What do you think a working man can afford? BTW, I guess we should all hope HK, Freedom Arms, Korth, Wlson, Ed Brown, Les Baer, Dan Wesson, Noveske, LMT, Daniel Defense and others all bite the dust because firearms should only be made at "working man" prices. All those companies manufacture guns which are all, or almost all, more expensive than Colt.
Colt seeks to restructure debt or possibly file Chpt 11 bankruptcy
- Thread starter KyJim
- Start date
Some "working" folks obviously make more than others. Some folks still expect that no gun should cost more than XXX dollars and others wouldn't buy a gun unless it cost XXX +YYY dollars (implied quality). I have a Colt my dad used as off duty gun. IF it is a DS (and it looks like it) it was a first year model so I suspect he bought it from a retiring cop. Nice gun, but I wouldn't pay the current prices for any other Colt handgun,
Machineguntony
New member
I wish they would declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Colt brand alone has substantial goodwill value. I would love to own the Colt brand. I would certainly bid.
makers of high priced guns are able to find and survive the market, colt isn't able to do that. since they cant compete in the high dollar market you would think they would focus on the growing modest income gun buyers.... its fairly simple, you cant make a 1911 worth $600 and try to sell it for $1,000.
I see a lot of folks complaining about the price of Colts and I wonder if that has more to do with individual shops jacking up the price than anything Colt is doing. For instance the shop I use has Colt Model 1991 full size in the high $700 range which doesn’t seem outrageous. I’ve seen the higher end XSE Models tagged in the high $900 range which again seems like a decent price. They have the Colt LE690 AR15 Magpul edition for a little under $1000 which again doesn’t sound outrageous.
While I do consider myself a working man I also consider these to be reasonable prices on nice firearms. Again, I suspect high prices in LGSs have more to do with the local shops charging a premium for the Colt brand than anything Colt is doing.
Now, I also agree that Colt needs a major restructuring up to and possibly including closing their current facilities and maybe relocating to a more business/gun friend state like – Georgia. Obviously the only way they could do this is to basically cease operations and sell their brands and other assets, but hey stranger things have happened.
While I do consider myself a working man I also consider these to be reasonable prices on nice firearms. Again, I suspect high prices in LGSs have more to do with the local shops charging a premium for the Colt brand than anything Colt is doing.
Now, I also agree that Colt needs a major restructuring up to and possibly including closing their current facilities and maybe relocating to a more business/gun friend state like – Georgia. Obviously the only way they could do this is to basically cease operations and sell their brands and other assets, but hey stranger things have happened.
FrankenMauser
New member
Then why bring it up?....KyJim said:
Gaucho Gringo
New member
Colt is the Studebaker of the gun world, a way over century old company, in Colts case almost a century and three quarters that has got bypassed by time. Mismanagement and time has brought a once great enterprise to it's swan song.
Mike Irwin
Staff
AGAIN?
This is what, about the 107th time since the late 1970s?
This is what, about the 107th time since the late 1970s?
I brought this up in response to the assertion that Colt is overpriced in comparison with the $600 1911s out there (see post 18). SOME people think this is important in a 1911 and others don't. Whether MIM is good or bad is, itself, irrelevant. It's what customers, especially Colt's customers, think. Using less MIM means at least some additional expense. The lowest price totally non-MIM 1911 being produced today, ASFAIK, is the Dan Wesson Heritage which is selling at $1,100 or a bit more.
If this was the mid 1980's the staff of TFL could all kick in a couple hundred bucks apiece and run a 'leveraged buyout' of the company. (I suggested this in another thread-anybody interested?)
I'd like a 'gun guy'/'business guy' to write books about Colt and Smith & Wesson and Ruger. It's gotta be a gun guy or I wouldn't be interested in the book and it's gotta be a business guy TOO so that they can explain in terms I could understand the financial in's and out's and missteps/good moves the companies made to get where they are today.
And please don't suggest Paul Barrett 'Glock: The Rise of America's Gun' because I thought that book was just two or three stars out of five at best. Although Barrett might be able to write it if he'd take a month off and go to a couple shooting schools...Thunder Ranch, Gunsite...etc and develop SOME appreciation for firearms.
I'd like a 'gun guy'/'business guy' to write books about Colt and Smith & Wesson and Ruger. It's gotta be a gun guy or I wouldn't be interested in the book and it's gotta be a business guy TOO so that they can explain in terms I could understand the financial in's and out's and missteps/good moves the companies made to get where they are today.
And please don't suggest Paul Barrett 'Glock: The Rise of America's Gun' because I thought that book was just two or three stars out of five at best. Although Barrett might be able to write it if he'd take a month off and go to a couple shooting schools...Thunder Ranch, Gunsite...etc and develop SOME appreciation for firearms.
campingnights
New member
Too expensive with too many quality competitors at a lower price. I expect them to languish a bit longer then close their doors.
johnwilliamson062
Moderator
People may hate me for saying it...
But I wouldnt mind a bit if Norinco bought them out and they probably have the cash to do it.
Bring their products back to the US with COlts manufacturing facilities and maybe even release some higher finished products under the Colt name.
But I wouldnt mind a bit if Norinco bought them out and they probably have the cash to do it.
Bring their products back to the US with COlts manufacturing facilities and maybe even release some higher finished products under the Colt name.
Colt is not the great firearms company that Samuel Colt founded, and not the one I read about in my pre WW2 books. It is down to a shadow of itself. All due to mismanagement and arrogance.
First time I met a Colt Executive was at Camp Perry, sometime before 2000. They had several tables in one of the Commercial Row buildings just full of AR15’s. Now if you are a competitive shooter, you want to shoot your AR15 all the way back to 600 yards, which then meant 80 SMK’s and 1:8 twist barrels. A 1:9 twist barrel will only shoot up to 69’s and they are too wind sensitive at long range. I asked the Colt Executive the barrel twist of the rifles on the table and I was told they were all 1:9 twist. I asked him why they did not make a 1:8 and was lectured in insulting tones, how Colt had orders for hundreds of thousands of HBar’s with 1:9 twist barrels and that they understood the business and were not going to change. After learning of Colt’s superiority over my business acumen, I just left and never thought of asking the Executive why they had brought so many rifles to Camp Perry to sell to NRA competitors, who could not use those rifles in a match and hope to achieve a good score.
First time I met a Colt Executive was at Camp Perry, sometime before 2000. They had several tables in one of the Commercial Row buildings just full of AR15’s. Now if you are a competitive shooter, you want to shoot your AR15 all the way back to 600 yards, which then meant 80 SMK’s and 1:8 twist barrels. A 1:9 twist barrel will only shoot up to 69’s and they are too wind sensitive at long range. I asked the Colt Executive the barrel twist of the rifles on the table and I was told they were all 1:9 twist. I asked him why they did not make a 1:8 and was lectured in insulting tones, how Colt had orders for hundreds of thousands of HBar’s with 1:9 twist barrels and that they understood the business and were not going to change. After learning of Colt’s superiority over my business acumen, I just left and never thought of asking the Executive why they had brought so many rifles to Camp Perry to sell to NRA competitors, who could not use those rifles in a match and hope to achieve a good score.
gbclarkson
New member
What has Colt done for us? The Single Action Army; the development of the 1911; the worldwide distribution of the AR, the Python; probably others. Colt's legacy and contribution cannot be debated. Now, numerous other competitors produce equal or finer quality equivalents for equal or cheaper prices. Colt is a victim of its own creation. Its happened many times in business and industry.
A little over a year ago some of our staff went to colt with regards to business and at the time had some 19,000 AR's on the shelf with no where to send them. They chose to go all in with regards to military and LE and abandon the commercial market. Over priced run of the mill guns are all they have and their Ar's are heavy
Strafer Gott
New member
I can't think of anything nice to say to all the Colt detractors, except thank you for not buying them! Leaves more for me, cause I've got Colt fever real bad, HA HA! No really, I just traded my last Glock on a Super 38 Gov't model. I thought I'd beat the rush, now that Sig and HK strikers have arrived. By the way, I love that Super 38.
Machineguntony
New member
Can we somehow start a petition for Colt to relaunch the snake guns?????
I would buy five Anacondas, five Pythons, every Grizzly in sight, and six King Cobras. Then I would go to the back of the line and buy one more of each. No cutting in line! I love the snake guns.
I hear people saying that the skill level or whatever is too high to profitably make these guns. I don't buy that argument. If S&W and Ruger can make quality revolvers, so can Colt.
And the Colt Delta Elite is the coolest 10mm ever made.
I would buy five Anacondas, five Pythons, every Grizzly in sight, and six King Cobras. Then I would go to the back of the line and buy one more of each. No cutting in line! I love the snake guns.
I hear people saying that the skill level or whatever is too high to profitably make these guns. I don't buy that argument. If S&W and Ruger can make quality revolvers, so can Colt.
And the Colt Delta Elite is the coolest 10mm ever made.