Colt is out of the civilian market?

J

Joe Blacke

New member
I'm sure many of the members here have heard the rumors that Colt is going to stop selling AR 15 (or Colt Match Target) rifles to the civilian population.

Well, yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported on page A3 that Colt is splitting up into 4 companies. In addition, Colt is removing itself from the civilian market for both rifles AND pistols. It seems that Colt is going to focus on military contracts, and perfecting their "smart gun" technology.

Colt has issued a response to the report, but they don't really deny the fact that they are getting out of the civilian market. Apparently, they are going to continue with their line of "western pistols" and the developement of their new hunting rifle. All other models are up in the air now.

The full text for the WSJ report is at http://www.ar15.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003687.html

Colt's response is at http://www.colt.com/colt/news.html#news2
 
The Colt response is hedged, to put it mildly. But a clue is the hiring of an ex-general as a figurehead CEO. This means they are going after military contracts more aggessively and expect the generals' (present and ex) "old buddy" network to come through for them.

This does not necessarily mean dropping the civilian market, but the fact is that they have already lost a lot of it due to QC and other problems, as well as to their past honcho's toadying to the anti-gun gangsters.

Colt did this before. When they got the M16 contract (there were allegations of improper behavior at the time), they effectively surrendered the police and civilian market to S&W. They went under, not once but several times, but always managed to survive as some kind of corporate entity.

We shall see. I hate to see any gun company go under, especially one as old as Colt, but some dig their own graves.

Jim
 
If they dont want to sell guns to the population - Who Cares? I mean, really, Colts sales have been so sluggish - for a CCW owner, Colt is rarely the gun of choice. You are also paying a premium for just the Colt NAME...
It is too bad they seem to be bending to PC WILL but really, they are just trying to stay profitable and keep the company afloat.
Really - ask yourself... DOES THIS EFFECT ME AND MY BUYING PLANS?


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Not all Liberals are annoying... Some are Dead.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
The Critic formerly known as Kodiac
 
I spoke to Colt about this today, interupted the board of directors meeting even. This is a rumor and not true. They have the full info on the web site.

http://www.colt.com/colt/news.html

Jim, don't forget that the BAD president was Ron Steward and he has been gone for a year. Dr. Silwa has done a great job with the company and was a pro-gunner as is the new USMC general.

[This message has been edited by Jeff OTMG (edited October 01, 1999).]
 
This is a prime example of why I come to TFL... Here I get the truth of what is going on. Thanks to Jeff for the scoop on Colt.



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Richard

The debate is not about guns,
but rather who has the ultimate power to rule,
the People or Government.
RKBA!
 
Jeff, you may want to interrupt them again and persuade them to not use weasel words in their rebuttal. The way it's worded implies that they're maintaining their still-somewhat-PC hunting and western "toy" gun (no offense; you get the point) lines, but that civilian defensive handguns and civilian sale of military-style rifles will be discontinued for business reasons (and I'd say that threat of massive lawsuits could constitute a "business reason").

Let's put it this way: come next year, will I be able to buy a 1911 and AR-15 or equivalents from Colt?
 
Jeff,

I also posted the link regarding Colt's response, and it appeared to me that the only models they were keeping were the "western" model revolvers and their new hunting rifle.

Yes, Silwa is the new president of Colt. Er, iColt that is. This is the new company that is going to be focusing on the new "smart gun".

I was in contact with a couple distributors. According to them, ALL Colt models are going to be discontinued for civilians except for a very small few. Even those will be discontinued once Colt has developed their smart gun.
 
There are still plenty of good used Colts out there. Frankly, considering their current QC problems, I had already decided not to buy any new Colt products. The used guns will probably be much better.
The only real loss here is that the antis will jump up and down claiming they put Colt out of business. Truth is Colt shot themselves in the foot with poor management, labor problems and high prices.
I hate to see such a recognized company die, but it would have to be ruled a suicide.
 
Colt is selling some models as fast as they can make them, in fact there is a backlog. Any company that has limited production capacity is going to put its capacity into the profitable areas. I think that the .45 they are building using the McCormick internals is quite popular and I don't think you will see it dropped and I think the Mustangs and Pony's are doing well but the lawsuit with Kahr might stop Pony and Pocket 9 production, I don't know. It is much more cost effective for them to make one gun that they can make a $200 profit on than make 4 guns that they make a $50 profit on. Mr. Zihlka admitted to me that putting Ron Steward at the helm was a mistake and cost Colt dearly in 1998, our boycott was VERY effective and Mr Zilhka was NOT happy. As for their PC releases I understand it completely. Anything they say, or have said, can be used against them in court. You should have heard them jumping all around they did when I called their rifle an AR-15. I was IMMEDIATELY corrected that the rifle I was referring to is the Colt Match Target, not even an AR-15 Sporter, even if that is what is says on the side of the gun. They are walking on eggshells, but if I was getting sued by a team of lawyers that successfully sued the tobacco companies I would be careful also. Lastly is the smart gun technology. Looks good, but it is about 6 years out before it would be available to the civilian market even as an option. If anyone can pull it off Dr Silwa can, he is a very smart man.
 
Jeff,

Yes, Colt was selling a lot of their products as soon as they finished production. Especially the MT series of rifles. Have you talked to any of the distributors? I have, and I was told that they are getting NO MORE shipments from Colt. In fact I was just told that the 4 seperate business that Colt has established are moving out of CT.

This decision seems to be based heavily on the litigation that they are facing. I guess in their minds they can avoid a lot of lawsuits by dropping certain models.

Okay, they are being sued by the same lawyers that sued the tobacco companies. What difference does it make if they say that they aren't going to continue production of civilian models. Other manufacturers are being sued, and they have no problem saying what models they are interested/not interested in producing for the year 2000. Would it hurt Colt legally for them to say "We are still going to produce the 1991A1 series of pistols." Of course not.

Their press release was intentionally vaiuge, not for legal benefit, but in an attempt to disguise the fact that they have sold out. I seriously suggest that you contact a few wholesalers before you convince yourself that Colt still cares about us 'civies.
 
Man, if Colt and Glock quit selling to the public, I'm gonna boycott them and not buy any more of their guns - oh, wait - that won't work.... Dang!
 
If Colt stops making pistols, does this mean that Winchester can finally make a handgun?
Just kind of historically wondering...
 
OK, I'm probably not qualified to post to this since I'm too dirt poor to have a handgun right now and if I did it wouldn't be a Colt, but that's never stopped me. What I'm hearing here is that we're pissed at Colt for selling out, their products kinda sucked lately anyway, quality control and customer service were SEVERELY lacking, and management was poor.
So a company we don't like has decided not to sell to us--big deal. Kinda like China refusing me a visa--I bet they would do just that if I asked to go there, but who wants to?

So, I guess I'm asking--other than indignance, do any of you care about this?



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Don

"Its not criminals that go into schools and shoot children"
--Ann Pearston, British Gun Control apologist and moron
 
Here is a copy of Colt's letters to their distributors.

http://www.usit.net/hp/guncraft/coltcavesin.html

Why does this upset me so? Well, because it could just be the beginning of all the manufacturers following suit. I can easily see the major manufacturers doing this because they can support themselves on their government contracts and foreign exports.

Also, what happens to those manufacturers who don't agree to stop civilian sales. They can find themselves in bankruptcy from the high legal costs associated with fighting these suits. If Colt is kept financially strong by compromising, they could be in a position of taking over some other manufacturers who spent the money to fight these suits. Do you think that you could still buy a S&W revolver if they were taken over by Colt? After all Colt has stopped selling almost their entire handgun line.
 
I wonder why COLT is working on a "SMART GUN". Who will buy them if they are going to give up civilian sales? Maybe they are taking a page out of the politicians note book. When they say they will not sell civilians,they may mean directly. They will leave those sales for local gun shops.Splitting up the company into several separate companies may give them some advantage avoiding legal hassels, but the lawers will never stop untill they bleed COLT and others dry." The time is at hand to draw a line in the sand".

[This message has been edited by wishbone (edited October 06, 1999).]
 
If any suits are brought all they have to do is file for bankruptcy protection with that company and they won't have to pay. You can still by Defenders and other 1911 style autos, just not the cheap 1991A1 series that was not profitable.
 
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