W.

They could have had quality better than Taurus if they had just rebadged the Armscor M200/M206 revolvers and given them a nice, blued finish. That level of quality wasn't good enough for them, so I expect the quality of these new guns to be above average, and far better than Taurus.

How well they sell will depend on what the street price is, and how many people will buy a revolver that only shoots .38 Special, not .357 Magnum. I also think Colt was extremely foolish to change over to the new "stocking dealer only" business model. They are cutting out the small gun shops. I only deal with two, small gun shops, and neither of them has the overhead to afford being a Colt stocking dealer. The nearest in-state stocking dealer to me is an hour's drive from home. That means Colt is driving me to on-line merchants like Bud's, which in the long term does a real disservice to the small gun shops that we urgently need to support and keep in business.

[Sevens]

It is extremely difficult to strip away emotion from a subject that we all have ourselves so passionately invested in. It's not reality to tell Colt lovers and Colt haters to forget what they think or know about Colt from the storied (and sordid) history and from their own hands-on experiences. You may certainly argue that this new revolver should be judged on it's own merits and it is a fine argument but it is -NOT- realistic, much like the sales of this new revolver would simply NOT be the same if it didn't have the pony on the side.

Fact is...
All of our favorites have pure crap in their histories. S&W has a lot of recent crap in recent history. Winchester is a storied name in guns and today basically ceases to exist. Ruger seems to have not made mistakes on the same (LARGE) scale but they have absolutely crapped the bed, especially in & around the Clinton era with the excessive running of Bill's large mouth. Remington is everyone's biggest running joke and they deserve it (IMO), but my point?! The list of gun companies falling from grace is long and distinguished but it kinda seems like NOBODY has done it better than Colt. Seriously.

Me? Well I am glad you asked. I love seeing gunmakers debut new guns. I have almost zero interest in actually buying or owning anyone's new guns, I prefer the ones in my comfort zone that I love. So sure, I am happy to see this news from Colt. Aside from this new revolver... oh hell yes I am a card-carrying Colt "skeptic" if not a full-on Colt "hater." This is because nobody has the pedigree of crapping the bed on an epic scale (repeatedly) in the way that Colt does.

Oh yeah, I love the pony also. You're dead inside if that logo doesn't stir emotion. I think it looks amazing and when I'm feeling creative, I see it MOVE. I see the horse begin to choke on that stick, break a tooth, spit it out and then break it's own leg while trying to pick it up. But the story has a happy ending when the owner attempts to shoot it and put the beast out of it's misery, the out-of-time revolver fails to fire and the pony is spared and the owner has no worries because he ends up selling the gorgeous and non-functional revolver for $3750.

[Model12Win]

Sevens,

Well said Broseph. Well said.

[DPris]

A couple things first:

Coming out with a limited-edition high-dollar revolver first would be exactly what Colt should NOT have done.

With the financial situation now existing at Colt, you're lucky to see a new revolver at all.
Developing one, with everything involved, is extremely expensive, and the resulting gun has to be a mass-market sustainable model that'll sell in volume from the git-go.

No limited-editions that would mostly sell to older Colt fans & not in sufficient numbers to repay the effort.

This gun is not built to compete with older Colts.
The unfortunate fact there is that it will be compared to those, again among older Colt fans, and of course it'll fall short.
That's NOT the market demographic that Colt's going for, and it's not a market demographic that Colt CAN go for.

This new revolver has to compete among a generation of younger buyers who really have no Colt fandom or loyalty.
This Colt will be competing in THAT market with plastic guns, Smiths, and Rugers.

Colt knows that, and Colt has seen the wisdom of tapping into the CC base of gun buyers with its first new DA out in several years.

And- a clarification I'm including on several forums:
During discussions of the new Colt DA in the past couple years, I've stated the V-Spring guns are dead.

Since this new Cobra does have a V-spring powering it, I'll put my statements in context.

Traditionally, older Colts of the Python-style action used V mainsprings, Smiths used flat mainsprings (aside from the J-Frames), and Ruger used coil mainsprings.

My use of the term "V-Spring" in referring to the Python's action (Detective Special, original Cobra, Official Police, Trooper, etc) was to differentiate that action from other brands, and the Colt DA revolvers that followed, with coil mainsprings.

When I've said "The V-Springs are dead", I was referring to those 115-year-old original Colt V-Spring actions.

The new Cobra does use a V-Spring, but not the same hand-fitted action.
Sorry about any confusion there.
Denis

[jrothWA]

OOOOooh!

[Model12Win]

Interesting that they're using a v-spring. Most now use music wires.

[Mike Irwin]

The big question is... and one I've not seen answered...

Is this going to be a Colt manufactured gun, or is it going to be manufactured in Turkey or Russia with Colt markings?

[Dfariswheel]

I suspect the new Colt is pretty much a slightly changed transfer bar safety-ignition "SF" frame like the SF-VI, DS-II, and Magnum Carry.
In those models the old Colt "Vee" spring was used, but it only powered the hammer, not the the trigger too.
Those models had the lightest DA trigger of just about any SA revolver ever made.

What this does is give Colt something to sell to people who don't want a small auto to carry, and don't fool yourself..... A LOT of people are quietly carrying CCW revolvers these days in preference to autos.
As for "why Colt"...how many small frame, stainless, 6 shot revolvers are available today?
Colt always captured a lot of buyers with that 6th shot to everyone elses 5 shots.

It's not a Magnum.
How many people really shoot Magnums from a small revolver? Most people, especially people who aren't that much into guns shoot .38 or .38+P ammo even in the Magnum revolvers.
If there's a market, it can probably be made in .357 just like the Magnum Carry was.

Another thing to consider: This opens up potential new markets with 3 and 4 inch versions, hammerless versions, and a frame that can be used for other things.
How about a new "Diamondback II" with adjustable sights, or a few .22LR models?

This looks like a revolver Colt is very smartly going to market to the CCW carrier, especially the fast-growing women's market.

[DPris]

Made by Colt.
Denis

[TruthTellers]

The one positive thing I forget to mention that I like about this revolver and Colt's decision is to make it a .38 Special, not .357 Magnum. We saw Glock do the same thing with the .380 G42, before they came out with the G43 even though everyone wanted the 43.

Starting small and working your way up is the way to go. Had Colt decided to skip the .38 and make a .357, that would have increased the price by $200 and the gun's would have a faster time til wear and tear set in.

Not a good business practice and personally, I don't see .357 Mag out of a snub barrel as a huge improvement over .38+P unless you like using the fireball as a sort of short range flamethrower.

[Model12Win]

Looks like the front sight has a thing on the front. Reminds me of Ruger's front sight removal plunger. I wonder if this new Colt's will be able to swap the sights? And have a change of grips?

If so, I might buy one. But not with that ugly sight or those horrid grips. There better me some measure of customizationabilitation with this new Cobra.

[DPris]

No matter what Colt had done, there would have been unhappy campers.
Denis

[Buckeye!]

I've never been a Colt fan ... But im very happy that Colt is producing a DA revolver !!!!

[JT-AR-MG42]

Thanks a lot Denis!
If I had only known then what I know now!

Here you went and got me all excited about this new pistol so I went and got two of these new Colts in post 16 and
now as I read it, just 31 posts later, I find out from all the folks in the know that I've bought two pieces of crap
from the absolute worst gun company in the world
with actions falling apart after a box of ammo and am left
with two sick ponies that only highly specialized vets can cure.

P.S. Do you know if Colt will still repair these under warranty?

JT

[Model12Win]

Real cute, JT.

Just because others wish to express dissatisfaction with your pet brand doesn't mean you need to be facetious.

[DPris]

Denis

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Dfariswheel

This looks like a revolver Colt is very smartly going to market to the CCW carrier, especially the fast-growing women's market.

Agreed. Someone commented on the lack of target sights, which are pretty much wasted on a snub nose revolver. This gun (based on the photo) has a fiber optic front sight. Semi autos with fiber optic front sights generally don't have adjustable rear sights. That's a setup that's intended for the CCW market, and that's certainly the market that will be interested in a snub nose revolver.