Cemetery Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 Seems lots of layoffs and division shut downs...........guess I shoulda got those Peacemakers a few years ago..... But we had a hunch about this......... http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/03/03/breaking-colt-lays-off-custom-shop-director-employees-company-rumored-gutted/
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 DANG Doesn't sound good at all. OLG
Seldom Seen #16162 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 "The extent of the layoffs are not yet known, but it has been confirmed that Brent Turchi, director of Colt Customer Service and the Colt Custom Shop, was let go. Brent posted the following at 1911forum.com:I am alive and well just no longer with Colt. I will continue to be a member of this forum and interact as I see appropriate. I will also tell the forum when and where I land. I have and will continue to enjoy this forum and its members. All thoughts are appreciated.BrentWhether this is a handful of layoffs or a gutting of the company is yet unknown, but according to misanthrope, things are not looking good. He posted that Colt Canada had reportedly been gutted, and the Colt Advanced Systems division and the Custom Shop virtually shut down entirely:Sorry guys I don’t think there’s any information I can link to.My understanding is that Advanced Systems is shut down entirely, as is the Custom Shop. Colt Canada will be stripped down to little more than the C8 production line and the extraneous people just had their jobs eliminated. The SWORD and MRR programs sound like they’re shelved. From the sounds of things, a lot of job losses."http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...op-director-employees-company-rumored-gutted/
Rye Miles #13621 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 Say it ain't so!!!! Man are the prices on SAA's gonna skyrocket. Maybe I better stop shooting mine and see what happens, I might be able to get 3X what I paid for them!!
Eyesa Horg Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 When did Colt move to New Haven? When I lived down there, they were in Hartford/West Hartford. Notice how the Colt link highlights all bring 'ya to Midway for reloading machines! It'll sure be a bummer to see another great firearms manufacturer in Connecticut go out. Wonder if the state has anything to do with it? My father in-law worked there after the war, still have a bunch of his old pay stubs--pretty neat!
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 If this is a harbinger of the death of Colt, it is a sad thing indeed. But... Maybe this is something else. Maybe they are pairing things down in anticipation of a move out of Connecticut to a more gun friendly state. Maybe if that happens, once the dust settles they will restart these things that have been cut back. No way to know. Just trying to put a positive speculation on it. But I tend to think it's more likely a bad sign than a good one. Personally, I don't know why Colt never embraced Cowboy Action Shooting and instead left it to be dominated by foreign copies of its own design.
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 For what it's worth, I just checked the Colt Website, www.colt.com and did find a 2017 consumer catalog and an MSRP listing for all it's products. Prices for a SAA run from $1600 to $1800 depending on options. Only in .45 or .357 magnum though.
Rye Miles #13621 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I re-read the story and clicked on all the red highlights and like was say they all go to midway usa...I'm beginning to think this is....... FAKE NEWS!!!!!!???????
Chantry Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I live in CT, none of the local shooting forums have mentioned anything and a search at the very liberal local paper has nothing remotely recent about Colt having problems. It's unlikely that news of Colt, at least in CT, closing or otherwise having major problems would escape the notice of the state's biggest paper and the local shooting forums.
Eyesa Horg Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I re-read the story and clicked on all the red highlights and like was say they all go to midway usa...I'm beginning to think this is....... FAKE NEWS!!!!!!??????? +1 Just checked the web site for Colt and they are still in West Hartford, not in New Haven as mentioned in the article. Also, no mention of issues in their Media section.
El Hombre Sin Nombre Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I spoke with the colt customer service this morning. The sky is not falling. They are still in business and the layoffs were small. Probably no one in the unionize production force, so no problem making the guns. What is being changed is the custom shop, as the manager is now gone. They currently aren't taking in any new orders, but orders placed with deposit are still good to go, which is why I called in the first place. Colt is reorganizing the custom shop so that they can manage the enormous backlog and make it so that new custom orders are finished within a year and custom work being done on guns already built to be finished within two weeks. So while it may be bad for some people caught in the transition, like Brent the manager of the custom shop, perhaps they are finally looking into focusing on us regular customers rather than placing all of their eggs in the government contract basket. Time will tell.
Captain Clark Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 If this is a harbinger of the death of Colt, it is a sad thing indeed. But... Maybe this is something else. Maybe they are pairing things down in anticipation of a move out of Connecticut to a more gun friendly state. Maybe if that happens, once the dust settles they will restart these things that have been cut back. No way to know. Just trying to put a positive speculation on it. But I tend to think it's more likely a bad sign than a good one. Personally, I don't know why Colt never embraced Cowboy Action Shooting and instead left it to be dominated by foreign copies of its own design. Colt brought much of their troubles on themselves in the last couple of decades , starting with the "voluntary " AR sales restrictions in the 90s to the management at one point stating that gun owners should take a test! Today CAS shooters use many manufactures, both foreign and domestic. I adore my old Colts, and am saddened by the modern incarnation of the company.
Pat Riot Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 New Haven? Maybe it is fake news. It is my opinion that people that push fake news should be pushing a library cart at a nearby penitentiary. But then there would be no room for criminals...
Sedalia Dave Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I re-read the story and clicked on all the red highlights and like was say they all go to midway usa...I'm beginning to think this is....... FAKE NEWS!!!!!!??????? The links are auto generated by the hosting bulletin board. Basically all the words in red are click bait
Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I spoke with the colt customer service this morning. The sky is not falling. They are still in business and the layoffs were small. Probably no one in the unionize production force, so no problem making the guns. What is being changed is the custom shop, as the manager is now gone. They currently aren't taking in any new orders, but orders placed with deposit are still good to go, which is why I called in the first place. Colt is reorganizing the custom shop so that they can manage the enormous backlog and make it so that new custom orders are finished within a year and custom work being done on guns already built to be finished within two weeks. So while it may be bad for some people caught in the transition, like Brent the manager of the custom shop, perhaps they are finally looking into focusing on us regular customers rather than placing all of their eggs in the government contract basket. Time will tell. I saw "Shooting USA" with Jim Scoutten the other day, and he and his crew were at the S.H.O.T. show. They stopped by the Colt booth and were excited about the new version of the Cobra. The Colt reps were also saying as how they were going to be working more for the regular customers and less on the government contracts. I think that they did say something about reorganizing the Custom Shop, but NOTHING about closing anything down. As an aside, Colt is also making a commemorative M16A1, continuing the serial numbers where they left off when they stopped making them. All markings are the same as when they were original issue in the '60s. Semi Auto only.
John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 Sounds like they will sell a bunch of those M16A1's
Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 I've been hearing this about Colt for the last 35 years.
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted March 3, 2017 Posted March 3, 2017 Classic guns Colt has stopped making in my life time, that I either owned or wanted to get: Python Diamondback in .22 Anaconda in .45 Colt Woodsman..... I think its called the 'target' model I'm sure some of you can also list some classic, great firearms once made by Colt. ..........Widder
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Classic guns Colt has stopped making in my life time, that I either owned or wanted to get: Python Diamondback in .22 Anaconda in .45 Colt Woodsman..... I think its called the 'target' model I'm sure some of you can also list some classic, great firearms once made by Colt. ..........Widder Colt Match Target Colt 1877 (why not!!!) Yeah, bring back all the Snakes.
Michigan Slim Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Love my 20" Hbar Match Target. It gets the job done.
Marty Mudd Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Love my 20" Hbar Match Target. It gets the job done. Me,too.
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 I think I will just hang on to my two unfired 44Special Peacemakers ! My Gransons may find them very valuable some day .
Henry T Harrison Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 I think I will just hang on to my two unfired 44Special Peacemakers ! My Gransons may find them very valuable some day . [/quote Or worthless depending on the political climate but I'd be happy to take that risk now
J.D. Daily Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Love my 20" Hbar Match Target. It gets the job done. Me too. Bought mine less than a month before the patients in the asylum that is housed in the CA capitol building defined them as Assault Weapons. I read the tea leaves and knew there would be an immediate price escalation when the Fake Stream Media announced the laws passage. when I picked it up after the cooling off period its' price had increased 25%. Colt Manufacturing may not have a long term future as an independent company. It depends on their ability to modern manufacturing methods; which, requires significant access to capitol. Otherwise their sales will be limited to customers willing to pay a significant premium for a "Colt" firearm. The Colt brand & trademark has significant value; so, a company like FNH, Freedom Group, etc. would purchase Colt Manufacturing if the price is right or the assets in a bankruptcy.
Chili Ron Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Howdy, Do you suppose Ruger could buy Colt? Wouldn't that be something? Best CR
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Nah. Beretta S.A. will buy the Colt moniker. Then guess who will be making the guns "marked" Colt?? First two guesses don't count
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Maybe Colt will file bankruptcy and restructure like they have done in the past.
Tennessee Stud Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 SASS... needs to buy "Colt ®"... Hell... I would put $10k in it. ts
Henry T Harrison Posted March 4, 2017 Posted March 4, 2017 Wish I never sold my Colt Mustang Not a chance of selling mine or my Gold Cup. Selling the Cup would mean instant divorce
El Hombre Sin Nombre Posted March 5, 2017 Posted March 5, 2017 Maybe Colt will file bankruptcy and restructure like they have done in the past.You mean like they just did less than two years ago?i am assuming the recent layoffs are a part of the needed restructuring. They took in a lot of debt as the vulture, er venture capitalists continue to bleed the company dry while getting very rich off of it.
Seldom Seen #16162 Posted March 5, 2017 Posted March 5, 2017 The Colt brand & trademark has significant value; so, a company like FNH, Freedom Group, etc. would purchase Colt Manufacturing if the price is right or the assets in a bankruptcy. Actually Colt has lost of it's luster with American consumers. Poor management, shoddily made guns, no warranty, small product line. Their two main products, the 1911 and AR, are made by numerous other companies and are higher quality at a lower price. The SAA is way overpriced and made in small numbers. The Colt Expanse is not even made by Colt. It is made by another company and Colt just adds it's logo on it. Colt management has also cheapen the brand by marketing such things as kitchen knives! I love my Gold Cup and it is the last 1911 I will part with but I will not buy a new Colt firearm.
Yul Lose Posted March 5, 2017 Posted March 5, 2017 SASS... needs to buy "Colt ®"... Hell... I would put $10k in it. ts NO!
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