Colt talks of introducing new DA revolvers

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I'd gladly pay for a new production Colt Revolver. If it were the deep blue finish and wood fit of the older one's I have seen.
I am pretty disgusted with what I see at shops today be it from Ruger or S&W or Taurus.
All of those go bang, and the shoot alright, but they really aren't anything to keep in the glass case.

I hope Colt does come out with a nice line. Maybe it will make the others get on there "A" game.

As far as names. I seems Apple Computers and others have used up the animal naming for their products.
 
Count me as one of the skeptics.

Even if they still have the machinery, it's outdated, nor do they likely have the skilled manpower any longer. They therefore face the same issues anyone who wanted to make a new DA revolver from scratch would face - a very large up-front capital expenditure, and relatively small market that's already being served by a number of manufacturers.
 
I don't believe it will happen for a second.

I may be wrong, but I'll believe it when I see it.
 
If Colt's could pull off reintroducing DA revolvers of high quality at a fairly reasonable price in the same vein as their past offerings I think they would sell. I have my doubts they will do this. The DA revolver's heyday is long gone as all cops and most civilians have turned to auto pistols for most of their handgunning needs. It would be hard to recoup the capital investment to tool up and make them in today's revolver market. If there were large police contracts to be had with DA revolvers it might make sense. If cops still used revolvers Colt's probably would not have stopped making them in the first place.
 
Every manufacturer in the industry keeps track of which way(s) the market is going, and what’s hot and what isn’t. So they know that striker fired/polymer frame pistols are strong sellers that offer attractive profits because they cost relatively less per unit to make then other technologies can match, while turning out popular products that can be sold for competitive prices.

Revolvers so far do not have polymer frames, just trigger guards that nest a few internal parts and a "spike" to attach the coil mainspring to. Any downward adjustment in manufacturing cost is modest. The only thing they really gain is some weight reduction.

But frankly, no one, other then maybe themselves, knows what Colt's top management is thinking, or even if they are. They have consistently ignored the handgun division and missed numerous opportunities to exploit events that have handed they’re competitors history making sales and profits.

That said, if they have any intention of being more then a marginal producer in the 21st Century they would be wise to not only introduce a pistol, but rather an entire new line of them. We can only wait and see.
 
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I would love a new detective special but I doubt I will see one. I do not know anything about Colt's past or present management but they seem to have the ability to miss the boat Back in the day they let Ruger take over the single action revolvers and let S&W take over double action. Thank goodness the 1911 is still around.
 
After WWII, Colt basically ignored the commercial handgun market in favor of police/military sales of the AR-15/M16/M4. Even if they try to come back, I simply don't see a return to the century old DA mechanism that was used in the Python, no matter how much the Python fans scream and holler and roll on the floor. The Python as we know it is NOT going to be back. If they make something with that name, it will be on their newer platform, not the old one.

And it will have MIM parts! And Colt fans will throw themselves off buildings by the thousands.

Jim
 
Even if Colt were to start producing revolvers again I doubt they would resemble anything from designs of years gone by. Traditionalists would shun them and new buyers would be comparing them to already established products from S&W and Ruger. It would be a tough market to get back into.
 
I have not looked up the number of 1911 Colt makes a year I would be surprised if they were in the top 5 but at least they are still making that old favorite. I agree they will probably never get back into the revolver business. If this craze for weapons slacks off I am afraid Colt will be one of the first to go.
 
But frankly, no one, other then maybe themselves, knows what Colt's top management is thinking, or even if they are. They have consistently ignored the handgun division and missed numerous opportunities to exploit events that have handed they’re competitors history making sales and profits.

That said, if they have any intention of being more then a marginal producer in the 21st Century they would be wise to not only introduce a pistol, but rather an entire new line of them. We can only wait and see.
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Fuff makes a good point. Colt's line of pistols have gotten rather moldy IMO. They need a new line if they want to stay competitive in the civilian market. If all they care about is military, then nevermind.
 
Well, the Shot Show is coming up. Time for them to strut their stuff. I would love to see Colt introduce a couple revolvers with the Mark III or Mark V action. My preference is for them to go with a small D-frame gun and come out with a 357 mag/38spl, and a 22LR.

The gun must be offered in blued steel in addition to stainless. I'd certainly be interested in handling one and possibly buying if the price is competitive with S&W. S&W are already priced farily high, so no more +10% pricing over Smith just because it's a Colt.

In general, I'll believe it when I see it.
 
Well, the Shot Show is coming up. Time for them to strut their stuff.
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And they have already announced that they’re will be no new double-action revolvers. That should make it pretty clear. :banghead:
 
I can help, again.
NO DA REVOLVERS BY COLT AT SHOT THIS YEAR.
Denis
 
I know for many (including me) it's to accept, But anyone that has any insights into Colt pretty much agree that the top management has no intention of getting back into double-action/hand ejector revolvers.

The also don't give a hoot about those that would like them to. :banghead:
 
We already know that the old actions required a lot of hand fitting. And that sort of thing simply does not cut it in today's world.

Consider too the 1911. Even with CNC quality levels the design is one where even small tolerances stack up due to the design of the action so that the last couple of pieces that go in almost always need to be hand fitted to work because of the stuff in the line ahead of them. The hand fitting needed for their classic old revolvers suggests that the design was of a similar style where tolerances can stack up.

But such assemblies can be designed that are tolerance tolerant or where parts and actions taken by those parts are not dependent on the two or three pieces that they connect to. And to produce a "throw together" gun that will work well it is that sort of tolerance tolerant design that they need to produce. Such a design can then be produced by CNC and even MIM parts and it'll work well enough when assembled by basic labour.

The trick is to make such a gun become more than the sum of its parts. If they can do that and offer something new or classic LOOKING then I suspect they would have a good seller or three.

In any event I know that folks on this particular forum do not want to hear this but revolver interest lags behind semis by likely 10:1. I suspect the only reason why S&W and Ruger are still making them is because they already have the machines.

If Colt wanted to expand on their civilian market I would think that revolvers would be just about the last place to start. And while that makes me sad to consider it I suspect it's a realistic view.
 
In any event I know that folks on this particular forum do not want to hear this but revolver interest lags behind semis by likely 10:1. I suspect the only reason why S&W and Ruger are still making them is because they already have the machines.

If Colt wanted to expand on their civilian market I would think that revolvers would be just about the last place to start. And while that makes me sad to consider it I suspect it's a realistic view.
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Yup, that's a realistic view.

It isn't so much that Colt couldn't do it, as it is that the decision makers at the top are simply not interested.
 
I'm one of the younger generation, 29, but I prefer revolvers. If Colt made the DA's again I would take a hard look. To me it would be terrible to tarnish the history of the classics by making something inferior. I love the old Colt, like the before my time Colt, but I know that the modern company often gets left behind. Of course being a fan of the Snakes I would be interested and if they made them to the quality of old I would buy, but sadly I doubt that will happen. Another thing is that my revolver preferences have evolved. Now days I like 8 shot mags with lightweight steel, polymer etc. My next purchase will be a TRR8, even if a new quality Python becomes available.
 
Fuff,
I don't think I'd say Colt's upper people are disinterested, that's not the impression I get.
Just that they don't see the market & their realistic capabilities the same way the ever-hopefuls here do. :)
Denis
 
In any event I know that folks on this particular forum do not want to hear this but revolver interest lags behind semis by likely 10:1. I suspect the only reason why S&W and Ruger are still making them is because they already have the machines.
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In order to buy that logic, I'd have to ignore the fact that both S&W and Ruger invested significant money designing and producing polymer-framed pocket revolvers that share few design elements, much less parts, with their traditional line.
 
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