[dsk]

Winchester also go lucky. Don't confuse the Miroku Japan facility with some cheap Chinese work plant. The Miroku plant has been putting out quality that easily rivals anything built in the USA. Right now any Winchester is a work of art. I hope the same will be said of Colt again.

Winchester went under completely, and their name and trademarks were picked up by FN Herstal. The actual company that Oliver created no longer exists. Colt still exists, despite numerous bankruptcies and changes of ownership. What they need more than anything is to break free of their hedge fund ownership where they've been trapped since the mid 1960s. Those owners have done nothing but milk the Colt cash cow for decades and never put any money back into the company to invest in new products or services. Hopefully CZ will have complete ownership and be able to run Colt like a business from now on instead of like a casino.

 

[1911crazy]

Losing made in America. I hope the people do not lose their job like Remington.

Everything manufacturing wise seems to come from somewhere else lately. I’m to the point I lost good paying american jobs to cheaper imported products.

Fact, the manufacturer of the us army M1a abrams tank main engine rotor purchased a lathe made in Japan. It couldn’t cut the material. My company put me building a american made machine to machine the rotor. Along with $250 k worth of tooling and american made machine built by the American workers did it.
We won one for the american machine tool industry.

 

[fnfalman]

Winchester went under completely, and their name and trademarks were picked up by FN Herstal. The actual company that Oliver created no longer exists. Colt still exists, despite numerous bankruptcies and changes of ownership. What they need more than anything is to break free of their hedge fund ownership where they've been trapped since the mid 1960s. Those owners have done nothing but milk the Colt cash cow for decades and never put any money back into the company to invest in new products or services. Hopefully CZ will have complete ownership and be able to run Colt like a business from now on instead of like a casino.

At least with FN’s help, Winchester products are no longer embarrassment to the brand.

M70 and M94 are probably the best made in 30-years.

 

[Slohunter]

Last year I shot a friends CZ 527 in .223, finest and most accurate little bolt action I have ever shot. Fit and finish was off the scale.

 

[US1911]

Soon we’ll be saying...

If it’s a copy of Colt, it’s not a Colt.

followed by...

If it’s a CZ copy of a Colt, its a Colt.

followed by...

If it’s not a CZ COLT, it’s a copy.

 

[Sconie]

Winchester went under completely, and their name and trademarks were picked up by FN Herstal. The actual company that Oliver created no longer exists. Colt still exists, despite numerous bankruptcies and changes of ownership. What they need more than anything is to break free of their hedge fund ownership where they've been trapped since the mid 1960s. Those owners have done nothing but milk the Colt cash cow for decades and never put any money back into the company to invest in new products or services. Hopefully CZ will have complete ownership and be able to run Colt like a business from now on instead of like a casino.

Just as a clarification, the Winchester and Winchester Repeating Arms names and trademarks are (still) owned by Olin Corporation----their use are leased to FN Herstal....Winchester Legal Information

 

[Flight Medic]

Hey, its better than Jeff Bezos buying the company and melting down all the guns into a giant statue of himself to replace the totally racist Lincoln Memorial.

 

[javichin colt]

Everything manufacturing wise seems to come from somewhere else lately. I’m to the point I lost good paying american jobs to cheaper imported products.

Fact, the manufacturer of the us army M1a abrams tank main engine rotor purchased a lathe made in Japan. It couldn’t cut the material. My company put me building a american made machine to machine the rotor. Along with $250 k worth of tooling and american made machine built by the American workers did it.
We won one for the american machine tool industry.

It is not only the labor cost, it is the lack of hand labor skill. In Europe we have the same manufacturing technology than you but we still retain skilled technicians not just CNC programmers.

Trying to produce in the US is prohibitive but I am not talking about taxes, in fact we pay much more taxes here in Europe. I am talking about manufacturing process. The americans tend to avoid hand manufacturing at all cost, focusing only on CNC and automated process. On the other hand, we in Europe we do not have to worry about retired workers, the government takes care of them.

Our problem in Europe is the lack of liberties, if not for our crapy gun laws we could be manufacturing 1911s with the same Wilson Combat or Ed Brown fit and finish for less than half of the retail price. Please, no offense but asking $3000 or $4000 for a hand fitted, hand finished 1911 is insane, it could be done here in Europe for $1500 or less.

CZ will bring new life to Colt. To my knowledge there are no plans to move on production facilities.

 

[M-Peltier]

Soon we’ll be saying...

If it’s a copy of Colt, it’s not a Colt.

followed by...

If it’s a CZ copy of a Colt, its a Colt.

followed by...

If it’s not a CZ COLT, it’s a copy.

More like "Colt doesn't make their 1911's (or M4's) anymore, they're out sourced." Lol

Whatever may come to pass, it can't be worse than the ownership of the last 40 years. I'm looking forward to what may come of it. And hoping they finally leave Connecticut (but not for foreign land).

 

[Ranger8021]

I have to agree with US1911...I would have preferred an American Firearms company like Ruger or Savage purchase Colt. I qualify this based on they way they run their manufacturing plants. Ruger and Savage are light years ahead of Colt on efficiency, logistics, supply chain etc....Ruger would have done a great job managing Colt production and bringing the Colt facility fully into the 21st century with advanced machinery and the LEAN concept that Ruger learned from Toyota. The Ruger plant is extremely efficient and is able to keep up with demand. Colt's plant is a mess and not very efficient. None of what I am saying has to do with casting. Yes that is the Ruger way not the Colt way...I am strictly talking about a facility, a labor force, and management. All three of which Ruger is great at and Colt struggles with. I would have loved to see Ruger or Savage fix Colt via the way they manage their plants....It would not require Ruger to cast Colt products easily could fix colt and retaining the forged products. I say this having been inside pretty much all of the major firearms production facilities in this country. Colt was probably the most unorganized and clearly needing investment....The only facility that worse in my opinion was Charter Arms ....but in Charter Arms defense they don't make anything in house they truck it in from suppliers and put them together. Colt still makes machines and makes components.

 

[flechero]

Seems the CZ guys see this as good.... but check out the DW forums... the CustSvc sucks and has been swirling the drain. You can't even buy parts or get in touch with warranty (phone or email) lately. Been a spiral for the last year.

Although maybe they will put the Colt laser "roll marks" back in focus.


I get the impression that CZ is a good company and take excellent care of their brand. But DW has dropped so far so fast that mario quomo himself might as well be the customer service and warranty guy. I think they are trying to streamline DW, squeaking a few more percentage point of profit from them... which is not the business model that got them to the top tier of production 1911's.

I'm holding out much hope for Colt, just not holding my breath.

 

[Ranger8021]

I am gonna be honest ....not trying to be offensive....in my opinion I think CZ are awful...I don't like their designs and I sure hope they don try to create a Colt pistol on CZ input....just go in and manage the facility better and produce more of the current catalog that no one ever sees outside of the internet. Colt products don't need CZ to sell. The already sell out before leaving the factory

 

[Ranger8021]

Did DW stop making revolvers? If you go on Dan Wesson's website and choose Revolvers the response is "No products were found matching your selection"

 

[Retired AF CE]

I think that in legal perspectives that CZ owned Colt will be more protected from American prosecution of major Lawsuits than if it were solely an American Company.
But they need to get the purchase done quickly.

I just read somewhere that CZ said they won’t change where Colt is made or what they make. They did mention that they will be collaborating together on exciting projects!

Sounds amazing to me!

 

[retsgt]

I will guess this will depend on the chance that Biden doesn't completely destroy the firearms industry in the US as he plans too.

 

[RickB]

Isn't Colt currently owned by a Holding Company, which is usually evidence of a manufacturer having the heart sucked out of it? Ownership by a real gun company would be a welcome change.

 

[fnfalman]

I can’t imagine that ownership by CZ can be negative for Colt.

 

[VoceNoctum]

I get the impression that CZ is a good company and take excellent care of their brand. But DW has dropped so far so fast that mario quomo himself might as well be the customer service and warranty guy. I think they are trying to streamline DW, squeaking a few more percentage point of profit from them... which is not the business model that got them to the top tier of production 1911's.

I'm holding out much hope for Colt, just not holding my breath.

I'm sure CZ-Czech Republic holds to all their standards and does stuff the way they think they should be done, but that doesn't mean CZ-USA is in the drivers seat or has a good handle on everything happening with them or Dan Wesson or whatever. I doubt CZ-USA is sitting around saying "hey, let's buy Colt!", someone on another continent is looking for some value that they see in Colt.

Who knows though, I still don't see what CZ sees in a Colt purchase.

 

[mlin]

If the deal go through, it's likely that we will see some shake up in Colt's production. Business acquisition always comes with some sort of business/cost realignment. "Even if" existing production stay in CT, it is likely that production capacity increase will be in other State(s) that is more gun/tax friendly.

I like Colt's stay in it's root. But CT is not a State supporting the company like Colt. Their workers cannot even purchase the AR that are made in the State without all the nonsense restrictions. How ironic is that.

 

[mlin]

I have to agree with US1911...I would have preferred an American Firearms company like Ruger or Savage purchase Colt. I qualify this based on they way they run their manufacturing plants. Ruger and Savage are light years ahead of Colt on efficiency, logistics, supply chain etc....Ruger would have done a great job managing Colt production and bringing the Colt facility fully into the 21st century with advanced machinery and the LEAN concept that Ruger learned from Toyota. The Ruger plant is extremely efficient and is able to keep up with demand. Colt's plant is a mess and not very efficient. None of what I am saying has to do with casting. Yes that is the Ruger way not the Colt way...I am strictly talking about a facility, a labor force, and management. All three of which Ruger is great at and Colt struggles with. I would have loved to see Ruger or Savage fix Colt via the way they manage their plants....It would not require Ruger to cast Colt products easily could fix colt and retaining the forged products. I say this having been inside pretty much all of the major firearms production facilities in this country. Colt was probably the most unorganized and clearly needing investment....The only facility that worse in my opinion was Charter Arms ....but in Charter Arms defense they don't make anything in house they truck it in from suppliers and put them together. Colt still makes machines and makes components.

Ruger is profitable because of all the reasons you stated and widely use high quality investment casting parts (cheaper to make) that are accepted by people buying Ruger products. That's part of the equation make Ruger successful. Company buying the others to grow and make more money. So if company like Ruger buy Colt, they will try to copy the success from their own products and inject the same concept to Colt. It is unrealistic to think that if Ruger bought Colt, they will keep all of the Colt forged product intact.

Also keep in mind, Ruger is a publicly traded company. If Colt bought by Ruger, Ruger will be in even more pressure from Wall Street to turn around Colt business quick. More aggressive cost cutting and business restructuring etc. which include figure out ways to improve production process and reduce procurement costs like replace parts that can be made cheaper (but still reliable). So every piece of the Colt operation/production will be on the table to chop and reconstruct.