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September 11, 2019, 08:00 PM | #1 |
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Colt Announces It Will Discontinue Retail Sales of Long Guns
Colt is no longer offering rifles for retail sale.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/co...retail-market/ Ah Colt, the company that brought the Single Action Army, 1911, and AR15 to market and yet still managed to go bankrupt while everyone else made huge profits selling their products. Maybe this “break” will allow them to focus on their core products like the All American 2000? Or maybe some new-fangled, polymer, striker pistol? |
September 11, 2019, 09:21 PM | #2 |
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Can't really say I am surprised. They were always more of a pistol company anyway. Too bad their current line up pistol designs are over 100 years old. I guess if Ford rolled out the Model T tomrrow for $100K each people would buy a few but it is unlikely they would sell many.
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September 11, 2019, 10:35 PM | #3 |
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The bonus for me is that my agency now has to find a new patrol rifle. For the third time in less than a few years. Love it.
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September 11, 2019, 10:46 PM | #4 |
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While I certainly could form a bunch of negative thoughts about the decision...
Its not difficult to see it might be a sound business decision. The courts have awarded arge settlements against AR-15 manufacturers after shootings. (Update! Not true!! The lawsuits were dismissed) That,IMO,is wrong,but it has happened. You have to sell a lot of AR-15's to pay the legal bills and the settlement . Didn't Bushmaster get hurt after Sandy Hook? I don't know for sure,but likely Colt is a Union Shop,which will have an effect on labor costs. Its feasible to set up a low overhead shop with a Manufacturer FFL ,buy parts and receivers and build quality AR rifles,top ends,etc. with $15 to $20 an hour wages ,and a small workforce. AR assemblers. A week's vacation,no pension,,no decades of seniority. In a low tax,low cost of living state,instead of Connecticut. Colt has a lot of competition in the market,and Colt (I guess) has a higher overhead.Even if they can compete ,they will only have a fraction of the market Add to that the potential for liability...sentiment and questionable future for the AR-15..Maybe insider info on what Congress may do... Cutting the AR-15 MIGHT make good business sense for Colt. Last edited by HiBC; September 11, 2019 at 11:24 PM. |
September 11, 2019, 10:50 PM | #5 | |
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September 11, 2019, 11:21 PM | #6 |
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MTT TL OK,after doing a little research,I was wrong in that the Firearms Manufacturers have (fortunately) been protected by a 2005 law that has lead to the dismissal of the lawsuits.
No problem. Per this linked article,legal expenses have cost the manufacturer big bucks. I guess I've heard a lot about the lawsuits being filed,but the dismissal has been small news. I think maybe the lawsuits will continue,with new angles being tried. Anyway,I was wrong about settlements awarded. That's good. https://www.revealnews.org/article/3...for-shootings/ |
September 11, 2019, 11:44 PM | #7 |
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I think colt's problem (besides relying on the military contracts they subsequently lost) was they simply didn't offer a wide variety of products and what they did offer they charged too much for. They charged extra for that pony on the receiver when you could buy an equivalent or potentially better rifle from someone else for less money.
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September 12, 2019, 01:12 AM | #8 |
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Colt has made a lot of dubious business decisions over the years and I find it amazing they have lasted this long...
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September 12, 2019, 01:56 AM | #9 |
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Heck, i forgot they were still in business.
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September 12, 2019, 03:02 AM | #10 |
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lights out
I really doubt if Colt can keep the lights on by solely selling pistols retail. If they have some military contracts to keep them afloat, they may survive, but I wonder how long Colt will be around.
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September 12, 2019, 04:29 AM | #11 |
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I wonder how they are going to “focus on military contracts” when they didn’t enter the NGSW competition and already lost the pistol contract? They don’t make a GPMG or precision rifle and lost the M16 contract in 2013.
Are they going to sell to foreign militaries? |
September 12, 2019, 07:05 AM | #12 |
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The problem with colt is the products are marketed and sold as-if they were selling rare collectors guns. The market for OVER PRICE collector guns is not big enough to support a company the size of colt. There are only so many stupid and rich people in the world. In general sucessful people are also smart consumers.
I was interested in the WWI and WWII clone 1911's. Saw one, it looked ok, then i saw the price. INSANE!! Basically a loose fit, low cost parker finish for a million dollars each. My, purchased new, 1911 gold cup needed a barrel and bushing to bench test almost as good as a Springfield Range Officer. For 2x the money, 1/2 the accuracy. I could and did get an STI. Pitiful, and it like a big secret on the internet. Fanboy liars - AFAIK. I hate the lockup on DA colt revolvers. Again, dont ask the fanboys. So; 1911 is neither accurate or reasonably priced, the DA revolvers suffer poor lockup. The SAA is another million dollar gun for the stupid rich. This is the new focus? Lotsa luck. Last edited by fourbore; September 12, 2019 at 07:18 AM. |
September 12, 2019, 08:03 AM | #13 | |
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September 12, 2019, 08:10 AM | #14 |
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Which 1903, some handgun or the rifle? I have to admit, I needed a google to find the colt 1903. A 1903 colt is not for me.
I will say, a WWI exact clone 1911 as a normal everyday product for a normal price would sell a gun to me. Maybe they could get Uberti to make those and then stamp "colt" and resell them. It worked before. |
September 12, 2019, 08:14 AM | #15 | |
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September 12, 2019, 01:11 PM | #16 |
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Colt Firearms is a very small part of Colt Industries. Ending civilian sales of the AR sounds like politics. Just like how the M-16 got adopted in the first place. Too many nut bars using 'em to cause all shooters grief.
However, they've been marketing on the name for years. Just like Browning and Winchester. "...lost the M16 contract in 2013..." They've been making M-16's up here since our idiot government gave 'em Diemaco in 2005.
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September 12, 2019, 02:40 PM | #17 |
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Stop selling rifles at retail? Didn't Colt already do that, some 30 or 40 years ago? or longer?
Colt hasn't been selling any gun I know of, at retail (direct to the public) in a very long time. They sell to "jobbers/distributors", not to the public. Ok, went to the linked article, and read as much of the comments as I could stand before the insults, petty bickering and general childishness drove me away. Depending on who you listen to, its A) fake news, or B) a misrepresentation of what Colt is actually doing. one statement, sourced to an actual Colt VP said Colt has stopped production of long guns for the civilian market, to concentrate on 1911s (and military contracts). It seems to me they did that before...also dropping production of DA revolvers, and making the SA a "custom shop" item. The statement also said that if the market changes down the road, they could revisit the decision. for me, its a tempest in a teacup while I love the 1911/Government model, I haven't been a been a fan of Colt since the I discovered, in the late 60s, that a Colt .357 sold for $188 and a comparable S&W was $140. The prancing pony is pretty, but its not worth what they ask for it.
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September 12, 2019, 07:11 PM | #18 |
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Late word has it that Colt has gotten some large foreign contracts and needs the production capacity to fill the orders.
The source says that Colt is either going to stop production for civilian sales until the contracts are filled, possibly within 180 days or so, OR is going to very slowly ship limited numbers of civilian sales rifles. It sounds like this is not a permanent halt of civilian AR rifles. The good news is, it looks like other then the Russian and Chinese affiliated countries, much of the world is buying American M16 weapons for their military and police. |
September 12, 2019, 09:21 PM | #19 |
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Maybe Kimber could start making Pythons.
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September 12, 2019, 10:15 PM | #20 | |
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Frankly, given their appalling treatment of the civilian market, their complete inability to practice any consistent quality control, their total lack of innovation, and the fact the President of their company is personal friends with gun-control advocates, I say good riddance.
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September 12, 2019, 10:43 PM | #21 |
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Correct me if I am wrong, but; the 2000 is the basis for the current Chinese army side arm. How many million pistols is that. Yes, screwed up by colt, agree 100% - But; the idea had merit and has been very successful, when not screwed.
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September 13, 2019, 08:51 AM | #22 |
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I heard that it was a rumor started by an employee of RSR, probably trying to explain why he couldn't get a specific gun to a shop.
This is gonna drive the old guys who buy Colts to resell them up the wall.
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September 13, 2019, 08:55 AM | #23 |
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Colt has been wandering lost in the woods for many years... poor management, poor direction, mix n match of their product line, reliance on contracts, poor relationship with it's labor force. This is just another page in the Crazy Colt novel.
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September 13, 2019, 09:01 AM | #24 | |
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So, yes -- the anti-gun forces are still looking for ways around the federal law -- until they can muster enough votes in congress to just repeal it.
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September 13, 2019, 09:28 AM | #25 | |
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The other talk about focus on so-called big contracts, politics, etc all that other stuff is rumor or speculation (or no citation given = same thing). |
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