Colt's most embarrassing failures in the company's history

[dfariswheel]

The Colt New Army & Navy revolver was a gigantic success for Colt.

Colt invented the modern swing-out cylinder, double action revolver in 1889, and every double action revolver since then has basically copied what Colt invented.
Hundreds of thousands were made as both military issue and commercial revolvers from 1889 to 1907.
The .38 Long Colt cartridge did fail to deliver in the Philippines but the guns themselves were very popular and top sellers for Colt.

Colt famously makes the AR-15 series rifles and carbines in the Colt plant.
True, several short lived versions were contracted out by Colt and built by outside manufactures. These are well known and few have lasted long as products.
However, the base series rifles and carbines are produced at the Colt plant, as many people who've been given tours of the plant can tell you.
They've stood and watched as bar stock is fed into machines that are making barrels, bolts, and bolt carriers.
Colt gets raw aluminum forgings of the upper and lower and does 100% of the machining at the factory.
Colt, like all gun makers does buy small parts like magazines, stocks, springs, and screws from contractors, but Colt does not just stamp their name on most of the rifles they sell.

True enough, like all gun makers Colt has made a few dogs, but most Colt firearms have been very successful.
Among the recent firearms Colt made that weren't very successful were the Colt Cowboy, the All American 2000, the very short lived Colt Armsmear O/U shotgun of 1995, and the Double Eagle series.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

The Colt New Army & Navy revolver was a gigantic success for Colt.

Colt invented the modern swing-out cylinder, double action revolver in 1889, and every double action revolver since then has basically copied what Colt invented.
Hundreds of thousands were made as both military issue and commercial revolvers from 1889 to 1907.
The .38 Long Colt cartridge did fail to deliver in the Philippines but the guns themselves were very popular and top sellers for Colt.

Colt famously makes the AR-15 series rifles and carbines in the Colt plant.
True, several short lived versions were contracted out by Colt and built by outside manufactures. These are well known and few have lasted long as products.
However, the base series rifles and carbines are produced at the Colt plant, as many people who've been given tours of the plant can tell y
They've stood and watched as bar stock is fed into machines that are making barrels, bolts, and bolt carriers.
Colt gets raw aluminum forgings of the upper and lower and does 100% of the machining at the factory.
Colt, like all gun makers does buy small parts like magazines, stocks, springs, and screws from contractors, but Colt does not just stamp their name on most of the rifles they sell.

True enough, like all gun makers Colt has made a few dogs, but most Colt firearms have been very successful.
Among the recent firearms Colt made that weren't very successful were the Colt Cowboy, the All American 2000, the very short lived Colt Armsmear O/U shotgun of 1995, and the Double Eagle series.

My coworker did a tour of the plant in 2013 and they were no longer making all the parts for the AR.
The biggest problem with Colt has been the owners and management. And the lack of innovation.

 

[Nature Boy]

So the company's put out a few failures. So has every other gun manufacturer I know of ...

Not FN!

Wait, the FN Five Seven.......

Never mind........

 

[WestKentucky]

The early colt cartridge revolvers mainly had cast iron cylinders, and at least the new line 22 had a brass frame. True junk by modern standards, but I guess even in 1870 people were willing to pay for the name. By modern standards the guns would have never made it to production, but they sold a pile of them. I guess that’s the exact opposite of what this thread is talking about, but they should have been a flop

 

[sequins]

Not an Evidence gun. This one belongs to the LA. State Police Crime Lab. It is one of the many guns it the Reference Liberty.

I knew it was a cop gun with the metal ring on the trigger guard. Only a cop would risk the finish in that manner.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I knew it was a cop gun with the metal ring on the trigger guard. Only a cop would risk the finish in that manner.

Not a cop gun. It is part of the reference library at the crime lab. They are used for court, testing among other things. The metal ring is there to hold a numbered tag because right now the gun, along with others, are being used in a trigger pull evaluation.
Also, it would be hard to scratch the finish on a polymer frame.

 

[HisSoldier]

Since I had a CZ 24 with it's rotary barrel lock I was intrigued when my LGS had one of the Colts for sale. As I examined it my mood went from "great!" as I studied the locking system to "OHH NO!" when I realized it was DAO. If they had made it a regular SA with a steel frame I'd own one now., but they had to make the mistake so many make, that there must be something to replace the 1911 with.
What a way to argue with success.

 

[Slamfire]

My coworker did a tour of the plant in 2013 and they were no longer making all the parts for the AR.
The biggest problem with Colt has been the owners and management. And the lack of innovation.

Colt got fat and lazy on the M4 contract. At the time the Government was paying significantly more for M4's than the civilian equivalent version. Then it became a scandal. People started asking if the Army was wedded to Colt (it was!). Congress started asking questions about who wore the pants in this wedding, then strangely enough, Colt lost the contract. Opps!

The Army may have won two world wars but they are scared ****less of Congress!

All's well that ends well.

 

[Dr.Rob]

CDNN liquidated most of the Colt Z-40s at like under $300.. I was stupid not to get one. AA2000 was was also made with an alloy frame and walnut grips, again CDNN liqudated a bunch of those.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

CDNN liquidated most of the Colt Z-40s at like under $300.. I was stupid not to get one. AA2000 was was also made with an alloy frame and walnut grips, again CDNN liqudated a bunch of those.

Wow! I missed that.. I was one of the moderators of the CZ Forum at the time, and forum members were always looking for things like that.

I also would have loved to have gotten my hands on a Z-40. (In an earlier version of this response I misread your comments about the Colt gun, thinking you were writing about the Z-40 -- the reference to the AA2000 sailed right over my head. I've rewritten that paragraph (which was part of this paragraph.)

I've never heard an explanation about WHY Colt backed out on the deal -- other than management personnel was not top tier and just couldn't deal with all of the issues with which they were struggling.

Apparently, the only input that Colt gave CZ in that "joint venture" was that the Z-40 had to look a bit like a 1911. (According to the CZ designers, that wasn't in the written agreement, but it was understood.) Some of the folks who worked on the Z-40/CZ-40B) also worked on the CZ P-01. Changing the 1911-style grip (which didn't affect CZ's great ergonomics) was an obvious change. CZ's designers did all of the internal design work, and it was pure CZ-75 mechanically, just tweaked a bit.

A CZ-40B converted to DAO, however, would seemingly have a very long trigger pull -- and I wonder if the tweaking they did to the basic 75 design when working on the Z/40B design allowed them to make the DAO trigger shorter than on a standard CZ?

 

[CoalTrain49]

A friend of mine has an alloy model unfired in the box. He said an employee of his sold it to him for $500 about 10 years ago. "I did it because the guy needed the money and I felt sorry for him". He now has a collectors piece. He isn't a shooter or collector but now knows what he has and won't sell it. He also inherited all of his dads guns recently and has a pile of old Winchester rifles. For a guy that doesn't shoot or collect firearms he sure has a bunch of them.