Posted on 07/19/2014 11:31:50 AM PDT by Kaslin
t they do best: Go on strike. By 1988, the company had lost a number of high-dollar contracts, and the end of their beginning was clearly at hand.
In the decade to follow, their competitors warmly embraced America’s newfound fascination with the civilian market, concealed carry, and home defense. Colt, on the other hand, decided to take a more pragmatic approach. And, by “pragmatic”, I mean “liberal” approach:
A wealthy industrialist, from the heart of a non-gun-owning Manhattan family, decided he could steer the company to better times. With a man who knew nothing about guns at the helm, Colt embarked on their reimagined path to prosperity by introducing (and supporting) the idea of smart guns and federal gun permits. Yeah… As strange as it might seem, telling your most ardent customers that they should ask a fickle and hostile Federal government for permission to handle your product, isn’t a great business practice.
The new CEO (yeah… the last one was fired pretty quickly) still decided to put civilian ownership on the back-burner as he focused on appealing to the same Pentagon cronies that nearly drove the company into the trash-bin of history. There are only a handful of industries that relish the advent of war… And they all have something in common: They work (in effect) for the Pentagon. With their sudden boom in government contracts, as the Iraq war picked up, it looked like good times might finally be on the horizon.
Good times, in fact, seemed like it couldn’t be avoided. Well, at least in theory. But if Colt had proven anything in its 178 years of existence, it’s that turning a profit is kinda tough sometimes. The company’s decision to whittle their civilian division down to a few obligatory 1911s wasn’t really doing them any favors, given that their competitors were rushing to fill the demand of a gun-hungry republic. While Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Harry Reid rambled on about gun control, Colt casually dismissed the idea of focusing on the civilian market. Heck, it was only within the last few years that Colt finally got around to deciding that a pocket pistol (the .380 Mustang) might be a good idea.
Today, the industry is seeing a decline from the last year’s boom in sales. Colt’s civilian offerings are proving to be “too little, too late” for a market that is currently saturated with high-quality alternatives. And so, with a very specialized degree of failure, Colt has managed to paint itself into near bankruptcy. Their corporate bonds are rated as junk, and they’re continuing to pile on millions of dollars worth of debt.
The company might still survive. After all, they represent a history, a quality, and a heritage that is rare in today’s world. Their guns are quality products (even if you do pay a premium for those ponies on the slide) and their reputation is strong. But the company embraced too many values of the left to survive long in a world that has proven to be hostile to their industry.
In the end, there are really only three things that are responsible for killing Colt: cronyism, support for gun control, and labor Unions… You would think a gun manufacturer would know better than to sleep with government. But, I guess nobody shared that lesson with Colt’s management.
I agree, We could all pray that the liberal owners would agree to sell the company to someone who actually wants to be in the gun business.
Never was a Colt fan. Overpriced for what you get.
Recently bought a piston driven Ruger for 1900....and AR in .308. A Colt in .308 (gas impingement) sell for $2500!
They are nuts!
Any info on Daniel Defense? I would really like one of their guns.....either in .223 or .300 Blackout.
I own 2 Colt pistols. One is a MK 4 Series 80 Combat Commander in stainless which I bought sometime in the 80s. I love it. The other is a 4” Colt Python which is a simply magnificent handgun.
Colt couldn’t produce either today. Good riddance to them.
So author Schaus thinks that selling guns to the Republic of Texas, and the US War Dept, before 1850, is just as bad as today’s “crony capitalism”?
If he thinks we should swallow that, it says more about today’s “journalism” than it does about gunmaking.
“Any info on Daniel Defense? I would really like one of their guns.....either in .223 or .300 Blackout.”
I don’t see the company mentioned on any of the lists of gun companies boycotting state agencies in ban-states. I haven’t seen any announcements from the company to that effect either. Sadly. I’ve heard good things about their rifles though.
I’ve been looking into the .300 BLK as well. I’ve been torn between Noveske and Wilson Combat so far, liking certain features on each company’s offerings. But given Wilson Combat’s principled stand in the wake of recent state-level bans I think they’re going to be getting a few grand from me before long.
Heck, it was only within the last few years that Colt finally got around to deciding that a pocket pistol (the .380 Mustang) might be a good idea.
Only after Sig revived the 1911-ish micro .380.
And not to forget that Star did it, ages ago.
If I had the money, I’d buy custom shop remakes of the snubby 6 shot detective revolver, the Python .357 four inch and any of the cowboy revolvers. I’ve seen used Pythons at gun shows and very used ones go for almost $1500. The Python trigger pull is so smooth, much better than most other revolvers.
The least expensive revolver on the market now, the Armscor, is a clone of the old Colt DA.
How good a clone, I do not know. Those I've seen with mine own eyes (albeit years ago) looked rough, but Interwebz Gunboard Hearsay (YMMV) on them is good.
Connecticut, which used to be THE gun manufacturing state in the US has lost almost all of that industry. Thousands of jobs are gone, many now having migrated to the South.
Is Ruger still there? Most everything I see of theirs now says "Prescott, AZ" on it.
The Texan used a Python to stop the killing.
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/08/one-year-later-long-range-peach-house.html
“Heck, it was only within the last few years that Colt finally got around to deciding that a pocket pistol (the .380 Mustang) might be a good idea.
Only after Sig revived the 1911-ish micro .380.
And not to forget that Star did it, ages ago.”
Colt was ahead of everybody else, introducing the 380 ACP in its Model M (aka Pocket Hammerless) in 1908. It went out of production during WWII and was not reintroduced after the war, after over 130,000 were made. It’s widely believed that barrels and magazines will interchange with the more-common M1903 Pocket Hammerless chambered in 32 ACP (over 570,000 made), but that is not the case, though the factory did give both of them the same frame size letter designation.
Colt introduced its first Pony in the 1960s, copying a Star design which had been imported by Garcia and Interarms. From it, they developed the Series 80 Government 380. One of the few locked-breech 380s ever made, it descends not from Colt’s O frame (M1911 or Government Model) line, but from a very long line of small-frame single action autos originating in Europe, which did stem from the basic Government Model configuration.
Colt enjoyed a long association with Spanish gunmakers, marketing Astra’s Cub in 25 ACP and 22 Short from the 1950s into the 1970s as the Colt Junior. The slides were roll-stamped “Made in Spain for Colt’s”.
The Series 80 380 guns went out of production when Colt stopped making most autos and revolvers in the late 1990s.
The SIG-Sauer P238 is a very close copy of Colt’s Series 80 Mustang, but few parts will swap. One infers Colt finally got the news that concealed-carry guns are in demand, since they have revived the latter-day Mustang.
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