Losing faith in Colt ?

R

rebs

New member
Is it just me or is Colt having problems ?
What I mean is it seems hard to find new Colt firearms and parts. Every place I go to look for a Colt ar 15 they are out of stock. Colt Gold Cups are out of stock, parts are out of stock. Tried to order new recoil springs for my gold cup, out of stock, the front sight came loose and I need to order a new one, again out of stock etc. etc. this is becoming a standard thing with Colt. Colt's command a higher price for their guns and gun parts, but it seems everything is out of stock. What is the problem ? Are they that busy with government orders, have they slowed production or have they turned their back on the civilian consumer ? I did manage to find a couple Magazines for my gold cup and they have totally different followers, I posted about that problem in another thread.
Don't get me wrong I love my gold cup, it shoots great and is a fine gun, but couldn't they have made a better front sight that doesn't come loose ?

I know the Colt guys will probably jump on me for this post but I just had to vent somewhere.
 
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Colt is currently producing more pistols now (thanks to CNC machine centers) than they have for many years -- even decades. And the quality is also better than it has been for a long time. The reason you can't find guns to buy is simple -- somebody else bought them first. And I suppose the reason parts can be scarce is that the parts get used to make guns. I would certainly agree that Colt should ramp up production on some frequently replaced parts so as to ensure a supply for repairs, but there may be valid reasons why that hasn't happened.

As to recoil springs: Wolff.
 
Colt is very much in demand now, and they only are able to make so many firearms and parts, even though the demand its larger then the output capacity.

Couple this with the fact that some folks, not just dealers, will buy any new Colt right now if its at a decent price, only to stick it on gunbroker, etc, in order to try to make money off of the demand vs availability.
 
Sorry if I read this wrong, but the issue seems to be that you're unhappy that something is wrong with your Colt, not that something is wrong with Colt

What's up with the sight? I have never heard the Colt nuts say that this is an issue.
 
When Colt stopped making the Python, that told me a lot about them. They've no more 19th Cent. Craftsmen left in their ranks. All dead or retired.
 
Colt has some fundamental problems. An up gun market is hiding those problems but they're there.

Colt was a company riding the government gravy train, and the Union wanted a bigger share of the proceeds. The company has been decimated by labor disputes.

They are selling decades old - in some cases century old gun designs. There is a large die-hard 1911 market in the U.S. so it's keeping Colt going, even as Ruger struggles to meet demand for it's 1911. But Colt hasn't produced anything new or innovative.

They have a niche, but even within that niche - there are a lot of companies competing for that 1911 dollar. We periodically see a new company add a 1911 to their line.

I don't think it's a good business strategy to depend on 1911 & AR-15 fans for your company's survival. It's OK for startups and small shops but not for a major gun manufacturer.
 
Colt has always been my favorite handgun with S&W a close 2nd. Something went wrong with them many years ago, which I really noticed a lot when they started manufacturing their 3rd generation SA's. The post 64 winchesters kinda caught the same virus.

I almost bought a 3rd generation around 11 years ago until one that a friend of mine bought made me change my mind. While ejecting a shell he slid his finger down along the ejector housing and put some slice into it. He came close to needing stitches. The slot apparently wasn't polished properly at the factory which showed carelessness on colt's part.

That same day the c-clamp, which internally secured the loading gate slipped off causing it to move forward preventing the cylinder from turning. That gun was pure crap and he sent it to colt for repairs. I've never seen that happen ever before that day. By the way the gold plated rampant colt medallion on his crappy cheap looking wood grips was counter sunk so far down it looked stupid. I remember a time up till the 60's when colt had beautiful wood grips.

They also began selling crappy foriegn made SA clones that were garbage and original parts from older colts weren't compatible. I realized at that point Cimarron and Uberti made them look bad.

I hate to put down my formerly favorite gun manufacturer, but put a hand honed python of the 60's next to a more recently made one an expert you don't have to be to tell the better of the two.

Colt didn't seem to support their loyal customers and even though I was in LE at the time, they made me uncomfortable by the way they seemed to favor the military and police in order to increase their production of AR's and M-16's. I still buy colts, but have nothing newer than those manufactured in the very early 1970's.

There's nothing wrong with manufacturing the highest quality guns possible like they used to do. Their 1911's, SA's, Python's, Diamondbacks and Detective Specials if still manufactured exactly the way they were originally would bring in world wide more customers than any other company could imagine. Those guns were and still are the best ever made and I say let someone else have all the new innovations. If you buy cheap you get cheap. Those who prefer a good cheap deal on a Taurus will never get what I'm saying. This is only my opinion and I wanted to express it.
 
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Colt has had their share of problems over the years both external and of their own making. They're on good footing now and are making a lot more guns. They've even reintroduced their small pocket 380. The poster above is correct about the 19th century craftsmen, BUT you CAN'T make them that way anymore. A hand fitted action just isn't practical or even possible nowadays within a reasonable price point.
 
Don't get me wrong I love my gold cup, it shoots great and is a fine gun, but couldn't have made a better front sight that doesn't come loose ?
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The front sight popped off my Mark IV way back in the early 90s, but I was lucky in that it popped off when a gunsmith was shooting it, so he staked it back on for free.:D It's still my favorite weapon.
 
I am happy with my gold cup other than the front sight coming loose. buy I have read where it is a fairly common problem.
I am unhappy with the way colt is treating its civilian customers and being so much more into taking care of government contracts. What good is a gun that is poorly made and very hard to get parts for ? Hoe do you buy another colt when you can't even find the one you want to buy ? They are out of stock everywhere.

I mean with all that is going on with Colt, Colt quality and lack of availability of guns and parts perhaps it is time to look else where.
 
I'm not sure they are on better standing. They just lost their gravy train M4 gov't contract.
They have lots of structural business problems I won't go into.
Everyone compares their new production to stuff from 75 years ago instead of other new production and it doesn't match up. The simple fact is my cheapo 1921 police positive has a better trigger than anything anyone is sending off an assembly line today.
They seem to have no R&D whatsoever. It took them how many years to respond to the CCW crowd with their 380 and it hardly compares to something like an LCP for utility in carry.
 
They sell everything they make, and their quality is magnificent at the moment.

If you want something Colt, call Kenny at Wild West Guns in Anchorage, AK. He'll get it for you if they are making it, and maybe even if they aren't.
 
They sell everything they make, and their quality is magnificent at the moment.

If you want something Colt, call Kenny at Wild West Guns in Anchorage, AK. He'll get it for you if they are making it, and maybe even if they aren't.
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Wow I wonder how much shipping would be from Alaska, any idea ?
 
Within the past 10 years Colt has installed millions of dollars' worth of CNC equipment, first on the military/LE side for rifles (since that's where the income was coming from), and then in the handgun side in the last year or two.

Colt has put more effort into the military side simply because that's where the money was.
Most people don't understand how close to going under Colt was. They had to make some hard decisions, and dropping guns that were not selling well enough to keep in production with limited resources was one of them.

Colt doesn't make most of their own small parts, they order from outside vendors. With money tight for the company over the past two decades they now order parts in batches, with the quantities based on projected needs to cover anticipated production and small parts orders & repairs.
That's why you occasionally see a part on a particular model that shouldn't be on that model, according to their own listed specs. If they run out of the right part just before a production run, or in the middle of one, they just substitute one from another bin intended for another model.

They don't tie up a lot of money in huge parts inventories, they only order what they think they'll need for a given period.

And, Colt can't afford to bring back the Python or DS, the resulting guns IF made to previous quality levels would be too expensive for the bulk of the market to support, and the company would have to move them in volume to make anything out of the guns.

Things ARE looking up for Colt, in both quality and availability.
For the first time in several years the company reached a point financially where they could hire an ad agency & start advertising again last year.
Denis
 
Wow I wonder how much shipping would be from Alaska, any idea ?
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Shipping from Wild West guns is very reasonable. They ship a ton of stuff. USPS Propority cost you about $20 UPS Overnight $40. They also have a new shop in Vegas right off the strip so they can also ship from there.

Ken is the man when it comes to Colts.
 
I don't think it's a good business strategy to depend on 1911 & AR-15 fans for your company's survival. It's OK for startups and small shops but not for a major gun manufacturer.
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If a company is going to make a go of primarily producing two kinds of guns, there's overwhelming evidence that those two should be the 1911 and AR!!! The demand for these two guns is absolutely insatiable.
 
I read an article where the Colt President said Colt had 180 employees.

A number that low indicates they must be subcontracting a majority of their work outside the plant. Which is fine if their subcontractor oversight and management is good. If not, then it will be bad.

I really doubt they have an inhouse forging facility. Compared with the pre WW2 Colt facilities I see in my books, the current Colt firearms is a small building with a brand name over the door.

I remember in the book "Cooper on Handguns", Jeff Cooper said Colts were like the Ladies Hat's in Boston. That is when asked where they got their hats, the ladies would say, "we don't get hats, we have our hats".

Apparently not much has changed since the 70's.
 
Colt is not a big company, nothing near what it used to be.
They've outsourced many parts for several years, have NO in-house forging capability, and get their forgings (frames, slides, etc) from a nearby forging house.
Denis
 
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