COLT Firearms is not American owned anymore
 

This is not "great news" but after reading the story it's not all bad.

Why does Colt have a Russian-style onion dome at the factory?
- It looks out of place. :confused:

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Colt today is not the Colt that has been revered. It has been living on a past reputation for many years.

FYI: Colt Armory (1865) – Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Yup. Decades of building mediocre and overpriced products. CZ is a top notch company with excellent products, hopefully they can right the ship.

I don't think this is a bad thing. Colt products with CZ quality might do well.

Although today, you could slap just about anything together and sell it.

Especially if the store throws in a few hundred rounds of ammo as a bonus.

CZ also makes Dan Wesson.

Super good quality for a reasonable price as compared to their Sauer Kraut and Itie competitors. Labour is cheaper in Czech land...

Their CZ 75 Shadow rules the competition circuit. Very similar to the Sig p210 with the inside slide rails.. Their CZ 75 Compact is used by the Xzech popo and has been rigorously tested and used by NATO...xlt carry pistola spoon.

I do think that they are gona come out with a hellious 1911 series and do the Snakie wheel spoons right..would bet on an AR platform as well.. Whoops bad me..I forgot all bout the SA line. Maybe the Bisley flat tops...whew blow my dress up and I ain't even wearin panties on that one...

I will be first in line to get my hot lil mits on one...

Maybe Colts will be worth buying again...

Colt fked up the reintro of the Python as you pull the trigger and nothing happens...the cylinder wouldn't turn..whoops...

I would like to see da 8 in Python come back along with a 4 in Diamond Back in 22 LR. or even an 8 in Diamond Back in 22....whew that blows my dress up...

You got something against 6" Diamondbacks?

... 'cause I don't ;)

Uberti was makin Bisleys in the late 90's into the early 00's...they even made a Flattop version which are super hard to find, last one I saw I bought that was I think in 17 outa Renta in AZ.

The other guy who was turnin out Bisleys before he closed shop was USSA Firearms..only seen 1 Flat top and that was at Amoskeag a coupla years earlier...he was using Itie frames from Ubertie..

Original Colt Bisley Flatops start in the 5K range for refinished and go to apx 20K.

I got that space covered...and recovered and covered again ...........>>>>>>>>

OK then .... I just knew I didn't mess up way back when either :).

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Yo daddy...Colt King Super Conversions....these were don by Kings Guns Works in San Francisco from before WW2 until the early 50's...they did Smiths, Colts revlovers and autos...lots of that era pistolas have the King Sights on them..top quality stuff..

I have the holy grail trilogy in the Officers models....the 38, 32 and 22...and for good measure a Offical POPO in 22 LR.

All are tough to find but the 32 is made of Unobtanium....I know of 3...in 40 years..mine cam outa Butterfields in SF in the late 90's..

I shoot the OP 22 talk about smoooooth....jis thinkin bout it makes me hard...

Colt copied the King Super for the Python...

WOW...lets talk about 26 Centuries for one...I didn't know.. Prices are movin so fast now...........it...is...hard...to ...keep...up>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/74/606/cased-set-of-colt-king-super-target-double-action-revolvers

We have discussed this already.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1083047-cz-buying-colt.html

Yes, their "quality" has been hit and miss for our entire lifetimes, if not longer. I lucked out a few years ago and stumbled into one of their new 1911's that has proven to be the equal of any I have seen from anyone. But most aren't.

My late 1970's vintage Python is nothing to write home about. I have Smith Model 29's and one Model 19 from the same era that are notably better quality. And they sold for about half the price.

I will say, though, that their newest (in the last decade or so) Peacemakers are the best they have ever made, and I've owned a pretty good bucket full of these things. But these are now all Custom Shop guns, and Doug Turnbull is doing the finishing for them. Beyond just good looks, though, they are also the best shooting Peacemakers I have ever owned. Colt, even during the best of times, often struggled with chamber and bore dimensions with these guns. They have finally gotten them right. It only took 140 years...

Well, anyway, hopefully this new infusion of capital will finally see them heading back in a positive direction. Time will tell.

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It always baffled me that they had the legendary snake guns just sitting on the shelf, and even when they were hemorrhaging money they seemed reluctant to bring them back to market. Then to bring back the Python and botch the quality, geez.

They were simply too expensive to manufacture. These were all late 19th to early 20th century designs, requiring a good deal of expensive tooling (which was all but worn out), lots of machining from bar stock, and way too much hand fitting. What Colt really needed was to update these revolvers to utilize modern manufacturing methods, including investment casting, N/C machining, and modern CAD based designs that would accommodate all of that. They refused to invest in any of that.

They did, in fact, take this route with the new Python, however. The fact that they could get that gun on the market for "only" $1,500 speaks to the success of their redesign. The old style Python would have to be a $3,000 gun in today's market, to support its outdated manufacturing methods. By all accounts it is an absolutely wonderful gun. It's unfortunate that they simply couldn't seem to keep their eye on the ball long enough to ensure absolute first time quality. Symptomatic of the company today, though. Let's hope CZ isn't going to put up with that nonsense.

The Harley Davidson business model. Does CZ still make bikes?

I'll just wait until Tabby's snake collection hits the market ... then pick up several classics dirt cheap ;)

....well, that's my plan.

If only Colt had adopted the HD business model and manufacturing processes, they would arguably be in a far better position in their market today.

The motorcycle market is dying. Everyone knows that. Boomers were apparently the last great purchasers of motorcycles, and not just Harleys. The entire market has been in a dizzying downward spiral for a decade. Interestingly, in this dying market, Harley continue to maintain a dominant market share. A majority share of nothing is still nothing, unfortunately, and nothing looks good for anyone in the motorcycle business.

Colt, on the other hand, are in a market in which every manufacturer can sell literally anything and everything they can make. All have serious backlogs, from months to even years in some cases. The fact that Colt can't seem to hang on in such a market is very telling. And the reasons are quite obvious...

Harley is often accused of continuing to build the same tired old designs. Yes, today's bikes would be immediately recognizable to anyone who was a Harley mechanic in the 1930's. Yet, digging deeper, we see and endless stream of engineering innovation not only in product design, but more importantly, in manufacturing methods.

Harley is well known, and quite well respected, within engineering and manufacturing circles for their many innovations in manufacturing. Their bikes may appear to be anachronistic throwbacks, but their materials, designs, and methods are all state of the art in industry. They are using thoroughly modern design and manufacturing technologies to produce bikes that look like they could have come from the 1930's, but are being produced competitively in today's market.

Contrast that with Colt. Colt continues to make guns that look remarkably like the ones they made a century ago because, well, they are exactly what they were making a century ago. On the same tooling, utilizing the same outdated, labor intensive methods. They have refused to reinvest and update their manufacturing equipment and methods. If they had, indeed, followed the Harley business model, they would be making what appear to be traditional revolvers, but they would be utilizing modern CAD, N/C machining, investment casting, etc. etc. You know, like Harley does...

And no, unfortunately, CZ no longer makes motorcycles. I think someone tried to buy that part of the business in the 1990's or early 2000's. I think it was one of the Italian manufacturers. Oh, and the CZ that makes firearms is a different company anyway. The two spilt somewhere around, before or after, WWII. They have not been affiliated since. The old motorcycle company survives, making component car parts and stuff. Two entirely separate companies today, though.

I ordered a Model 19 Comp Carry for my son 6 months ago. Still in queue.

https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/review-smith-wesson-model-19-carry-comp/361606

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