Death knell? *PLEASE READ*

There are (and have been) several threads in the last few days about Colt abandoning the non-government market.

And like I told my dealer yesterday, "Colt can suck my @$$."

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"America needs additional gun laws like a giraffe needs snow tires."
--Rabbi Mermelstein, JPFO
 
On another thread in this forum, I've posted a news link, also from Yahoo, stating that rumors of colt's handgun abandonment has been highly exaggerated. They were merely trimming their product line. Anyways, I think we should give it a few days.

[This message has been edited by SB (edited October 12, 1999).]
 
For all of our sake John, I hope you're wrong. Rather omnious though, don't you think? Only time will tell for sure.
 
Colt has had money problems for some time. I think they are scrapping their money losers and trying to put a good face on it by claiming to do it for noble reasons. There is a good article in the Business section of the Washington Post yesterday (the 12th) which should be available on their web site (www.washingtonpost.com).

In 1997, Colt sold 90,000 handguns (including police sales); S&W sold 380,000. Colt, under several changes of management, has tried to get by on military sales. In the civilian market they have managed to miss every big trend and have made many disastrous business decisions over the last 50 years.

They dropped their SAA just as TV cowboy shows took off. They dithered about a .44 Magnum while S&W made millions after "Dirty Harry", and then came out with the clumsy and top heavy Anaconda. They tried to capture the hi-cap 9mm market with the disastrous All American 2000. They dropped their concealable revolvers just when CCW laws were being passed. They redesigned their revolvers for easy production, then reinstated the older revolvers with the old and expensive mechanisms. They gave away the percussion replica market. They blew quality control on their single actions and the M1991 models. I don't know how they could have created a worse condition.

Their plant morale has been low for years, and this is reflected in total lack of pride in the work and in QC disasters. The workers have complained that management is remote and simply doesn't care. Their production had a sort of "Soviet five-year plan" air in which guns were made whether they sold or not, to impress a management that seemed to care only about production figures.

Now they hope to "get religion" and gain a last minute reprieve from the lawsuits by dropping products that didn't sell anyway.
They have also broken the company up into four sections, with maybe the idea of playing "which company made the bad guns" with the lawyers.

A sad end to what was once a good company with good products.

Or maybe not. In the early 60's, a Colt salesman called at the shop where I worked, and asked us to take some more DA Colt revolvers. We sold some, but told the salesman that the guns simply weren't what our customers wanted. He asked the boss if he owned a Colt. The boss replied that he did. "And what do you use it for?" the salesman asked. "A doorstop", the boss replied. It was true; we used an old Colt 1917 to keep the back room door open. It was the only Colt DA any of us owned.

Jim
 
I think Jim is right. Colt simply failed to keep up with the market. S&W doesn't even consider Colt as competition anymore (Taurus and Ruger for revolvers, Glock, Sig and Beretta for pistols).

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Here's what Colt's has to say about it at their website:
http://www.colt.com/colt/html/n_news_2.html

Colt's Refutes Newsweek Article (10/11/99)

Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., a premiere firearms manufacturer based in West Hartford, CT strongly refuted media reports that it is exiting the total handgun portion of its business.

Colt top management stated that a consolidation is underway involving the elimination of some of its unprofitable handgun product lines, which is part of the normal, ongoing management of the business. But they made it clear that they plan to continue to market their most important, classic handgun products.

"We intend to continue the growth of our Military and Law Enforcement market segment while focusing our commercial efforts on our most important and profitable product lines." Said Lt. General William Keys (USMC, ret.), CEO of New Colt Holding Corp. Colt has been in business for 165 years and manufactures handguns, rifles, and carbines for the consumer market, law enforcement, international, and the U.S. Military.

_____________

Boy, that sure clears things up.


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“The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals. ... It establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of.” -Alexander Addison, 1789
 
The most famous gun maker in US history. Well if Colt haven't restricted sales because their guns are crap why doesn't the NRA acquire itself a nice profitable little gun making business, call it N.R.Arms or something, just a thought.

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Mike H
 
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