U.S. Firearms out of business?

[Love Life]

I just got done perusing the 10 ring precision website, and they have a big notice stating that USFA is now out of business. So now the lifetime warranty is null and void. I find this odd since that stupid zip gun is made by USFA.

It's a bummer. I have one of their single actions and it is truly a quality firearm. Does anybody have any insight to why USFA shut their doors? I bet if they were still making single actions they would have a waiting list years long.

What gives?

[popper]

Conneticut?

[Love Life]

They started shut down well before the shooting, disappeared for a bit, then came out with the new plastic fantastic zip gun.

I see the zip is still in the supply line so I'm just really confused.

[waksupi]

My advise is to try to get spare parts before they disappear.

[Love Life]

My advise is to try to get spare parts before they disappear.

Screw that. I'm going to sell it and buy a Colt SAA now that they are finally coming out of the factory again. Life is to short to fool with that nonsense.

[jmort]

I read somewhere that the owner got bored with the firearms business. Went another direction with machining or whatever. I would like to have one of their .357s - they made nice handguns. What kind of dumb-a$$ would get out of the firearms business in this market?

[MBTcustom]

I read somewhere that the owner got bored with the firearms business. Went another direction with machining or whatever. I would like to have one of their .357s - they made nice handguns. What kind of dumb-a$$ would get out of the firearms business in this market?

Bored?!?!?!
Stressed, maybe. Overworked, perhaps. But to get bored with the firearms industry in this market is completely silly. It's not just AR's and AK's. Firearms of every kind are in high demand and short supply. Very strange.

[HighHook]

Probrably tired of dealing with the fed and state mafia...

[TXGunNut]

I've always liked their SAA, seemed like a good value. Zip gun bothers me, looks too much like a toy.

[Love Life]

That is the screwy part. Their SAA is exquisite. They out Colted Colt, crushed Colt sales, and caused Colt SAA prices to drop. The difference between a USFA SAA and the 3rd Gens (Not including new manufacture in the last several years) is night and day.

Why they stopped making them is beyond me. Just outstanding everything about the revolvers.

Then they made the stupid zip gun...

Oh well. The new Colts are supposed to be up to snuff, and the ones I have seen posted lately have great fit and finish with vivid case HARDENING (not that case coloring garbage).

Maybe I'll keep the one I have (rare, but not vintage yet...) or maybe I'll send it down the road. Way to straight up hose down the SAA community. I think what chaps my backside the most is that wonderful lifetime warranty that...well...isn't.

[TXGunNut]

Crazy times we're living in. Looking forward to seeing the new Colts but I'm very happy with the quality of my '70's vintage 3rd gen SAA.
I heard rumors when USFA got started that they bought a lot of used Colt tooling. Any idea how much truth was in that rumor, Love Life?

[Love Life]

I'm not sure, but they sure claimed it on their old defunct website, and all the gun rags claimed the same thing. They even built them in the Blue Dome building.

As for the 3rd Gens some I have seen were low quality, and some were danged near perfect. Didn't matter because everybody wanted a minimum of $1,600 for them...

Now you can order one from the factory for $1449+shipping. Sure glad I waited, and I would not hesitate to snap up an older 3rd gen if the price was right.

Back to USFA. I still don't get it. I guess I really don't need to since I didn't own the company, but dang!!

[BCRider]

A fellow USFA owner on another forum posted that the owner is an attention deficit sort of flake that simply chose to shut it down to play with the ZIP gun instead. Now I can see a fella wanting to try new things but it would not have taken a big amount of thinking to post a new president of the old USFA and then move on to the new project. In the meantime USFA revolvers could have kept open and churning out their great product. Ah well.....

['74 sharps]

I've always liked their SAA, seemed like a good value. Zip gun bothers me, looks too much like a toy.


My guess is the SAA would shoot a tighter group than the zip thing.

[runfiverun]

I have a pair of the rodeo's and the only thing on them that's a bit on the low end is their finish.
I can just barely tell the two apart when shooting them.
but I can tell them apart, one is just a tick rougher in the trigger pull.
I had to shoot a couple of thousand rounds through them to really 'see' the difference though.
I have even contemplated sending them in to be stripped and blued somewhere a time or two.
i'm not overly worried about getting parts for a revolver that takes colt parts as direct replacements with minimal fitting.

[quasi]

it could be problems from their Bankers, or Colt Bankers/ share holders influencing their Bankers.

[Love Life]

Good point R5R. Below is picture of what your USFA could look like...

Oh, and the super swage will be in the mail Saturday with a little surprise.

[TXGunNut]

I'm not sure, but they sure claimed it on their old defunct website, and all the gun rags claimed the same thing. They even built them in the Blue Dome building.

As for the 3rd Gens some I have seen were low quality, and some were danged near perfect. Didn't matter because everybody wanted a minimum of $1,600 for them...

Now you can order one from the factory for $1449+shipping. Sure glad I waited, and I would not hesitate to snap up an older 3rd gen if the price was right.

Back to USFA. I still don't get it. I guess I really don't need to since I didn't own the company, but dang!!


Damn! I think I stole my NIB SAA, it was almost a RBH south of a new current production gun. I've been looking for a new one for well over a year, glad I waited.

[cat223]

I think what chaps my backside the most is that wonderful lifetime warranty that...well...isn't.

That's the funny thing about a "lifetime warranty," it all depends on who's "lifetime" we're talking about. Apparently they are usually based on the lifetime of the company that writes them.

[cat223]

Bored?!?!?!
Stressed, maybe. Overworked, perhaps. But to get bored with the firearms industry in this market is completely silly. It's not just AR's and AK's. Firearms of every kind are in high demand and short supply. Very strange.

Yeah, there has to be more to this story.

[jmort]

Here is some info from Single-Action web site from last year

"From what I've been told, by individuals at two major dealers, USFA is, at best, down to a skeleton crew, and is producing few, if any, guns. 'Bushog' is the 1st person I've heard of, in a year, to actually receive a custom ordered gun. I was also told, by both sources, that USFA has always been Doug Donnelly's "hobby." Now, he's lost interest in his hobby. It happens. One has to ask, why the so called "backlog?" In this economy, has demand skyrocketed to the point, a 9 month to 1 year wait is to be expected? That doesn't make sense. What makes sense is, the info provided, by people in a position to know, is accurate. Face it folks, as much as we may not want to admit it, USFA is on life support. Why do you think Alex Hamilton has bought nearly 100 of the CDNN Turnbull guns? It's because he isn't confident USFA will continue."

Here is info from CAS site and this year's SHOT show

"Back from SHOT in Vegas.
USFA has put the traditional line on hold for two years, concentrating on that Zipper.
They hope to bring the SAs back.
Reading between the lines, if the zipper sells well enough the revolvers might return, if not, that'll be it.
Denis"

Since it appears all the machinery was sold off and virtually all employees laid-off, I think it iks safe to say they are done.

Here is link to CAS site thread which I found interesting and confirms RIP USFA

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,36900.0.html

[Love Life]

They are still in business and should honor their warranty. A phone call will be made tomorrow.

The zip is retarded.

[jmort]

I don't know if I would send my gun there, warranty or not. If you read the thread I linked, it appears there might be no one left to fix it. Would hate to see one of my guns take a one way trip to oblivion.

[gandydancer]

I have been told(I spent 40 years in CT) by a friend who still lives there. and I have no way of knowing if what he has been told is true or not. only time will tell. and that was that COLT Firearms Co purchased every thing USFA had. ON THE QT. all parts and most of the machines. Like I said don't know if its true or not. USFA is only making that Zip gun. GD :veryconfu

[starmac]

You can bet that in todays firearm climate, it didn't just close down because someone was bored. I doubt it would have been hard to sell the company intact I would think. Colt buying them would at least make some sense.

[Suo Gan]

It is a very competitive market. Skilled labor is hard to find, and hard to keep. The litigious nature of the business is always a down point. There is the high possibility that this person is just getting out when the getting is good. Someone will buy the tooling and machines right now. In a year or two, that would not be so certain. Possibly in debt. Possibly bought out. It is hard to speculate from here, the list goes on and on for why not to manufacture guns. The question should really be, why in the world would anyone risk their capital on this investment in the first place. I know that many of you are focused on the present, but a gun factory with all the accoutrements witch they must have in order to build a reputation because we know at the slightest weakness we in the gun community will throw a maker under the bus. I am just saying look back in time, and look forward in time. The gun industry is like farming and a lot of other things. It is feast or famine. If you don't love it, it is a wise decision to get out. Getting out at the top of the market is not necessarily the worst business decision ever made. Think about it. Condolences to them who own these guns. I don't know hard facts, but I would be willing to bet that the maker after everything is said and done is making less than what he would make on bonds. This industry is a labor of love. We are lucky to have so many of them in our country. I would never risk my capital in the political environment of the US. There are just too many other things to make more and easier money at.

Just another opinion.

[Love Life]

Very good points Suo Gan. The only thing that has me confused is that they didn't just quit the market. They went to making the Zip gun.

[runfiverun]

I wonder just what the 22 gun market is like right now everybody knows it's a slim chance getting ammo.
gotta be a hard sell on guns when the buyer just can't get anything to shoot in it.

thanks rich i'll keep an eye out for the box.

[429421Cowboy]

That Zip gun is a crudity that should serve as an insult to all gun owners, especially anyone that owns a SAA made by USFA. They have always been on my list of guns to try, the SAA's were just such beautiful guns and Taffin spoke highly of them, but i never could seem to find one around here. Heck, i thought that single action .45/.410 they came out with was actually kind of a neat gun too. But that Zip was either the result of heavy drinking at the office before they designed it, or somebody lost a bet.

[Dan Cash]

...................All the internal USFA/COLT SAA parts that wear/break are interchangeable.

I have an Cimarron marked Uberti SAA .45, the cylinder of which will drop into my USFA single action and rolls up in time. The Uberti cylinder has .001 more cylinder gap than the USFA cylinder but shoots well without splatter or shaving. As long as Colt or the Italians are around, parts will be there.

[300savage]

Sorry to hear about this. I have been shootn a rodeo in 44-40 for a long time and if there is a finer revolver ever made I would be surprised.

[foxhole]

I just purchased a zip from usfa,registered it for warranty on there web site and got a free t shirt,way I understand it their bettn the farm on the zip.

[RL Parker]

Sorry to hear about USFA. After building such a reputation for high quality, why wouldnt they sell out to someone else, anyone else ? If location was a problem (and I don't know that it was), why not move out West to a gun friendly state? Ive got a couple of USFAs. I'm not all that worried about parts. Plenty of guys like d.a. Colts and they seem to keep them running well enough. I bet some enterprising cowboy action gunsmiths will keep the USFAs running too.

It does suck however ! The owner got 'bored' ? :roll:

[runfiverun]

the bored story is one I heard some time back.
I have heard he went into making some medical equipment or back to it too.

[birch]

Well, I remember when I was thinking about purchasing a Colt SAA. I spent alot of time researching both the new Colt SAA's (removable barrel bushing) and the USFA Colt clone. Everyone raved about the overall fit and finish of the USFA version, and they also mentioned the lifetime warranty. In most cases, everyone who bought a USFA truly felt that their version represented the colt more than a Colt.
In the end, I bought a never fired late 3rd generation 7.5 inch cavalry with a .45acp cylinder mostly because of the history behind the Colt name. They have been in business for a very long time and have experienced and dealt with many firearms trials and tribulations throughout the years. In the end, they have evolved and still produce fine firearms worthy of the Colt name. They have had a few mis-steps, but in the end, they are a true part of the American tradition and I am proud to own a piece of the pie. I am glad that I went with the Colt, and if the owner of USFA can honestly leave people in the dust because his passions have changed, I really feel bad for those who chose to support a person who seemed to represent old traditions and manufacturing techniques.
For those who are wondering about purchasing a Colt SAA--You can't go wrong. They are still works of art even though there is a bit more CNC machining than I would like. They are a high quality firearm that I am very proud to own.

[jcameron996]

Well I have been to the USFA websight three times since I started reading this thread and I still haven't figured out what that "thing" they are calling the Zip is supposed to be. I too have a hard time understanding how you could go from building some of the prettiest handguns on the planet to that.

[jmort]

USFA is advertising here for their new Zip Gun Modular system. I guess we should thank them for sponsoring this site.
http://www.usfirearms.com/

[starmac]

Ok I had to look these Zip guns up, what a mistake.
If I ever get one it will be after I get a mossberg tacticool lever gun and see if they will mate.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I toured US Firearms about 12 years ago when they were under the Blue Dome at the old Colt's factory. The day I was there was the day they received their equipment to do their own color case hardening, they told me they were moving to a more modern building, the old building was not suitable. At that time they were still using Italian frames. The manager said the company was a hobby of the owner, meaning they had not turned a profit yet. The cost of tooling up was no doubt substantial, I saw a skeleton crew.

Another factor a dealer pointed out to me was just compare their serial numbers over the years, they were not selling enough guns to bring in enough cash to keep the project going. Colt operates on a profit because they sell their AR and Colt is a well established machine shop, their machining costs are not from the ground up like USFA.

[starmac]

So they start all over in the tooling dept, coming up with the abomination called the zip gun. lol