More on Colt's financial woes...

[xman777]

I wonder if Pelosi would arrange a Bailout proposition?

[garym1a2]

In the commercial world you learn to compete or die.
Plenty of companies to make AR's and 1911's. What have they done NEW recently?

[Love Life]

If they would just DO what they currently make...

[nagantguy]

How could they not be making money, with the prices they charge and the government contracts? Wonder if a former politician sits on their board. Seems like they be making bank, even if they only make a few of the guns everyone wants they certainly charge enough

[starnbar]

Colts problems started back in the Clinton era and in 2001 colts m4 contract went to fn in Carolina its been hit or miss ever since with colt. Too bad I always liked colts got a few of em and inherited a few from my family.

[USAFrox]

How could they not be making money, with the prices they charge and the government contracts? Wonder if a former politician sits on their board. Seems like they be making bank, even if they only make a few of the guns everyone wants they certainly charge enough

According to the article I read, they lost the most recent contract to FN, and since they had been neglecting their civilian offerings while they had the government cash pouring in, now they are behind the power curve when it comes to competing in the civilian market.

[smokeywolf]

Their fit and finish isn't what it was in the 19th and earlier 20th centuries, but still better than most. Their designs are copied by dozens of different manufacturers. So, all they have to sell is better quality than most and the Colt name. The economy won't support that anymore. The average Joe would like to have a Colt, but settles for a Ruger, Astra, Llama, RIA, Taurus or whatever. Even folks who have the money to shell out for a Colt know that if the Colt name isn't a necessity for them they can get even better overall quality for the same price elsewhere.
The economy just plain won't support charging that extra 20 to 30% just for that rampant colt logo.

smokeywolf

[lefty o]

colt turned its back on its bread and butter for 15-20yrs (the American gun owner), because they were sucking on the gvmnts nipple. this goes to show what happens when you defecate where you eat.

[TheDoctor]

To me Colt died when they discontinued the Python. It would be wonderful if there was a way to make them like they used to. Sadly, that kind of work is probably gone forever. I hate to think of what the price would be if they did still make them however. I know quality costs, but I also know people that spend more on a 1911 than what a python would cost now, adjusting for inflation.

And yes, they seemed to abandon the civilian market, and made their bank from government contracts. Guess they never learned the lesson of not being dependant on the government!

[starmac]

I may be off here, but didn't colt roll over and agree not to sell some arms to the public back about the time ruger and S&W caved in.

[theperfessor]

Colt? Ruger? Cougers?

[Char-Gar]

Colt has been on the heart-lung machine for decades due to union problems along with retarded management decisions. Going under is probably the only way it will ever be a viable company again. I just hope that whoever buys the name and assets will move it to a right to work state and put good people in charge. Colt Made In Texas, has a nice ring to it.

There was, is and will be a market for Colt branded products, if they can get their act together.

[Love Life]

<------ Market for Colt branded products!! Doesn't matter how much you paid, or who made it, if it ain't got a Pony on it then it ain't a Colt.

I'm still thinking on the made in Texas stamp on a Colt. It would be weird after seeing Connecticut on them for my whole short life.

[Petrol & Powder]

Ruger is sitting on a lot of cash. They should buy Colt and do it right.

Or not buy them and make copies of the profitable guns.

It's time for Colt to die, they're nothing but a name at this point and not a very profitable one at that.

[waksupi]

How could they not be making money, with the prices they charge and the government contracts? Wonder if a former politician sits on their board. Seems like they be making bank, even if they only make a few of the guns everyone wants they certainly charge enough

Government projects is no doubt one of the big problems. They don't get in any hurry to pay a vendor. If you get paid within six months, you are lucky. Creditors won't always wait. I will never take another government contract that isn't paid up front.

[Love Life]

Or not buy them and make copies of the profitable guns.

It's time for Colt to die, they're nothing but a name at this point and not a very profitable one at that.

If they can make exact copies instead of the homely and uninspiring stuff they make now...

[BD]

Any US firearms manufacturer with a 1911 and AR-15 line that's not in the black after the last 5 years needs a change of management ASAP. If it takes a bankruptcy to "get they'ah from he'ah", so be it. The fit and finish on Colt 1911s has been dismal for over 30 years. Colt has used "reliability" as a euphemism for extremely loose tolerances for so long that the average american consumer has long ago deserted the ship for higher quality at lower prices elsewhere, (nearly anywhere else for that matter). A perfect example of what the union gets you in the US these days.
There are more than one or two Colt 1911s in my family, and we love 'em despite their faults. But, the best workmanship by far is evident on the one produced around 1915. Even with more than 20 years experience behind them, they couldn't match the fit and finish of the product produced by a sewing machine manufacturer pressed into service for a very limited run to meet a desperate need in WWII.
Some of you guys like the rampant colt for it's own sake. I only like the Colt's that have some personal meaning to me. As a brand, it's GMC in the gun world.

[GabbyM]

I seriously look for the Colt name to migrate to China. As Maytag did.
That should make some of you anti union fellows happy.

Jaguar cars are made in India now. After Ford sold it off. Bush is owned by a German Beer company and so on.

[fatnhappy]

Jaguar cars are made in India now. After Ford sold it off. Bush is owned by a German Beer company and so on.

In fairness, Germans know how to make very very very good beer.

[Recluse]

1911's are a roll of the dice. Not in reliability, but in QC on finish and parts.

They shot themselves in the foot by flinging boogers at the civilian market while feeding the Government.

I remember getting a Series 70 Gold Cup NIB and how disgusted and disappointed I was when I took it out to the range. Another couple hundred dollars later to the gunsmith (and this was in the early 80s) and the gun was reliable, accurate and beginning to live up to the heralded Colt reputation.

I wrote them off when they went all gov all the time and told civvies to go pound sand. They actually did many of us of that generation a large favor because we had to go looking at Springfield and other manufacturers if we wanted something in the 1911 design.

Having used their JUNK (aka M16) while in the military, there was absolutely zilch about a Colt AR that appealed to me. I understand now that the quality and reliability of those plastic aberrations has improved, but you'll be hard-pressed to find to many vets of the 60's and 70's that have anything fond to say about the guns we were issued or had to carry.

And then there is the whole Connecticut/northeast issue. A lot of gun-owners would just as soon do business with a manufacturer that resides in a pro-freedom area of the U.S. Colt and S&W are shooting themselves in the foot by staying up in the northeast. Even Mossberg has began moving facilities down to Texas. No reason for Colt and S&W to stay up there. Smith & Wesson is my handgun, but I refuse to buy a factory-new S&W anything so long as they remain up there.

Too many years of abject corporate arrogance on the part of Colt combined with dismal management practices and downright pathetic marketing has led Colt to where they are today.