Colt suspends production of AR-15 for civilian market

Here it goes...

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Gunmaker Colt says it is suspending its production of rifles for the civilian market including the popular AR-15.

Colt’s chief executive officer, Dennis Veilleux, says it is not permanently ending production but believes there is already an adequate supply of sporting rifles on the market. He said in a statement Thursday the company will concentrate on fulfilling military and law enforcement contracts with its rifle manufacturing.

The West Hartford, Connecticut-based company has received some criticism from gun rights advocates for moving away from the civilian market.

Veilleux said in the statement the company remains committed to the Second Amendment and is adapting to consumer demand.

A national gun control debate has focused on access to AR-15s and other assault-style rifles because of their use in mass shootings.

Colt suspends production of AR-15 for civilian market

 

Basically they are saying that the current AR market is too tough at the moment to make a profit? I can respect a business decision. Colt makes a fine product, but there are a lot of competitors who make every bit and as good an AR. I'd never pay a premium to get a rifle just because it has their roll mark, but am sorry to see them leave.

 

The Prancing Pony lost it's position of the top of the line a long time ago, and while sad, at least they know when to fold instead of trying to remain competitive in a market saturated with like products! While I am sad to see Colt take this position and to see them going through the hard times, they have done quite well with the 1911 line and looks like they are ramping up their product line in areas where they still have a good market position so that is a good thing! I really wish they would drop their prices and become more competitive with out cutting quality, but it's a long shot at best! I am a YUGE Colt fan, so this kind of hits a little hard, but was not unexpected!

 

Well, crap! I have a Colt LE6920 (AR-15) that I bought more for sentimental reasons than anything. I know it inside and out and I like it! It's a good firearm. I hope this won't have any adverse effects on me.

 

Colt Mfg, always the one to back peddle any time there is a controversy.

Old Sam has turned over in his grave so many times he doesn't know which way is up.

 

Colt is a hell of a lot bigger then folks realize, so much so that the Civilian Gun side of things is pretty small in comparison, so it makes sense for them to make cuts there to focus on other areas where their income is much MUCH greater!

 

Nope. It will increase the value. Also I think Colt sources most of it's parts. From what I recall when I was learning about the platform is that Colt only makes the barrel and finishes the raw forgings for the upper and lower it gets from a supplier.

Parts-wise you aren't in any danger and if you want a replacement barrel PSA sells the FN version of the same, heavy chrome lined and all. Personally I prefer a nitrided barrel over chrome (more accurate) even though chrome has a slightly longer life. Last time I looked the .MIL M4 contract was still split by Colt and FN. BTW, PSA supplies FN with most of the parts for their past of the M4 contract.

 

My bet is that the left will use this to try to bludgeon other mfgs to do the same thing.

 

Too bad they don't bring back a few revolvers, but I think they got out of that game for the same reasons.

 

I was just thinking about all the tears about to be shed by the Colt selling moderators at M4.com . Now you will only be able to trust your life to BCM...

 

Colt did bring back the Snakes and the 1911's in various flavors, but the prices are Sky High on the Snakes, and the 1911's are so so! Only one that is worth anything special is the Delta Elite, and it's price isn't all that bad!

 

PSA uses the FN Chrome lined barrel in some of their 300 pistols.

 

I was reading elsewhere that the article and statements have already been walked back to some degree and that they are not exiting the civilian market as claimed. I have no dog (or Shetland) in the fight but have seen this posted across several forums without the clarifications given.

I will see if I can dig out the other links tonight.

 

You wouldn't know by seeing what I have seen in the local LGS, They had all the usual 1911's from all the various manufactures, and then the COLT have a special place in the cases, should tell you Colt is still revered by many, both consumers and vendors!
I finally got to hold and fondle a new Snake, one very sexy King Cobra, and while it was exciting to see and the quality was what was expected ( very good) the price guaranteed it would not be following me home! Sadly, this is WHY Colt is in the position it finds it's self in, They have priced them selves too far above the market and become such a niche that they do not reach or even appeal to those who they should be targeting! I long for the days when you could actually afford a nice 1911 or a Python, and you had several choices, not so today! While Colt seems to have learned this with the 1911 market, sadly it hasn't crossed over into their other lines!

 

If True, in my opinion this IS A SLAP IN THE FACE OF EVERY CIVILIAN by Colt. I would boycot their products and only buy older used colts or after market expired patent, previously exclusive colt products. I don't need to pay thru the nose, bleeding cash because of the high NAME BRAND price when there are plenty of good as or better other manufacturers.

 

Not the first time COLT abandoned civilian market for PTB

 

Pay Back time to the MAN.
Bailed out by the Gov and now it is whipping boy time.
Chapter 11
Dropped by the U.S. Military, Colt Goes Bankrupt
The company that armed generations of American soldiers has filed for bankruptcy.


Jacob Siegel
Updated 04.14.17 10:33AM ET / Published 06.17.15 5:15AM ET

Reuters
After decades arming American soldiers, first with the Vietnam era M16 and later the modern M4 rifles carried in Iraq and Afghanistan, famed gun manufacturer Colt lost its contract with the military in 2013. It never recovered. Last Sunday Colt Defense LLC filed for bankruptcy after 179 years in business.

Colt’s chapter 11 filing comes after earlier, failed attempts to restructure its $350 million debt were rejected by the company’s bondholders. Last November, The Wall Street Journal reports, Colt borrowed $70 million from Morgan Stanley in a bailout loan to allow the company to pay down interest on its debts. Under an article of the bankruptcy code, Colt is now headed to auction, where it’s hoping for a quick sale. The company lists its sponsor Capital Management LLC, as its “stalking horse bidder,” meaning that Sciens, which which owns close to 90% of the company, has agreed to buy out Colt’s assets and secured liabilities.

The downturn for Colt seems to have started after the company, which had relied on sales to the government, lost a multimillion-dollar bid to arm the military.

Following a drawn-out and contentious bidding war, Colt lost its contract to provide the Pentagon with M4 rifles in 2013. The $77 million contract went instead to a Belgian company, F.N. Herstal.

A source familiar with Colt’s financial situation characterized the 2013 loss of the contract to provide the military with M4s as “tough to quantify” but called it “definitely the main contributing factor to the business being where it is.”

Problems had plagued Colt’s version of the M4 for years before it lost the bid.

Among soldiers who relied on it, the rifle was often criticized as being unreliable—good in sterile conditions but prone to malfunctioning once it got dirty, as it often did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2007, Colt’s M4 finished last in an “extreme dust test” that pitted the rifle against models made by rival manufacturers. Despite the poor showing, Army leaders said they were still confident in Colt’s design.

The Colt M4 was good enough for the conventional military but special operations units with more money and latitude began ditching the weapon years before the Pentagon abandoned it. “The Army’s Delta Force replaced its M4s with the H&K 416 in 2004 after tests revealed that the piston operating system significantly reduces malfunctions while increasing the life of parts,” Army Times reported in 2007.

Losing the Pentagon’s business in 2013 may have been the worst blow to Colt, but the company faced other challenges.

Foreign Policy’s David Francis points out that it’s not just the military that has turned away from Colt. “Law enforcement officers are increasingly turning to Glock pistols as a sidearm,” Francis writes, “as opposed to Colt’s 1911 gun.” He attributes the shift to officers’ believing “the Glock to be a more reliable pistol,” and describes “a long record of complaints about the Colt gun jamming.”

On top of losing business from the military and police Colt’s corporate structure prevented the company from capitalizing on a boom in gun sales after the election of President Obama. Because the company had created separate entities for its military and private gun owner business, “the severed halves of Colt somehow missed the post-2008 “Obama surge” as much as other U.S. gun manufacturers,” Paul M. Barrett wrote last year in Bloomberg Business in an article warning about Colt’s financial decline.

 

“The Army’s Delta Force replaced its M4s with the H&K 416 in 2004 after tests revealed that the piston operating system significantly reduces malfunctions while increasing the life of parts, Army Times reported in 2007.”

Yeah, well, if I had their kind of budget I would replace my LE6920 with a HK416 also...but that sure ain't happening for quite a while.

 

Funny and telling, there were no such issues with the M-16/M-4 prior to 2003 when used in the sand and dust, so why the sudden change? An I can tell you, nether the HK or the FN, nor the SIG are any better! About the only one with any chance is the Tavor, which the U.S Mil will NOT ever supply to troupes! I smell something fishy here!