All American Colt 2000 Question?

[Freightman]

The Gun shop I work at took in trade a Colt All American 2000 today I do not think I have read very much about it.
When did they make this pistol and is it any good? What about the value? Collectability ect?

 

[dfariswheel]

The All American 2000 was a notorious Colt failure, and one of many bad decisions that led to their bankruptcy.

Colt bought the design from Knight Engineering, and it was advertised as Colt's long-awaited entry in the "Wonder Nine" and police gun wars.
Production began in 1992 and was ended in 1994.

The pistol was unusual in that it had a rotary-locking barrel, and the frame actually contained nothing but the magazine and catch.

The pistol was infamous for poor accuracy and reliability.
There were so many problems Colt cut their losses and discontinued the gun. Apparently, they returned the design to Knight, and nothing has been heard of it since.

After the gun was discontinued Colt sold off the remainder at prices well under $300.00. I heard of one wholesaler dumping them at $250.00.

There are enough to keep it from being a hot collectible, but few enough that there may be some interest in the coming years.

As a shooter, it's strictly a toss-up whether you get one that will work reliably, or accurately.

 

[444]

I have always wanted one of those. I saw three within the last month. The cheapest one was over $500. I just may buy one someday.

 

[BHP9]

Its Strange what people will collect even if they know the gun never worked. They seem to want to collect rare pistols even if they were notorius failures.

Example:

People pay big bucks for the Gyrojet pistol. A stamped sheet metal rocket gun that when fired one never knew where the projectile might land.

The Rogak. A stainless copy of the Styer GB gas gun. The Rogak never did work.

The South African plastic Vector that was recalled to be destroyed which made the collectors go wild over this one.

The U.S. Liberator pistol. Now this one was a real beauty. A stamped sheet metal pistol with no rifling in the barrel and was considered by some experts not even safe to shoot. The army thought so too because they destroyed as many as they could after WWII. But collectors pay big bucks for them.

The list is endless of past failures in the market place.

You know I just thought of something. If anyone out there wants to get rich why not write a book about all this madness of collecting such weapons. You could title it "Collecting rare and useless pistols that never worked". I think you probably could not print the book fast enough to keep up with the demand for it. I am not joking.

 

[El Tejon]

Every single 2000 I sold was to a collector who never shot them.

 

[444]

This is not a personal attack on anyone, just an explanation. I am not into all this mall ninja, tactical, uber soldat, SHTF crap. I am a civilian who enjoys shooting and collecting guns. The Colt All American, to me was a very good looking gun, and an interesting design. If I ever get one, I will certainly shoot it. But if it jams, I will simply fix it, and the paper target that I was shooting at will patiently wait for me, and will be right there when I am ready to shoot again. If I need a completely dependable, life on the line, do or die, back to the wall, every second counts, the world's stability hangs in the balance gun, I have a safe FULL of them. I don't need any more of them. That niche was filled years and years ago. And filled dozens and possibly hundreds of times over. Today, I buy guns simply because I like them, or like the looks of them, or I want to try one.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've written extensively about the fiasco that was the Colt AA 2000 over at Thefiringline.com.

Unfortunately, the search feature doesn't seem to be workin very well right now, so I can't give you any links to the threads.

I came closer than I care to remember to losing my job at American Rifleman because of the AA 2000.

Suffice it to say that the AA 2000 was a dog -- a complete and total dog. For dealers to be charging $500 for one is a complete and total ripoff.

AH! Here we go!


Colt AA 2000 thread 1

 

[El Tejon]

Mike, a gun writer calling a spade, a spade? How's that work?

Aren't you supposed to say, "we all have our opinions" or "this pistol may not be for all" or something like that rather than saying 2+2=4.

$500 too high? Maybe not for the Colt collector. Free markets, free minds and pistols free from design defects such as the "Iwannacoolgun" virus.

 

[Gewehr98]

I agree with 444.

If it isn't the Colt All-American 2000, it's Edsels or Ron Popeil Vega-Matics. None were particularly successful, but they all have their own niche. If you've got a safe full of good, successful, and plain-vanilla guns, what's wrong with wanting one of the dogs that brought a company to their corporate knees? Perhaps the money could have been better spent as a donation to Sarah Brady?

 

[Atticus]

The AA2000 was an interesting idea, and is very ergomomic, but I found it not to be very reliable. Mine would work fine for a while, and then it would stop (no jam - just no primer ignition). I sent it back to Colt twice, and then guilt tripped the dealer who sold it to me to take it back on a trade.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Then I suppose in the very near future we're going to see a burgeoning collector's market for things like AMT, Lorcin, Raven, Rohm, RG, and every other POS that's ever been produced.

Sorry, folks, but that's exactly what the Colt AA 2K was, a piece of unremitting crap, and to charge $500 for one just because it has a Colt name on it would be like sticking a Cadillac label on a Chevy Cavalier and charging $15K more for it...

Oh wait, GM did that, and actually suckered some people into buying the Cimmaron...

Hell, I think I'd trust my buns to an AMT backup before I trusted an AA 2K.

At least AMTs, for all of their reliability problems, tended to be fairly accurate.

 

[444]

I have an AMT Lightning .22 rifle (a totally stainless 10/22 clone), and an AMT Hardballer. I also own a Raven. At the first good opportunity, I am going to by a Hi-Point handgun. My Colts, Brownings, Glocks, S&Ws arn't snobs, they don't feel threatened by them.

 

[Flying V]

You know I just thought of something. If anyone out there wants to get rich why not write a book about all this madness of collecting such weapons. You could title it "Collecting rare and useless pistols that never worked". I think you probably could not print the book fast enough to keep up with the demand for it. I am not joking.

I'd buy a copy. There's a lot of humor potential in a book full of "what were they thinking" gun designs.

I handled an AA2000 a few times. The trigger pull was exactly like that of a tracer disc gun.

 

[Tamara]

Mike Irwin,

Then I suppose in the very near future we're going to see a burgeoning collector's market for things like AMT, Lorcin, Raven, Rohm, RG, and every other POS that's ever been produced.

Sorry, folks, but that's exactly what the Colt AA 2K was, a piece of unremitting crap, and to charge $500 for one just because it has a Colt name on it would be like sticking a Cadillac label on a Chevy Cavalier and charging $15K more for it...

Last I checked, the Smith Model 53 and the Three-Screw Ruger Blackhawk had a few defects, too, yet oddly seem to command a price premium.

Mike, I don't see anyone touting it as a great defensive sidearm (or even as a reliable handgun), merely as a moderately collectable oddity, Colt's Edsel, which is what it is.

(Think a Dardick or GyroJet is worth $1000 based on utility alone? )

 

[bpisler]

There was a colt AA 2000 in a local shop for $349.00 in excellent condition with 2 hi-caps.It just sat there with few lookers.They put it in a online auction and the bids had not reached $300.00 last time i checked.

 

[Jim Watson]

If you want something that is really unusual in the field, look for an AA2000 First Edition. Colt made up some guns with alloy frames, supposedly to get some on the market before they had their mold for the plastic guns ready. The ones I have seen were well finished and the peculiar straight track trigger was very smooth. I don't know if that makes them reliable, but they look good.

Tamara,

Exactly what defects does a three screw Ruger have? Only thing I ever saw was a tendency for the cast frames and gates to come out of the bluing tank with a purple cast.

 

[Tamara]

Jim Watson,

Exactly what defects does a three screw Ruger have? Only thing I ever saw was a tendency for the cast frames and gates to come out of the bluing tank with a purple cast.

Well, really only that they cause Ruger to lose lawsuits when somebody puts six beans in the wheel and then drops the gun on the hammer.

Not sure if "Not Idjit-Proof" is really a 'defect' or not...

 

[Handy]

So Ruger's had the same "defects" as all other Single Action Armies, including ones still being produced. A questionable comparison.

 

[Jim Watson]

Yeah, I figured that's what she would say, I just had to drag it out in the open. I know what Ruger had to do for a legal defense but that did not make a better shooter. "Not Igit-Proof" appears to be a mechanical defect these days, though.

The sickest people I know are those who have sent their Old Model Rugers in to be made safe with six.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

A friend of mine has a Colt 2000 that he inherited from a father-in-law. I've had a chance to shoot it.

His particular gun had an early safety recall. All of the paperwork from the recall is still in the carrying case.

Its one of the ugliest guns I've ever seen, and it has a very heavy trigger, but it shoots surprisingly well. His gun -- maybe it's unique -- is very accurate, once you master the heavy DAO trigger.

The consensus on these guns are that they're all pieces of crap.
They may, in fact, be as bad as all the claims -- but one of them, at least, isn't all that bad.

 

[Tamara]

Jim Watson,

The sickest people I know are those who have sent their Old Model Rugers in to be made safe with six.

Oh, definitely. My Bearcat and Single Six remain dangerously defective.

The downside is that, should anything need to be done to them, you can't send them to Ruger, as they will "repair the defect" whether you want them to or not.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"Last I checked, the Smith Model 53 and the Three-Screw Ruger Blackhawk had a few defects, too, yet oddly seem
to command a price premium."


The Smith 53 was generally far more functional than the Colt AA2K ever was. Granted, the ammunition problems killed that experiment -- and with the chamber inserts, the gun functioned flawlessly with .22 LR ammo -- but the gun was mechanically and technically a solid piece of engineering. The AA2K was not.

Three-screw Ruger Blackhawks were not defective. The people who owned them, and didn't understand the necessity for carrying an empty chamber under the hammer, were the problem there.

That would be like saying a Colt Single Action Army has a defect. Obsolete design isn't a defect.

Given that, though, quite frankly, I don't consider either the 53s or the 3-screw Rugers to be worth the asking prices for them.

But, perhaps overall, you're correct. Perhaps my bad experience with this gun in it's early days has forever colored me against it.

Quite frankly, though, I wouldn't mind having one, just for the hell of it. But I wouldn't be willing to pay more than $200 for it.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"To be made safe with 6..."

Wait a second, everyone.

It's my understanding that when Ruger gets one of these guns, they change the lockwork, but they RETURN all of the original parts to you.

They also make NO alteration to the frame or parts that aren't changed.

That means that, if you want to sell the gun as a collectible, you can easily convert it back to the old lockwork.

 

[Handy]

Mike's right. My uncles set came back with all pieces/parts.

You can re-defect the gun anytime.