[Ranger8021]

With all due respect, the American management at Colt would fugg up a 2 car funeral.

I understand what you are saying but I would have rather seen Smith & Wesson, or Savage get Colt.....Even Ruger would have been better

 

[Bowdrie]

My hope is that they are smart enough to revive the SAA, making tons of them beating the italians at an affordable price.

IIRC, many years ago Colt made an "entry level" SAA called the "Cowboy", which had a plain matte finish.
They were aimed at the "Cowboy Action" shooters.
It didn't seem to last all that long, but they bring high prices today.
My understanding is that the SAA is still produced, just in very small numbers, as their are not very many people who actually know how to build a gun that requires so much hand work?
But I agree; more SAAs.

 

[Hoptoad]

I understand what you are saying but I would have rather seen Smith & Wesson, or Savage get Colt.....Even Ruger would have been better

You have a valid point.

 

[fnfalman]

SW to have bought Colt so that they can start putting internal locks and Hillary holes on Colts?

Savage isn’t doing so well that they can afford to buy Colt.

Ruger could have done it but they didn’t buy.

 

[mlin]

SW to have bought Colt so that they can start putting internal locks and Hillary holes on Colts?

Savage isn’t doing so well that they can afford to buy Colt.

Ruger could have done it but they didn’t buy.

More MIM and Investment casting parts if SW or Ruger did it....

 

[Old Grey Hare]

The least offensive and most capable, imho, American name that should have bought Colt is Henry.

But that didn't happen. CZ bought it, and I for one am grateful at this point. Much better "feeling" than having Colt bought out by yet another corporate raider or venture capitalista.

I wonder how I will feel about it in 5 years.

 

[Autonomous]

I suspect the positives outweigh the negatives.
Competent gunmakers vs. bankers. Hmmm.

 

[mlin]

The least offensive and most capable, imho, American name that should have bought Colt is Henry.

But that didn't happen. CZ bought it, and I for one am grateful at this point. Much better "feeling" than having Colt bought out by yet another corporate raider or venture capitalista.

I wonder how I will feel about it in 5 years.

Henry is a relatively small private company. It is unlikely to come up with $220 million for acquistion.

 

[fnfalman]

Henry is a relatively small private company. It is unlikely to come up with $220 million for acquistion.

I was about to say the same thing. They’re doing well but not that well.
I doubt that SW is in good enough shape to buy anything. The only truly big dollars profit American gun maker is Ruger. And who knows, they might not have enough moolah to buy Colt either. Hence they bought Marlin probably at pennies on the dollars.

 

[VoceNoctum]

CZ's statement about Colt's management competency is standard corporatespeak. It means nothing. CZ will make changes as it sees necessary. We'll all learn what the outcome is as events unfold.

Yeah, it most likely just means they won't change anything for the first few months while they quietly look for some folks to put in charge. (Assuming they don't have anyone lined up already.)
I do think it means they'll be retaining the Connecticut factory though, so we'll see how that works out.

 

[VoceNoctum]

IIRC, many years ago Colt made an "entry level" SAA called the "Cowboy", which had a plain matte finish.
They were aimed at the "Cowboy Action" shooters.
It didn't seem to last all that long, but they bring high prices today.
My understanding is that the SAA is still produced, just in very small numbers, as their are not very many people who actually know how to build a gun that requires so much hand work?
But I agree; more SAAs.

The Cowboy was a real nice gun, I should have bought one. Like the Python Elite, everyone asked for it, they made it, no one bought it. Now they're in demand much more than they were when made.
They did have the transfer bar safety, which Colt actually licensed from Ruger. Mostly though I think the dislike was because folks wanted the SAA exactly, but for $400, which just wasn't going to happen. In that timeframe, 98 to like -04ish, Colt made a lot of guns that folks wanted, and folks just bitched about them. The debut of the CCO, the Pony, the Pocket 9, the Magnum Carry, all great guns that fit the market and people complained that it wasn't XY or Z.
Only the Defender stood the test of time, really.

 

[Stroker116]

I'm pretty Bummed out, I own more Colts than any other brand.
Doesn't seam right a Foreign gun company owning a American Icon.

CZ is closing it's manufacturing in the Cezc Republic and unless Biden craps the bed will do all manufacturing here in the USA

 

[royslev]

Private ownership has dramatically different financial objectives than public ownership. [And ownership by a public company is identical to pubic ownership.] Publicly owned companies are like rats in a circular cage...chasing a never-ending increase in profits for the benefit of unknown shareholders controlled by Wall Street investment banks. Private companies, on the other hand, chase only enough profit to satisfy their owners - who as often as not get their own hands dirty at the shop every day. Private companies become public companies only when the owners want to cash out, or die prior to resolving the continuation-of-management issues.

For several years I was CFO of a baseball card company (which owned Donruss and Pinnacle Brands). Its new owners aspired to take the company public - a formula for death in the aftermath of the mid-1990s baseball players' strike. That baseball card company was simply NOT a candidate for public ownership. Today? RIP.

Another example was Harley Davidson - a great, innovative company until it was "taken public" and began worshipping at the alter of revenue growth. The very thing that made HD famous - a bike-owner's ability to sell his bike for more than he paid for it - went down the tubes when HD began to make more bikes than its dealerships could sell. And those dealerships also suffered when they were no longer able to mark up the MSRP on those bikes due to competition from the HD dealership on the next block. Once again - public ownership of HD foreshadowed its demise.

Now we see the same thing occurring in the firearms business...companies emphasizing revenue growth ahead of product quality. That Colt your dad bought 25 years ago? Used to be, that Colt could be sold for a decent premium over its purchase price. Today? Nope...too may Colts (and Colt look-alikes) flooding the market, thus keeping prices low. Thus, the public company owners move to (a) cut costs - specifically costs that would otherwise either improve product quality or improve customer service - and (b) peddle less and less interesting (and cheaper) weapons. That is exactly what Colt did. And its what Remmington did. And other "iconic" American gun makers, too. Pile on top the great expense of defending litigation (much of it purely polotical in origin and intent) you you have a marketplace that is not conducive to public company ownership.

[Interesting aside here: when a company increases its product quality, the result is actually decreased cost of customer service and lowwer product warranty repairs. That formula was preached by management guru Edward Demming in the 1950s and early 1960s, initially in the US to deaf ears, and later to the Japanese, who fully bought into the notion of continuously-improving product quality in everything the Japanese made. But corporate America failed to recognize that relationship - check out Chrysler in the 1970s-1980s as a prime example of what declining product quality did to the company's existence.]

So...what's to be done. Well, ownership needs to be someone who places revenue and profit growth second (or third) in line to product quality and brand value. Is CZ that new owner? Only time will tell. But the Colt/CZ saga may well be only chapter 2 of the future of all American firearms makers. Who's chapter 1 about. Why the late Rock Island Armory (now RIA, owned by Armscor), of course. While the effite among us may disparage Armscor/RIA's Philippines manufacturing base, that base nevertheless makes good quality, affordable weapons, munitions, etc., and is steadily fortifying its brand in many countries outside the USA, particularly Southeast Asia.

Stay tuned.

your "effite" in the last paragraph is spelled effete. Sorry I'm an English teacher couldn't help myself. I use spell checkers myself.

I'm pretty Bummed out, I own more Colts than any other brand.
Doesn't seam right a Foreign gun company owning a American Icon.

I love my CZ and Dan Wesson products have seemed to hold up. This made in America or not made at all b.s. was debunked by Toyota a long time ago. Biden America is not the old America anyway, so who cares? My Glocks were made in Austria and who cares? It's who makes the better mousetrap is what counts. And that used to be a well known American slogan and philosophy.

 

[Endall]

I have three Colts and three CZ’s. Shoot the CZ’s more. Think this is fantastic. Now if they would buy the train wreck Tanfoglio.

 

[15roundsof9]

From what I understand, Colt only assembles the AR's they make now. Nothing to move but a few hand tools and work benches.

The Union contract is, im pretty sure between the Union and Colt, not between the Union and CZ. When my Job a few years ago was union, every time a new company took over, the union had to re-negotiate with the new company. If CZ were smart, and I believe they are, they would tell the union to buzz off.

Before they tell em to buzz off they better secure whatever equipment they (CZ) intend to keep in working order.

 

[VoceNoctum]

I have three Colts and three CZ’s. Shoot the CZ’s more. Think this is fantastic. Now if they would buy the train wreck Tanfoglio.

I kept meaning to get a CZ, but never got around to it. Now, can I retroactively call one of my Colt's a CZ?

 

[Boston Bill]

[Interesting aside here: when a company increases its product quality, the result is actually decreased cost of customer service and lowwer product warranty repairs. That formula was preached by management guru Edward Demming in the 1950s and early 1960s, initially in the US to deaf ears, and later to the Japanese, who fully bought into the notion of continuously-improving product quality in everything the Japanese made. But corporate America failed to recognize that relationship - check out Chrysler in the 1970s-1980s as a prime example of what declining product quality did to the company's existence.]
[/QUOTE]

1986, finally. The year GM got the message. I was a service advisor from Oct 1983 until January 2017. Were they perfect? Nope. But every year since 1986 the product got better.

 

[Old Grey Hare]

Here's how to tell a Colt from a CZ:

If the rollmark is 100% perfectly straight, not cratered, if the serrations on the slide face the correct way and the fit and finish is beyond compare, it's a CZ. Or a Colt made before WWII.

This, from a current Colt owner, and life-long outright colt fetishist since my first shots with a Police Positive Special. .38. Nickel. Nice gun. I was 8. 1978. Then a real 1911, a 50's Commercial when I was 10. I was beyond the moon. It kicked like a pack mule back then, and I was a noodle of a kid, but I hit the black. And again, and again. It shoots where I point. The sights were.. well.. what sights.. ditto for the Positive. I was hooked. I read the books. Learned all I could about the man and his revolvers. Then Browning and the automatics. And then I stopped learning about Colt, around 1989 when I left for the USAF. One day in 1999 the USAF hands me an M-16 to qualify, and ... it's an A2.. round guards... no pony. Instead, a fancey "FNH" script. What... when.. how... why...?!? That's when I learned Colt was on a meteoric descent.

Then I finally save my pennies and got mine in 2019, and well, the rest is in this forum somewhere. But here's a summary:

A little aside: I'm a My Little Pony fan. The 2010 show only, not the toyetic garbage that preceded it (sorry, fans of the originals...) When I got my own 73B Series 70, it was through an FFL 'cause no one here sells Colt. The finish on the rounds was this mysterious, deep light-sucking black, speckled with little minuscule bits of what seemed to be .. sparkle. Diamond dust. It was absolutely stunning. The flats were serviceable. Not like the 50's guns, but it was nice. I named her "Midnight Sparkle."

And then a few weeks later, while shooting, I"m like ... "***.. why can't I grab the slide with my left thumb..."

The right-hand serrations were backwards. Back to the pony hatchery she goes. When she came back, 2 months later... there was no sparkle. It was a different slide. The flat.. wasn't. The top of the left flat now angles up by maybe .25* for the last half inch at the muzzle. And at the back, the piece of the flat that goes above the serrations and aft of the thumb safety's notch, is angled down by a full degree. I mean honestly folks, I shelled out almost a grand for that. A moment I had been thinking about since 1980. It was my 50th year here. Thank you, UAW. Thank you, Colt.

I renamed her "Midnight Derpy." She looks derp, but she can shoot. Shoots better than when new. Rubbing on the dust cover's gone too. I didn't even write "Thank You" to the factory. I was apalled at the state of my gun, but it shot 680/680 rounds, in any grip combination you can think, including low-grip one-handed, which to me is 100% the best feel from this thing. It was made for it. So instead of b*tching at the factory, I just kept shooting and enjoying it 'til covid made it impractical. I practice with airgun now. (well, always, tbh)

So yes, I think it's a good thing a real gunmaker bought Colt. Because after 60 years of being owned by money people, Colt forgot how to cut metal, write words on metal, finish metal, and listen to customers.

That's my opinion. I have a huge love for Colt, for no good reason other than by blind dumb luck, they were my first shot. And that one, made in 1903 I think she was, was a jewel of a machine.

That's the Colt I want. Yes, I want a fresh, new daring Colt with the latest and greatest -- and I'm not being sarcastic. Was a time Colt was bleeding edge. They need that again. They need a Browning or a Garand (the talents, not the guns..)

But they also need to remember to build us those beautiful machines of a time not so far ago. I've seen a Royal Blue trooper Mk III, and that was what.. 70s? I've seen Royal Blue Series 70's NIB go for money that made me cringe. So I bought new. Do I regret it? Naw man. She's on my hip right now. I trust my life to her.

Please forgive if I seem maudlin. I'm smarting fierce from my new friend arthritis and this may be a brandy-fuelled post..

The sights, in retrospect, did get much better.

 

[Fatboy46]

It’s a chance for the brand to continue.

 

[40dcoe]

I think it good for Colt. CZ will bring in capital that limited Colt for some time.