No civilian Colts anymore

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"But why buy Colt when you can get an LMT or Bravo Company AR for the same price."

LOL....that's hilarious. Have you looked at the prices of LMT and BCM rifles lately?
 
For the people who are trying to spin this as something made up by Colt for political reasons....there's this announcement made today. So, yes, they have their hands plenty fully making ARs for military contracts. Here is a statement issued today by the US DOD:

Colt’s Manufacturing Co. LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded a $41,924,594 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, Hungary, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Palau, St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Tunisia) contract for production for the M4 and M4A1 carbines. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 18, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-19-D-0116).
 
FredWyn said:
For the people who are trying to spin this as something made up by Colt for political reasons....there's this announcement made today. So, yes, they have their hands plenty fully making ARs for military contracts. Here is a statement issued today by the US DOD:
Thanks Fred! Colt was the first handgun I ever bought. Hoped they had not sold out!

Colt’s Manufacturing Co. LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded a $41,924,594 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, Hungary, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Palau, St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Tunisia) contract for production for the M4 and M4A1 carbines. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 18, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-19-D-0116).
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Colt was a well respected name in revolvers, they quit improving, and they abandoned that.... and are now clawing their way back in. They were a well respected name in semiauto pistols, they quit improving, and should walk away from that (overpriced mid level gun at best, way overpriced trash if it says Delta Elite on the side). They bought a business and became a maker of wonderful bolt rifles (light rifle) and then they abandoned that. They were the king of the hill on the AR15 and they arbitrarily walked away from civilian sales... twice now.

With business practices such as this, who in their right mind expects them to do anything sensible? Sadly the fanboys will keep them circling the drain for a while and hype them up again when they decide to make a profit again... but they will soon grow tired of being profitable and will again leave their customer base high, dry, and wondering why.
 
So this thread got me thinking about my LE6920's and how I ended up with a couple of them. I was in the market for a carbine length AR and started to look at what was around. The BC/LMT/LWRC all started at about 1400 for their bottom line guns and went up from there. I understand why they cost about that much and have no problem paying for quality. I was just about ready to commit to a model that was about 2000 when Colt released their stripped LE6920's and my local store had them for 750. I purchased 2 and was able to dress them up the way I like for about 1700 bucks. I had three hundred left over for ammo and magazines. Both rifles have been flawless and I don't have any regrets with my decision. While they might have been somewhat dated in some of the features, I am OK with that as I am on older A2 kind of guy. The market is flush with AR in all price and quality ranges. This should make us happy and not surprised when a company pulls out of the market. I could see Ruger or Smith going next.
 
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Well said over on a forum dedicated to the AR rifle:

The majority of consumers buying ARs want something cheap that looks cool. Want to sell an AR put a cheesy rollmark on it and mount some gun show trash to it. Colt builds plain functional weapons it makes more sense for them to sell to military and law enforcement than to try and take market share from the PSA/Anderson/Yeet cannon crowd. Why should Colt compete in a race to the bottom? I highly doubt this is some ethical posturing or political move. Its just money.
 
The only things Colt that have ever appealed to me were the Detective Special, Cobra and Diamondback.

My great grandfather was a Deputy U.S. Marshall and interpreter in Indian Territory(Oklahoma) in the late 1800’s. I have his Model 1873 that he purchased in the 1880’s. It has incredible value to me, not because it’s a Colt but because of who it belonged too.
 
FredWyn said:
Well said
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I wouldn’t call it that. For all the bellyaching people gave me on my RRA it has yet to malfunction after thousands of rounds in stock form, ditto my Anderson and PSA builds.

What I’ve found on certain “dedicated” sites is a real lack of consistency. All else is garbage. Those that follow the chart are no longer complete garbage. That which is promoted by guru X is now the best. I swapped my sturdy, functional charging handle for a Radian Raptor because it’s a good piece of kit, you bought a XXX because you’re a mall ninja.

Some people feel good believing they belong to an elite society that does not evolve as quickly as the world surrounding them. Not always bad, not always smart, but almost universally projecting the straw man argument on to any who don’t adhere to the mantra. I pity those who underestimate the capabilities of those around them for the realization they might one day realize; I never enjoyed shooting as a hobby, I only ever trained for what did not happen.

Those preparing for war should enlist and be paid to train, perhaps spend time in combat, then come home and try to better appreciate the freedom of thought they have as an individual to discern what is insufficient based on merit.
 
So now, on the civilian side, Colt says they want to focus on semis and wheelguns.

They had a great part of that market, then took American civilian gun owners for granted, then basically walked away.

Still union and still in a non Free State.

Now, still with no new innovation but just higher prices for average products, they will have to add more to the price of what is left of their civilian market to make up for their new insults to the American civilian market.

Anyone want to place odds on any new, high quality, innovative, affordable products from Colt’s civilian sales in next 3 years?
 
An AR is really just another AR. The barrel is what really matters and there are countless high quality barrel manufacturers out there. I have an absolutely beautiful CMT billet upper and lower with a WC 300 BLK barrel that is amazing. But it doesn’t shoot any better or more reliably (both are always 100%) than my $35 80% lower from Brownells and Aero Precision upper in 277 Wolverine, with a barrel from XCaliber. With so many offerings using the same 7075-T6 forgings and CNC machining, it just doesn’t matter.
 
From Colt or the horses mouth.



WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (September 19th, 2019) – There have been numerous articles recently published about Colt’s participation in the commercial rifle market. Some of these articles have incorrectly stated or implied that Colt is not committed to the consumer market. We want to assure you that Colt is committed to the Second Amendment, highly values its customers and continues to manufacture the world’s finest quality firearms for the consumer market.

The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity. Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, our warfighters and law enforcement personnel continue to demand Colt rifles and we are fortunate enough to have been awarded significant military and law enforcement contracts. Currently, these high-volume contracts are absorbing all of Colt’s manufacturing capacity for rifles. Colt’s commitment to the consumer markets, however, is unwavering. We continue to expand our network of dealers across the country and to supply them with expanding lines of the finest quality 1911s and revolvers.

At the end of the day, we believe it is good sense to follow consumer demand and to adjust as market dynamics change. Colt has been a stout supporter of the Second Amendment for over 180 years, remains so, and will continue to provide its customers with the finest quality firearms in the world.



Very respectfully,

Dennis Veilleux, President and Chief Executive Officer
 
Rule3 said:
Colt was out of the ballgame a long time ago.
I recall years ago folks wanting to by an AR and the mantra from the gun shop was Oh by a Colt By a Colt/ Why?? There where so many better ones out there with better service if ever needed. There was nothing special about a Colt AR
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I would disagree I would stack my 40yr old AR against anything made today.....might not be better....whatever better means, but it will run and put holes in the paper where I tell it.
 
I bought my 6721 the year the AWB expired. Probably paid too much for it, but back then, it was pretty much between that and Bushmaster, which was similarly priced, about a hundred bucks cheaper. I've never been sorry, as it's a fine rifle. The rest of my Colts were bought at just the right times and were not expensive, my Delta Elite and Mark IV, at $425 and $459 respectively, in the late 80s. I wouldn't give up any of them. Too bad about the Colt of today.
 
You know, a lot of people here complaining about Colt's lack of innovation. I don't think Colt's civilian customers want innovation. People do not buy a 1911 because they want innovation; they buy a 1911 for what it is-a 100 year old design. I mean, seriously, how much more "innovation" can you do to a 1911? If you want innovation, buy a plastic gun. The same applies to their revolvers. There isn't much more to innovate there, either. If I recall correctly, Colt made a DA/SA autoloader in the 90s and it flopped.
 
Jack B. said:
From Colt....

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (September 19th, 2019) – ....At the end of the day, we believe it is good sense to follow consumer demand and to adjust as market dynamics change. Colt has been a stout supporter of the Second Amendment for over 180 years, remains so, and will continue to provide its customers with the finest quality firearms in the world.
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I personally hate to see Colt abandoning the civilian market. I do believe it is a political statement with liability concerns much like Walmart's recent action.

I have been one of the hold outs in terms of AR acquisition. I just saw no need for one in my life. Been reconsidering.... and honestly, Colt would be high on my choice list for a carbine sized AR. I don't know all the little ... this is better than that.... this is junk.... this is very good..... this is the best... So, with Colt abandoning the market, it just takes them out of consideration and that to me is not a good thing. I would be just looking for a good solid well built AR in probably 5.56 versus some of the larger calibers as I know if I got one of those, I would simply not shoot it much. Certainly the larger calibers appeal to me.

But in general with AR's, I just don't have a lot of interest in learning all the little details (good, better, best), I just want one that I can depend on in a crisis and it shoots reasonably accurately. THAT is why I would choose Colt. There are probably a lot of folks like me out there.
 
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22-rimfire said:
I personally hate to see Colt abandoning the civilian market. I do believe it is a political statement with liability concerns much like Walmart's recent action.
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I really don't think that's true. I think they just cannot compete in a commodity market (and about 99% of AR's are commodity products at this point) with their relatively high fixed and variable costs. If you're not a super-efficient, low-cost manufacturer of [any kind of good here], and [any kind of good here] becomes commoditized, you can either get super-efficient and low-cost, or you should leave the market.

Colt still has some IP value in their name, so trying to become a commodity, low-cost manufacturer probably doesn't make sense for them. I'm surprised it has taken them this long to leave the AR market.
 
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D.B. Cooper said:
You know, a lot of people here complaining about Colt's lack of innovation. I don't think Colt's civilian customers want innovation. People do not buy a 1911 because they want innovation; they buy a 1911 for what it is-a 100 year old design. I mean, seriously, how much more "innovation" can you do to a 1911? If you want innovation, buy a plastic gun. The same applies to their revolvers. There isn't much more to innovate there, either. If I recall correctly, Colt made a DA/SA autoloader in the 90s and it flopped.
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And I think you hit on a good point here. There is a very small market of those people that will pay "colt money" for a 1911 when there are so many others out there with a well established track record on "high end" 1911's. Then to get into the sub $600 1911....that is going to be real difficult again for the same reasons.....Rock Islands are inexpensive and are really good guns.....I have not played with one myself but the new crop of Turk guns in the sub $500 range seem to have good things said about them as well.

Same goes for their single action offerings.....the people that will just grab a ___________ over spending the multi thousands on a "colt" well same deal.

Just a quick thought off the top of my head.
 
"Colt has been a stout supporter of the Second Amendment for over 180 years, remains so, and will continue to provide its customers with the finest quality firearms in the world."

Demonstrably false. Colt's more recent history is littered with weak-kneed, politically-correct "leaders" who have time and again abandoned American consumers at the slightest hint of controversy over AR sales. [ref: high-shelf lowers] They are currently making revolvers and 1911A1 platform pistols which are, IMO, mediocre...sometimes plagued with inferior materials and poor quality control.

Perhaps another foray into bankruptcy court is around the corner. [shrug] If so, it will *not* be their first rodeo. In the meantime, no one will profit from this latest PR blunder in Colt's battle to survive but the State of Connecticut...a haven of anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment bureaucrats who drool at the thought of damaging our Constitutional Rights.

A pox on the lot of them...
 
And in November 2018 this happened...it's almost as if Colt's decision to halt commercial production in order to focus on their contracts with Uncle Sam was, you know, legit. smile.png

18 Nov 2018 Army contract.
ARMY

Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded an $88,607,109 modification (P00008) to contract W15QKN-15-D-0102 for M4 and M4A1 carbines. Work will be performed in West Hartford, Connecticut, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $88,607,109 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
 
Varminterror said:
Uh... folks have been rebuilding 1911’s since long, long before the Glock or AR fanbois ever picked up a pair of vise grips...
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Define "rebuilding." Yea someone figured out how to stuff a double-stack magazine into one, and change up/improve the sights/springs, etc, but Colt (and a LOT of other people) have been making the same basic design with little change for a century...and people seem to love them. shrug.

PS: As far as I'm concerned, the best "innovation" for a 1911 is to glue the stupid grip safety in the fire position.

PPS: I'm neither a Glock nor AR fanboy. (In point of fact, I very much dislike the Glock, even more so than he 1911)
 
I'm not going to talk harsh on Colt, fact is I like Colt and always will be it revolvers, auto-loader handguns or rifles. I hope they continue to be around, I hope they bring out some good handguns and maybe again sometime bring back the rifles.

Colt as far as I read isn't caving into political pressure, maybe they are but they didn't come across that way like Walmart did. I remember back in the 90's during Clinton years S&W did something politically correct (can't even remember what now) that angered gun owners and community and now decades later they are hugely popular again or still
 
FredWyn said:
Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded an $88,607,109 modification
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That’s because the original contract went to FN and was modified to include Colt thanks to the latter’s longtime military relationship. They were previously undercut by Remington and the current bid per unit is nearly half what Colt originally was charging. That figure, by the way, is under $700 which is likely the same or less profitable than civilian sales profit.
 
I wonder how long til Colt drops their mediocre new Cobra line of revolvers?
I am pretty much done with Colt.

They owned every market they were ever in, and then gave it away because of stupid management. SAA, 1911, Double Action Revolvers, and now ARs.
 
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