Colt Factory quality? Hardly!!

D

Doug.38PR

Moderator
I just got my Colt Python and Detective Special back UPS. I sent the guns in about three weeks ago and they sent back a bill. I sent in a payment as they requested by mail to 1) replace the bolt/timing on the Python and 2) align the barrel on the DS, fix SA timing on DS and check stacking on DS.

The only thing I can see was done was that they replaced the bolt and retimed the Python....and as far as I can tell, even that wasn't done right. The bolt feels like it is dragging along the cylinder when it snaps back in place. The action is tighter. It feels almost like my official police...in fact, my OP feels better than the python. It does not feel like the glass smooth action of a Python the way it was when I got it.

I AM TALKING ABOUT THE COLT FACTORY not some closet in the wall 'smith with a hammer file and wrench.

They are closed for the weekend by now, but I am steamed!! :mad:
 
Last edited:
Call Clark down in Lousiana and talk to Renee. The bad news is you will end up paying for it again, the good news is that it will be done RIGHT.
 
Python:

Dear Python Owner:
My experience with the 1911 Colt package has been very positive!
However, I hate to tell you, that Colt revolvers, including the Python and Anaconda has been filled with problems from the start!
Even Smith and Wesson revolvers will be out of time and have crane play with a box of Super X ammo!
Ruger revolvers are a different cup of tea! Yes, colt Python and Smith & Wesson have great triggers usually, and Ruger and Taurus triggers aren't quite as good. But, you will hardly ever find a Ruger or Taurus that is out of time, or the such like! So, I prefer Ruger and Taurus for my revolvers and the 1911 Colt for my autos! Yet, I even like Springfield Armory, or Para, or even some of the Rock Island and Phillipine clones (Charles Daley) to the Colt 1911.
What am I saying? Do you want a blunt truthful answer or a smooth falsehood?
Get rid of your Colt revolvers and get Ruger or Taurus, or even a Rossi! Sorry!
Harry B.
 
Ok. Called Colt. The service rep is going to call me back to find out what is going on.....I patiently await their response
 
And why do you expect them to know how to fix it?

Hey, I've got a 6" Blued Python I inherrited from my dad and I love it. I also have a Colt 1911 (Delta Elit) that I love, but at the same time the Colt of Yesteryear is not the Colt of today.

You sent two double action revolvers back for work at Colt.

How many double action revolvers does Colt currently make?

ANSWER: ZERO

Given that they don't make them and the employees of Colt's commercial arm are dying off faster than they are replaced why would you expect them to still have the knowledge base to service double action revolvers? I am sorry but the days in which I would trust Colt to handle a DA revolver are long gone. Expect a stiff gunsmith bill but at least you will get it doen right.
 
My experiences with a Python, trying to get it correctly timed by Colt under warranty, were really frustrating. I gave up on them in the end, after several trips back and forth. Worse, maybe, this was maybe 10 years ago, when they were still making DA revolvers.
 
Okay,
They called me back and the service rep. told me "I called them and they told me that those guns had both been test fired."

???:confused:???

"Test fired?" I ask.

"Yes they had been test fired and shown to be in factory condition"

I told her it was never an issue of whether the gun would go BANG or not. It was the barrel alignment, stacking check, and timing problem on the DS and the Python needing the bolt replaced and retimed (which was done) but the action not being up to Python standards. This was all itemized in my letter and in their bill to me when I paid them and on their form that they sent back with each gun.

She told me to send it back along with a copy of the Fed Ex reciept and if he found that it was not done properly as I said then they would reimburse me for sending it up there.

For the Python at least I feel the words "that is how it's supposed to be" coming up. But I am not a gun expert so I can't prove them wrong. I just know from handling other Pythons (including the one I sent them prior to my sending it off) that the action is always light and as smooth as glass.

This is kinda like the mechanic who does it wrong yet acts like everything is fine but you can't prove him wrong. It hasn't come to that yet, but I just have a funny feeling about this (I hope I am wrong)

any thoughts? Comments?
 
Colt

Dear Shooter:
I've experienced the same thing.
My honest feeking is that a Ruger Redhawk or GP100 would solve your problem.
You will, now, never trust your gun! And having trust is 99% of shooting. Especially, in a combat situation those of us who use the Hi-Power, the Para, the 1911 packages must rely totally on our arms.:)
I have one Para, P12 that has never boobled with me (although I have done a 'reliability' package on it). It has never boobled once since then
I have a Taurus Mo. 44 in 44 mag that I trust - a Redhawk in 41, and 44 mag which I trust and no Smiths, or Colt revolvers. This is based upon 40 years of experience in "plinking" and real "combat" shooting - it makes a difference.
And, then, there's the pride of ownership! Sometimes the name "Anaconda", "Python" does things for us! So does Smith & Wesson.
I had a Dan Wesson 357 that if you were going up a flight of stairs after a bad guy the rim would not allow the cylinder to turn at times (it could have been the 'wrong' time).
I'm really sorry about your troubles but I really feel that you ought to rid yourself of Colt Revolvers!
Sorry Harry B.:)
 
Thank you Mr. Bonar,

But I still have confidence that my Colts will go BOOOM everytime I pull the trigger. Even the two above said guns will do that, that was never the question. Colt is my favorite revolver. S&W my second fav (the old pre Clinton era ones).

Having said that,
I will say that while I don't care for a Ruger (GP100 or otherwise) handguns as much as the former two companies....I will say I like their service a lot better and it even encourages me to buy one. I sent in a great looking Ruger Super Blackhawk just to have the cylinder endshake problem fixed (it was misfiring). That was it. They never sent me a bill or anything (I got the gun as a present bought used at a local gun store) they just sent it back not only fixed....but reblued:o Their customer service impresses me.
 
Doug, poor quality from the factory is still quality, just poor.

I AM TALKING ABOUT THE COLT FACTORY not some closet in the wall 'smith with a hammer file and wrench.

They are closed for the weekend by now, but I am steamed!!
Click to expand...

Given all the posts on various gun forums about Colt quality, I can't believe you would be so naive to think that because you sent something in for service, they would be so great.

FYI, your comment that you sent the gun to the factory is rather moot. You sent it and it went to the repair shop at the factory. This is NOT a factory quality issue but a repair shop issue. We are not talking about your gun being manufactured, but repaired. There is nothing wrong with being pissed about a poor job completed, but blame the right people. Blaming the factory hardly makes the guys in the repair shop feel bad.
 
Sorry to hear about the problems with Colt, Doug. That would frustrate me, too.

That said, I don't think that I'd send the gun back to Colt. I would send it to someone with an established reputation for doing excellent work on Colts, and just get the darn thing fixed correctly once and for all.

Call Clark down in Lousiana and talk to Renee. The bad news is you will end up paying for it again, the good news is that it will be done RIGHT.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea to me. Good luck! :)
 
DNP,
I thought the factory and repairshop were the same thing with different people with the same Colt qualified skills in different departments of the factory. Manufacturer and repair

Fremmer,
I sent them back to Colt yesterday evening, we'll see how this works out, I'll keep y'all posted.
 
OKAY, I called the supervisor last week and ended up leaving a message. He didn't call me back. BUT, I gather he got it and is on top if it as I just received in the mail two letters (one for each gun) saying: "We have recieved the Colt Product (noted above) that you sent us. The work you requested is being performed at NO CHARGE. Word will begin without further action on your part. Thank you for using Colt Products."

Sounds good to me. :) For complete satisfaction, I will have to see the end results in repair. I'll update again within 30 days when I get the guns back.
 
Certainly.
Colt discontinued double action revolvers about a year ago, but they still offer repairs and custom work on them.

The above poster just had an unusual case of a failure by the service department.
Colt's reputation is excellent, and many other people have posted recent cases of great Colt service within the last year.
 
Who is the Colt Rep on one of the 1911 fourms. When he get involved things seem to happen . One of his jobs is customer service and QC. Track hin down and call him.
 
DOUG NEWS ALERT: Last weekend I got a package via Fed Ex but missed it and won't be back for another week. I called 1800 Go Fed Ex and they said it came from CMC :) . They said it would go back to the shipper if someone wasn't at the address by Tuesday. I called Colt and arranged for them to allow a friend of mine to pick up the package from the Fed Ex office.

He is scheduled to pick it up today. I will call him later and ask him to open the package and examine the guns.....keep your fingers crossed;)
 
Now I am offically, TICKED!!!!!!!!!!! I just got the guns back in my possession. They Python action as tight as when I sent it back. The Detective Special sight is still off. The Detective Special still has that sharp stop in the stacking on DA. The only thing they did do was fix the timing on the SA on the DS.....but they managed to mess that up too. The cylinder locks into place before the hammer even locks back to full cock in SA almost like a S&W.....BUT the problem is that once the hammer is locked back cocked and you squeeze the trigger while holding the hammer with thumb or thumb and index finger, it is hanging on something when you let the hammer down. I hate to think what it's doing when you just pull the trigger in SA. It will go all the way through if you work with it and if you snap it, but it is definately hanging on something.

They didn't reimburse me for sending it back as I can see, all they did was include copies of the notes that they sent me originally pointing out each problem (and apparently failing to fix it) AND included some paper target with shots fired just above the bullseye (don't know what that's supposed to show)

What do you gunsmiths say to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am ready to call Colt and start screaming at them....but I'll have to wait until Monday since they are closed (which is good for both them and me because I will have a chance to cool off). In a nutshell, all they managed to do was make an even bigger mess.

The above poster just had an unusual case of a failure by the service department.
Colt's reputation is excellent, and many other people have posted recent cases of great Colt service within the last year.
Click to expand...

You still think so? Not in my book. Their reputation today is incompetent. I'm not mad at you at the moment I am primarily venting. So please don't take it personally. Actually I agreed with your above statement when I originally read it and wanted it to be true, but now.....I don't know what else to call it but incompetent. After sending it back twice, getting on the phone with them, getting a letter back noting the corrections and the problems to be fixed.
 
Colt's often seem to hang up if you lower the hammer manually.
Both of my personally tuned Pythons seem to do this when manually lowered.

This is usually a sign of a new action or a newly worked-on action.

After 50 rounds or so the action should seat. Even after seating, the hammer may still seem to be contacting something.
When you pull the trigger and let the hammer drop as it should, it won't.
This is just something that occasionally happens with Colt's, but it has no effect on hammer drop when shooting.

Before getting too far ahead with the Detective Special sights, SHOOT the gun for targeting.

If you still think things aren't right, and a customer SHOULD think things are OK, go to the 1911 forum and contact member Mark1648. He's a Colt employee in charge of scheduling and will help you get things straightened out:
http://www.1911forum.com/forums/

http://www.1911forum.com/forums/sendmessage.php?do=mailmember&u=10042
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top