What went wrong?

Decades of horrific mismanagement.

>>33952526
No innovation

They make AR's and 1911's. both of which are old designs, and not even originally theirs.

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>>33952599
>Colt
>1911
>not even originally theirs
Nigger you what?

over reliance on government contracts.

>>33952526
Lazy upper management relying on the colt name to make sales instead of making competitive products

Also there are some fucking brainlets that still say but but muh military trusts colt even through they lost all their contracts due to being shit

>>33952526
Colt thought they could continue to live off of military contracts providing the M16 and it's variants to the U.S. Military. So they decided to stop giving a shit about the civilian market.

>>33952609
>browning

>>33952536
>>33952617
>>33952633

This

Also: UAW Employees. Hard to be an arms manufacturer when your basic wrench jockeys stop production, and you can't just fire them.

>>33952536
>>33952599
>>33952617
>Decades of horrific mismanagement
>No innovation
>Overreliance on government contracts

These guys are absolutely right. /thread

>>33952526
Don't worry anon, they're bringing back the cobra in 38 special.
RIP Colt.

>>33952526
they made excellent progress in the 50's and the 60's something happened in the 70's my dad said int once in 1973 everything changed

>>33952526
union labor/shitty management

>>33952889
Are you sure he isn't confusing them with S&W? S&W got bought out by a capital management group in 1973 IIRC.

>>33952641
made by JMB but sold to colt. Nothing is really anyones but if it belongs to anyone its colt.

>>33952526
company bought and sold repeatedly by investors who think the company name will always sell their product

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>>33952526
>didnt think to get on the wonder nine train like everyone else back in the 80s
>by the time they did, they were already behind the eight ball and others had established a foot hold
>the models they did make were pretty meh to pretty shitty
>they thought hey could survive on expensive 1911s builds and military contracts and were right for the most part
basically got too full of themselves and didnt try to stay relevant
Im still a sucker for colt products though. theyre a guilty pleasure.

Sam Colt died.

>What went wrong?
Hilariously clueless management that catches on to trends two decades after everyone else has and mishandled attempts to cash in on fads when they finally decided to put an ear to the ground, and relying almost entirely on military contracts that inevitably get snatched up by someone else.

Name one good thing Colt has ever developed on it's own.

>>33952599
>someone I knows say they're super excited about Colt's new announcement, they got to know before everyone else (they work at an FFL)
>Is it just another 1911?
>We'll see ;)
>It's their most boring 1911 yet.
Colt was supposed to be cool.

>>33952609
>>33952969
Well, yes and no, Browning sold them the patent to the action, but it went through a shitload of changes, Browning's prototype looks VERY little like the 1911 that Colt eventually would develop and that we know today.

>>33952536
>>33952617
These too, Christ.

>>33952633
Oh yeah, and that. Fucking hell they can't even compete, even when they have actual opportunity to.
Colt has a bunch of the tooling needed to make the classic A1 rifles, and they're only doing a few thousand A1 rifles and carbines "for collectors", at high prices.

But you know what they could do? Just make brand new A1 spec parts and sell them loose, they'd make a killing on selling retro parts, especially given that they could have all the authentic markings and branding.

>Colt SP2 comes into the shop
>Survived a house fire
>Furniture is a loss, covered in soot, assorted melted shit
>spend two hours detail stripping it
>Jesus Christ
>finally get the front sight block off
>get barrel off
>bore looks good, chamber looks fucky but serviceable
>bolt head is a loss, rest of the carrier is ok
>standing around the shop after working on another project
>buddy comes by, show him the SP2
>show him the bolt head
>realize that a cartridge head is the reason the bolt is trashed
>remember client said this was their home defense gun
>realize it was loaded and chambered during the fire
>look at barrel with new eyes
>yup, there's most of a cartridge jammed in the chamber
>haha fuck
>boss gets it out with a screw

Fucking round cooked off in the fire but either the rifle wasn't in battery or the heat prevented it from cycling.

I'd chalked the odd looking chamber up to Colt dropping the quality ball.

>>33953889
The Single Action Army (though both Ruger and USFA outdid them on that long ago).

They did all the work to actually perfect the 1911 pistol.

The AR15 is really good and they were smart to buy the rights to it, though it's debatable if they always did the best thing with it.

>>33953924
>Colt has a bunch of the tooling needed to make the classic A1 rifles, and they're only doing a few thousand A1 rifles and carbines
They're actually outsourcing every manufacturing process out on top of that. Like, some company is churning out the A1 profile lowers for their shit. To put it in perspective; Colt isn't even making the rifles for the retro run of the rifles that they originally manufactured.

>>33953968
Well then what the fuck do we even need them for?

Good god, Samuel must be fidget spinning in his grave.

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>>33953996
>Well then what the fuck do we even need them for?
Fucking nothing.
>Make repro of one of your most successful carry pistols of all time
>Was such a hit that originals are still easily obtainable a century later and cost around $500
>Repro costs three times that, has a dogshit park job, and is covered in tooling marks
>Don't even make the grip medallion metal as with the original, it's plastic with gold colored foil.
>Again, all while originals that are made far better can be readily had for $500.
Fuck them.

>>33954046
Fucking hell, you'd think that they'd at the very least have the intelligence to put a customer survey on their website and go from there.

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>>33954046
Don't forget this Brilliant example of business decision excellence
>Huge demand for retro / vintage ARs
>Troy, and others filling that niche well with decent priced rifles
>not to hard to find Originals go for 900.00 - $1,500.00 tops
>Be colt want to get in
>make a SP1 and SP1 carbine clone
>$2,500.00 a piece!

When confronted, about the price of new ones vs originals bullshit excuses start flying
from sales rep
>We had to do a lot of retooling
first the mother fuckers have been building ARs since the 60's, and still have dies for SP1 uppers as they are used for 9mm carbines (no FA)

turns out it's 100% bullshit as they are farmed out to 3rd party manufactures to assemble them for the.

Fuck colt,

>>33954277
pretty much all major US gun manufacturers are cunts in one way or another. colt are fucking idiots that shit out subpar products at a premium price.

it's widely know that colt ar-15s come from the factory scratched, yet the retarded fanboys kept buying them up. the one and only single well priced product they offer is the 6951, but that is largely because all the quality pistol caliber carbines are expensive. i believe theirs is one of the few, if not the only one, that is chrome lined.

>>33954314
You can say a lot of things about Colt, but they do make a good rifle.

>>33952526
>2004 'salt weapon ban die
>uncucked ARs will be in huge demand
>shit ton of cash to be made
>AR is open source
>everyone and their mother will be shitting out decent ARs
>colt mostly ignores this and looses almost all market share
>2009 colt realizes this and hops into civie AR market thinking that ppl will flock to them b/c "Muh Pony"
>by now market is literally beyond saturated with rifles that offer the same quality levels if not better, while still less expensive

The fact that they didn't get bought out by freedom group yet is more of a curiosity to me then why they keep fucking up at this point.

Would bringing back the python and anaconda save colt?

>>33954337
for the prices they charge they should. what they offer you at what they charge is surely not the best bang for the buck.

about the only offerings i'd buy from them is the 6951 or previous gen 9mm carbines (like i said that is actually priced well enough) and 6920 OEM1 (only at <$650 shipped though.)

>>33954345
You think it's because they're so shit that even Cerberus doesn't want them?

>>33954314
>>33954337
I have 4 police trade in Colt ARs, love them all and got them all for under the price of when they were new.
are their rifles very reliable, good decent builds, yes
Are the other offerings the same level if not better, depends.

I have one govt carbine that has tool marks on the FA housing. Literally looks like someone used a dremel to remove some burrs or something.

Compared to a Stag, DPMS, or even most other companies the colts forgings looked rougher. While Colt's dick is sucked the others are criticized. possibly this has changed as my guns are older but it's still interesting to point out

Then there is the shit about the safety markings, Colts for a //while either never had the markings on the right hand receiver side, then eventually when added they never added a notch to the selector rear end. Chris bartocci even made a request while working at colt to add it as literally everyone else does it and requires almost no extra equipment to add, he was rejected as they said that the selector was reversible so adding the notch was not needed, which is fucking retarded.

>>33954417
it would because those guns are unicorn guns to many people. unfortunately, even if they do bring them back they will fuck them up with their idiotic cut corners due to penny pinching.

>>33954417
if it were anyone else possibly... colt though doubtful, they literally can't build anything outside of an M4, or a 1911

anything outside of those two realms are out of their speed

also if I were to look into a crystal ball
>Colt re relases the Python
>limited collectors edition
>tool marks everywhere
>$5,000.00 each

>>33954464
if you look at colt ar-15 listings on gunbroker from the dealers that actually bother to take pics of new guns you'll see that their receivers virtually always have forging imperfections/scuffs/scratches/nicks/missing finish.

i haven't seen shit like that from anyone else, and i have a ~2010 (before everyone else jumped into the game) out of spec lower that i had to take a file to so that i could mate the upper receiver. it took retro receivers without issues though for some reason.

>>33954464
>he was rejected as they said that the selector was reversible so adding the notch was not needed
Ah yes, Colt, I too prefer to use my trigger finger to engage my safeties...

Colt are cunts and they won't do anything worthwhile until after another bankruptcy. You pay for the pony, and it's hilarious that out of all the snake guns to release, they don't want to make a decent go at the Python and shit out a contracted out Cobra instead, then proceed to lie about how it's "American made".

American assembled, if that, but that doesn't mean shit when everything else is done at some sweatshop in Asia.

>>33954566
> everything else is done at some sweatshop in Asia.
It's literally they can afford. If they can't even pony up to use the already existing tooling for A1 lowers and instead go out to some literallywhos in the Southwest, they can't even begin to dream about making their own Snake guns again.

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>>33954581
And this is why Colt hate threads exist. If you can't even get people on /k/ to start a thread cocksucking your company, you know you've failed in the most egregious way.

Also
>pony up
I see what you did there you cheeky bastard.

>>33954417
They were really expensive and finely crafted guns, that's not something Colt does these days.

And it's pretty hard for any company to do, look at USFA, from the 90's to the 2010's, they made primarily a clone of the Colt Single Action Army, with a few durability upgrades (springs and their fittings, mainly), now, these were fucking superbly made, everything but the grips was made in-house, with love and care, even the screws and pins were made in the factory.

These were not only very hardy and sturdy revolvers, but also very finely made and delightful to handle. Problem is, they didn't make the best of profits at the best of times, and with the company at the verge of death, their last hurrah was the Zip22, a plastic piece of shit that everyone hated because it was unbelievably fucking awful.

This was a company that largely focused on their revolvers. Colt has long given up on the revolver game, and before that they gave up on the Python and Anaconda because it just wasn't financially viable for them to produce them.

I think the only good chance you have of providing a piece like that for the market is to have a custom shop in your factory where customers can special order especially finer versions of your existing lineup at a high markup. But then comes the problem that there's already companies which do this, specifically customizing a particular brand's guns, and you have to compete with their experience now.

>>33953889
M4 Carbine

/thread

>>33954704
>developed on its own

>>33954314
Yeah, but Colt makes weapons so who really gives a fuck your upper and lower colors don't match. No department is going to reject 100+ 6920s because of gear queers obsession of Colt gray.

>>33954732
Colt DID develop the M4 Carbine on their dime. Every other Carbine prior was all Colt too.

Why do you think they fought tooth and nail for the "M4" trademark?

>>33953962
>"perfect" the 1911
>grip safety that wasn't in the original JMB design
Colt fucking ruined it.

>>33954748
A lot of end users that aren't LEO or military. Why spend 1000+ on a shitty looking Colt that works when you can spend less on an AR from another manufacturer that looks good AND works You're exactly the kind of person that keeps Colt alive through countless bankruptcies.

>>33954566
To whom did Colt contract out the Cobra? Armscor? Taurus?

>>33954417
If they could produce one that looked even remotely like the originals for under $2000, it would certainly help them.

However I think at this point Colt is literally incapable of doing a proper finish on anything.
>>33954610
The Python and Anaconda when they first came out were less than $50 more expensive than the corresponding S&W 686 and 629. That hardly counts as "really expensive" in the revolver world.

>>33954838
I wanna say Charter Arms.

Gimme a sec to look it up.

>>33954767
The M4 still the AR15 system, which was developed by Armalite

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Another bright moment in colt management
>late 80's early 90's
>plastic wonder nines are a thing
>colt late *again* to the party are interested in the market
>Reed knight and Eugene Stoner have a interesting working design and want to sell it to colt
>Colt wants to buy design, but instead of cash or royalties Knight wants all of Colts inventory collection of old machine guns and experimental prototypes
>Colt agrees and gets the design
>Colt lawyers look at design and say it needs a stiffer trigger, and the engineers want the front sight on the bushing that comes off
>Colt then pays off gun magazines to give rave reviews
>whatcangowrong.jpg
>it's a turd in the market place and colt looks like a bunch of morons
>plus now their entire collection of designs that date back to the late 19th century are gone so new engineers attempting to develop new ideas or want to learn how problems were solved from past designs can't as they are all in Reed Knight's personal collection / museum

You can literally can't make this shit up

>>33954873
The Python came out in the 1950s when $50 was actually a considerable sum. Adjusted for inflation, $50 back then was the equivalent of ~$460 now.

>>33953924
>Browning's prototype looks VERY little like the 1911 that Colt eventually would develop and that we know today.
thats because of military requirements.

>>33954931
It's almost like Colt wants to kill itself, but history and old money keep bringing it back. Kind of like if your grandmother was wasting away from cancer and the hospital wouldn't let her quit the chemo.

>>33953924

>Browning's prototype looks VERY little like the 1911 that Colt eventually would develop and that we know today.

Wrong. The design patent JMB sold Colt is exactly what Colt produced with the M1911.
Colt had nothing do do with the development.

>>33954932
And the Anaconda didn't come out until 1990, and the King Cobra didn't come out until 1986. And all the way through they held about a $50 higher price than the comparable Smith revolvers.

>>33955033
The Anaconda coming out decades too late is an example of just how stupid the Colt management is.

Also, if you were not aware, the Anaconda was not held in very high regard by anyone other than Colt collectors until it got discontinued and became one of the legendary unobtainable snake guns. It isn't as good as either the Ruger Redhawk (far more durable) or Model 29 (much better DA trigger) despite being more expensive.

>>33955072
And all the snekguns lose timing within a thousand rounds because they were meant as target revolvers and not really ever intended to be fired DA or with full-power loads.

There were a LOT of complaints against every model of snake gun, and they were well founded.
>yfw the Python was originally supposed to be a .38spl target revolver

They were also entirely outclassed by the Dan Wessons in every category, which were actually significantly cheaper.
>better SA trigger
>better DA trigger
>more accurate
>more durable
>better sights
>better finish

>>33954998
>It's almost like Colt wants to kill itself
After the Colt 2000 they dumped millions into smart gun R&D and then discontinued revolver production. I'd say that constitutes a legitimate suicide attempt.

>>33955136
>They were also entirely outclassed by the Dan Wessons in every category, which were actually significantly cheaper.

I agree 100%. The Monson Dan Wesson 15s are glorious guns, and it's good that they're still a reasonably well-kept secret.

>>33952526
Corporate culture ruins everything. They were more worried about making money than making innovative, and quality products, and thus, their products were shit, and they stopped making money.

>>33955142
Ah, smartguns, such a great idea, such wonderful marketing.

I mean, during R&D craze about them, all the manufacturers that fell for it tried to make early marketing that targeted liberal legislators if anybody in particular, now that's a wonderful way to convince gun owners to be interested in your products, isn't it?

Nowadays you can lure operator crowd on them - I mean, come on, imagine the gun transmitting ammo count to your google glasses! Maybe even project the point of aim on them so you can hipfire accurately(wouldn't military be interested in something like this, actually?). Mall ninjas would be all over this shit. But still, everybody who still tries to make those, only talks about fingerprint recognition and ability to disable the gun remotely.

>>33955238
Beretta tried to make smart guns that appealed to LEOs w/o remote deactivation or fingerprint recognition but I haven't heard anything about the i-protect system in years. Its pretty safe to assume no one adopted it.

>>33954792
Grip safety is gay but the grip angle and shape, the slide, the hammer, etc, that was Colt.

>>33955013
There was a lot of work between Browning's prototype and the 1911 that we know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgOicEVA4u8

>>33955238
>Maybe even project the point of aim on them so you can hipfire accurately
we shadowrun nao

>>33955302
I think they probably realized it was a developmental dead end and marketing poison so they gave up on it.

Sig Sauer did something similar.

>>33956719

If you would fucking pay attention to your own video, you would realize that all that work was done by JMB, not by Colt or anyone else, and that everything I said was right.
Instead, you made me waste my time on this post.
Congratulations.

>>33954704
He said good thing.
Not "ruined more than the a2."

>>33954314
>colt are fucking idiots that shit out subpar products at a premium price.

Reminds me of Kimber.

>>33954345
>>33954453
Honestly, Colt's name is the only thing they have left of marginal value. If Cerberus bought them for the right price they could potentially cash in on the name and make a better product through their other gun manufacturers.

>>33952526
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QEv_YYitq4

When they stopped making these they went under for good.

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>>33952526
>Gold Standard General thread: COLT Edition

"The Old Gold Standard is still today's Gold Standard"
- CEO, Goldman Sachs, 2008

"The Man with the Golden Gun was really a movie about Colt's superiority"
-Sean Connery, 1968

"The Colt AR15 is worth its weight in gold"
-Winston Churchill, 1945

>>33952931
no literlly you look at firearms development MBT development everything the United States was building stuff that was decades beyond everyone else then blam the oil crisis and election of jimmy carter and lack of focus n science and look where we are no

>>33956880
"Political Power comes from the barrel of a Colt"
-Mao Tse-tung, 1968

>>33956841
Why to Pythonfags think the revolver is magic?

>>33957034
"The warrior should train and be proficient with all weapons, but my weapon of choice will always be a Colt"
- Miyamoto Musashi, 1642

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>>33952526
OK wheel gun gentlemen, lets get to brass tacks which would you rather have

>Charter arms built / colt stamped Snake gun
or
>S&W Model 29 w/ hillary hole

and Go!

>>33957240
S&W by far. They may be a bit mediocre with wheelguns these days, but Charter Arms is just low budget as shit.