Colt revolvers - $ vs quality vs lawers

Post your "positive" input to Colt MFG and they will see

Lots of good input. Does Colt know of it? Did you e-mail Colt re your concerns? Do we have to loose this Company? Couldn't find Colt on the stock exchange. Looked and found ZILKHA & Co has major stake, but couldn't find them on the exchange. Does anyone know what the Colt symbols are for those who invest in Colt on the exchange?. That will give me some names and tele# for more info. Investors control any company. They are the $ behind the products that the company produces. And if the Colt products are now driven by the Military vs the average gun buyer, the market will definately change. Like Lockheed. Contracts gone, now that we don't have a product, lets let the employees go, and then gear up for the next contract.
Maybe thats the way Colt's objectives are at this point in time. But Lockheed suffered major market value between contracts. If Colt wants the business, they will get it, but not by locking out civilian purchases or markets. They will get it by the general public wanting to buy their firearms regardless of their military contracts. And they will want input from you and me.
mac
 
marine,

Does Colt know of it? Did you e-mail Colt re your concerns?
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Other than from the various times I've written and called (usually on behalf of dealers or end users) over the last ten years or so, they haven't heard from me. ;)

(Bearing in mind that your average dealer may buy more Colts at one pop than every poster in this thread does in one year, combined, have you talked to your local dealer and asked them to talk to Colt? ;) )
 
Investments

Another way to look at it-as I might have mentioned before, heck, you can still find alot of used Colts on the market. It is not hard to find one that is in decent shape that you can shoot, and they are still affordable, if you want a Dick special, for instance. And now that they are sure they will never make any more, the gun you have will probably just start to go up and up in value-
they surely won't get any cheaper! So it is a fun shooter, and an investment rolled into one! Assuming you don't fill it full of +P+ and wear it out, or abuse it. How many spacey new super duper scandium titanium wonder guns with extra trigger locks and rubber grips will sell for near what you paid new, in 2 or 3 years? If they drop the Python, look out, that one will start to cost like a SAA at some point, instead of just being rather pricey. Good investment too!
 
I dont want my colts to be investments. I want them to be usable shooters.
But considering the fact that if they get lost, stolen or confiscated I could never replace them for what I paid for them, they are now stored away and collecting dust, not happy memories, except for my 1991 a1.
I have seen asking prices for Anacondas that were higher than what I paid for my Python......
I have seen asking prices for King Cobras that are the same as what I paid for my Anaconda.
Its getting rediculous.
I wish Colt management would get its head on straight and come back and give the ordinary consumers like me a viable alternative to Fugly Gun Locks and Casehardened hammers and triggers on Stainless guns over at Smith and Wesson. Smith seems to be burning the midnight oil trying to find new ways to make its classic old guns look awful.
Latest I heard is that they are going to the Barrel shroud on all revolvers.....
Sigh.....
As one guy at the S&W Forums put it, if there is a way to build a revolver cheaper, Smith and Wesson will find it......
 
Re: S&W shroud

Well, if it is a Dan Wesson type shroud, I could go for that-those are really accurate. And barrel cleaning is easy. I had an Anaconda in 45 Colt once. Was not much good for anything either in accuracy or funtion. Sold it quick. Not as well made as the Smith S/S 44 magnum I had either.
Compared a King Cobra to comparable magnums and decided it was not even as good as the Ruger GP 100. Rougher gun. Returned a defective DS II to the dealer for my money back. The only recent Colts I have been happy with were the ACP's. And my "custom" Night Officer with the officers upper on a standard frame, came with a rusty bore new, and could not hit the side of a barn, unlike a standard 1991A1(Which I liked after tossing the plastic bits). Now to lay my hands on a Python. Ones I have seen/fired seemed vastly superior in workmanship.
 
I have seen asking prices for Anacondas that were higher than what I paid for my Python......
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Current Anacondas are Custom Shop guns with insane price tags; this will tend to drive up the prices of older Anacondas (which are thoroughly mediocre large-frame revolvers, coming in a distant fourth behind comparable offerings from S&W, Taurus, and Ruger.)

I have seen asking prices for King Cobras that are the same as what I paid for my Anaconda.
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King Cobras have been climbing in price on the coattails of other Colts because they are (News Flash!) Not Being Made Any More. Hate that? Bitch at the free market. I have seen asking prices for 03A3's that just eclipse the asking prices for brand new Savages that will shoot rings around them. Oh, well; sucks to be into collectable guns...
 
Your input to Colt

Tamara - good point. Don't know who my Colt dealer is. From previous experiance in my area, the dealers just want to know where their contacts inventory stands and they won't contact specific mfg to find out what up. I could do the lookup on Colt's web to find specific Colt dealers within 100 miles of my location and call them, but I suspect the results would be the same.
Tom2 - let me tell you about my spacey new super duper scandium titanium air weight S$W in .22 with the 8 shot cylinder at $500+. Naw. But good in the backback using single action only, and for strictly non-target, intertainment purposes only.
Does Colt want to hear from non-military consumers? When the contracts are over what happens. Company survival in this day and age requires a long term commitment and planning.
For what ever its worth...
The string will be sent to Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC, Corporate Headquarters, Attn: Board of Directors.
So what the heck does this do for us?
1) you have given your input.
2) you can feel good about taking some action..
You probably know that a lot of gun owners bitch a lot about this and that - but they don't get their fustrations pointed toward the source. At least the people that have posted to this string can say they did something.
Cut off on string - end of August, and off your comments go.
Thanks - Mac
 
My Anaconda is a nice gun in terms of fit and finish except the cylinder is a mite loose. Of course, after shooting a lot of rounds through it, it hasn't loosened up any. Its about the same as my Ruger Super Blackhawk was.
Very, very, VERY accurate though. If I wanna impress somebody with my shooting I tend to use it.
Oddly enough, the used Taurus 44 I have has a tighter cylinder lock up.


My best shooting buddy has an early King Cobra that is noticably smoother than my Python. Very nice trigger on that KC and it groups like a dream. I wish now I had gotten one.

When I was in the trade, it wasn't uncommon to get new blue guns from the manufacturers with rust on them.
Once, I saw an N frame shipped without the Yoke Screw by the way. Back in the Bangor Punta days.....
 
Your comments have been sent

Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC 8/31/04
P.O. Box 1868
Hartford, CT 06144-1868

Attn: Board of Directors

Re: Comments from Colt’s Customers

Your Web Site suggests the following:
At Colt we are convinced that we have the product, the people, the capacity as well as the service organization to serve Colt's tradition and the needs and requirements of all our customers.
I thought you would like to know what Colt’s customers think.
Included is a list of comments from postings on the web.

Sincerely

..................

And you just know I'm going to hold my breath while I wait for a reply - Mac
 
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If Colt brought back the Detective Special or OP, it would have to compete with one competitor it has no chance against--COLT. More specifically, the Colt of today could never compete with the Colt of the 1920's, 30's and '40's that made the classic revolvers many of us love. The prices on the .38 Specials, from Police Positive Specials to Official Police and even Dick Specials, is still far lower than they would be marketed at new. I have a PPS I picked up for $200 that I use as a CCW revolver. It's the most accurate revolver I've ever owned and the only handgun I've had that would outshoot it was my old Sig P225.

There's no way Colt could recreate such a masterpiece for $200, esp. given the difficulty of hand fitting parts.
 
Back again....

Well, as to the super lightweight Smiths, I did not mean that there was anything wrong with them, and time will tell how they hold up, etc, but you would lose money at a gun show selling it, unlike maybe an out of production model of used Colt with a good rep. I have no experience with the 44 Anaconda, just that the 45 Colt version was inaccurate, would not extract all the empties, and did not show alot of care in the finishing, with sharp edges, indifferent polish and fit, etc. Maybe it was made on a Monday morning. Having gotten more than 1 new Colt with rust in the barrel, and having heard of others, I suspect something was going on there. It just appeared to me that the late production stainless steel Colts were probably not up to earlier standards, or suffered a little compared to the best of other makers. This is not an across the board slam of Colt. Just some of the disappointments I had with some of them, expecting a little more, from the rep.
 
Sounds like a challenge to Colt

I cut off the posts my time (west coast) but surely would have included yours if you had posted a couple of hours sooner. I don't expect to hear from Colt, but I have to confess, I love the company, their products. The "board" isn't going to do anything if in fact it ever gets to them. Except somebody is going to open the package and refer to someone else. With luck, could be marketing. Hey, what the heck? No input from consumers = no new products = no profits = no company. Well I gave it a shot. Thanks for your input Cosmoline.
Mac
 
More good input for Colt

Tom2 - sorry, but would have loved to include your input to whoever at Colt could have taken advantage of it. Strange things happen. Worked in the hi-tech computer field for over 40 years. From EDS to Data General, to Digital Equipment Corp and many others. The "board" rules. I have attended a few meetings. Boards like to hear about $ and products, and they get input from division mgrs, mfg mgrs and the $ people - ie finance. Always, the bottom line is product vs $.
Thanks - mac
 
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