What would you like to see happen to Colt?

[Kynoch]

I agree. It is time. Colt was not willing to be innovative and engage in new production. They were stuck on producing more of the same. That does not work in our age of high capacity, polymer, square, virtually unbreakable guns as well as this environment.

Sorry but people want Glock 19's and M&P's and ANYTHING in FDE more than they want an $1100 revolver.

I just hope the name doesn't get bought out by some overseas company and attemtp to "keep it alive" and act like it's the same company... I'm looking at you Springfield Armory!

The Colt name will definitely continue in the firearms sales world. It's too valuable of a sales tool. It's not simply going to fade away -- there is absolutely zero chance of that.

 

[Kynoch]

It's not like the majority of their competition comes from some child labor sweat shops in China.

Only you are inferring they are. None (and I mean absolutely none) of Colt's competitors carry its crushing debt. Few are unionized and once again, none carry the weight of an adversarial relationship with their employers like Colt does.

Are you saying that making guns in Austria or Germany or Switzerland is cheaper than in CT ? Do you know just how strong the unions are over there ? Or what kind of taxes they have to pay ? You know, socialized health care, generous pension packages, month long paid vacations, a year long paid paternity leave for mother or father, VAT taxes, etc. Yet somehow Walther, Sig and Glock and Steyr manage to be successfull without overpricing their guns as badly as Colt does. Or perhaps they overprice them and still are successful

Colt would literally be starting from zero in the polymer gun department. Doing that in the current atmosphere (high debt, growing competition, etc.) would be extremely difficult. Their name -- so valued in the M1911 and M1873 world would mean very little to those looking for an inexpensive polymer pistol. They would have no inherent advantage because they are Colt in that market. It may well work against them.

90% of problems are tied to mismanagement, Colt or GM or any other company.

That's axiomatic.

 

[Kynoch]

Considering what collectible Colt's go for these days, perhaps they should move to Texas and concentrate on low volume but high quality reissues of the guns that made them, from the Patterson to the 1911A1. An import duty on the Italian wannabees would help.

Back in the '70s I bought a pair of Navy Colts that were made by Colt from the original dies (and picking up the serial numbers where they were left off at the end of the original production run) and to date they are the best quality revolvers I've ever owned.

Just my 2¢ worth.

Yeah, perhaps they could ask Democratic US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas to lobby for them?

The lower quantity/higher dollar per unit model is an intriguing one, but it remains to be seen if the assets of Colt could ever be secured at a low enough price where they could then be serviced by such a model.

If they went that route, there would be little advantage to moving to TX. The import duty is merely trying to protect poor performance.