Colt to Suspend Civilian sells of AR's

[Steve Shannon]

My apologies. I was referring to the AR 15 only.

Absolutely no apologies needed. I’m sorry I misread your meaning.
I would be curious how Colt institutionalizes the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. Presumably the failures in use are public data since they’re gathered by the government.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Sry0fcr]

Colt has a lot not going for it IMO.
1. They operate in an anti gun AO.
2. They have a union.
3. They out source everything.
4. Drama- bankruptcy, not selling to civilians.
5. Zero marketing- they provide very little information as to what's going on past, present, and future.
6. Knowing what I know about gov contracts, the end users don't come close to getting the best or optimal hardware. Life saving or life dependent hardware is no exception.

All that said, i'm not against Colt and nor do I think they are necessarily the best. What Colt does have is the largest collection (about 55 years worth now) of valuable data on what doesn't work, failure points, and finally what does work. No other brand has had as many duty weapons fielded and used across as broad of a spectrum of users, environments, and conditions from which to draw off of.

No doubt Colt has a lot working against them, their management/leadership (or lack thereof) being the main culprit. But they know how to build a basic AR patterned gun, which is why we have 4. Most all others are just copies as very few have actually invested in engineering to advance the platform.

[FlyAndFight]

If somebody keels over and I get named the next Colt CEO, my first moves:

1. Get the hell out of Damnyankeestan. Offer relocation assistance for employees.
2. No more union shop--instead make shares a part of the compensation package so every employee is a part owner, and run things more like Toyota/Nissan/etc's auto plants in the South where everybody has a voice.
3. Reduce outsourcing to only those things it makes sense to outsource. Things like inviting John Thomas's Retro Arms Works to spearhead the "Retro AR" line, finding someone similar to do the Retro 1911's.
4. Streamline the catalog--focus each line on a handful of core models to be offered every year, and have another handful of slots for things to be rotated in and out of production every year. (Using 1911s for example, the "core line" would be one each Blued and Stainless in Government, Commander and Officers sizes, the Combat Commander and a "basic-bitch milspec" Government. WWI Repro, WWII Repro, nickeled .38 Super would be among the "rotators.")
5. Engage with the customer base at NRAAM, SHOT, etc for Market Research. Focus the "rotating production slots" on most demanded models, with the understanding that after one year in production every rotator model will be taking at least a year off.
6. Now that the AR is "open source," work with SAAMI, other manufacturers and the suppliers to establish a "TDP Compliance" working group governing industry standards to help weed out the Fly By Night shitbirds--loudly add "Meets or Exceeds TDP Standards" on participants' certified models, and run an ad campaign stressing "if it's not good enough for us to put in our servicemembers' rifles, it's not good enough for us to put in YOURS." Same with the 1911.

After that, adjust and fine tune as needed.

I'm pretty much in agreement with everything you wrote. Very good ideas.

[RMiller]

Colt making bad business decisions?

Naaahhhh....

[meausoc]

If somebody keels over and I get named the next Colt CEO, my first moves:

1. Get the hell out of Damnyankeestan. Offer relocation assistance for employees.
2. No more union shop--instead make shares a part of the compensation package so every employee is a part owner, and run things more like Toyota/Nissan/etc's auto plants in the South where everybody has a voice.
3. Reduce outsourcing to only those things it makes sense to outsource. Things like inviting John Thomas's Retro Arms Works to spearhead the "Retro AR" line, finding someone similar to do the Retro 1911's.
4. Streamline the catalog--focus each line on a handful of core models to be offered every year, and have another handful of slots for things to be rotated in and out of production every year. (Using 1911s for example, the "core line" would be one each Blued and Stainless in Government, Commander and Officers sizes, the Combat Commander and a "basic-bitch milspec" Government. WWI Repro, WWII Repro, nickeled .38 Super would be among the "rotators.")
5. Engage with the customer base at NRAAM, SHOT, etc for Market Research. Focus the "rotating production slots" on most demanded models, with the understanding that after one year in production every rotator model will be taking at least a year off.
6. Now that the AR is "open source," work with SAAMI, other manufacturers and the suppliers to establish a "TDP Compliance" working group governing industry standards to help weed out the Fly By Night shitbirds--loudly add "Meets or Exceeds TDP Standards" on participants' certified models, and run an ad campaign stressing "if it's not good enough for us to put in our servicemembers' rifles, it's not good enough for us to put in YOURS." Same with the 1911.

After that, adjust and fine tune as needed.

This would work, treat you employees well, consider them an asset, and there is no need for a union. Toyota pays their employees close to what UAW members make so there is no need to organize.

[RetroRevolver77]

Ditto. Even if they don't sell to civilians, there are plenty of others out there that will gladly do so.

Who cares, those are primarily toy brands. Only a handful are real military manufacturers. Keep your poverty ponies I want a Colt.

[Diamondback]

This would work, treat you employees well, consider them an asset, and there is no need for a union. Toyota pays their employees close to what UAW members make so there is no need to organize.

A lesson learned from the last hurrah of Heritage Boeing in the '90s on the 777 program. Even though BA is a closed union shop, Alan Mulally's people in Everett would far exceed the letter of the contract and work like slaves for him because they knew he was loyal to them in return, doing things like giving up his bonuses to keep his people who would've been downsized on the payroll and opening the 777 rollout to all when the norm on such events has been "VIPs by invite only."

[Esq.]

So.....no more "Buy a 6920, TDP,....blah, blah... buy once cry once....."


Oh Well....

[OldState]

First thing first .....got to move away from the UAW. Make the original plant a museum and move production to a friendly state.

Second obviously offer some other options but keep the menu small. In addition to the 6920 and what they have now, make the CCU the flagships rifle, and offer a MK 18 type rifle and upper, a precision rifle that has Colt Defense pedigree, and an 11.5” AR Pistol. Get rid of all the “magpul” editions which are not really additional models.

Offer medium and light weight barrels with mid length gas systems on all the civilian models.


And make parts easily accessible. They could make a killing focusing on parts.

[Firefly]

So.....no more "Buy a 6920, TDP,....blah, blah... buy once cry once....."


Oh Well....

I wish to address this.
You wanna know why my go to gun is my Colt?
Because in the almost 20 years I have had it, it still just works. I’ve changed the stock and put on a KAC FF RAS but aside from a future rebarrel there is nothing wrong with it. I like my KAC and my HK(may like it more once I get it properly configured) but I don’t really need to just keep buying ARs after ARs after ARs.

Honestly if it were my only rifle; I would not feel bad or at a disadvantage. People just wanna hate or be different.

If I didn’t get “into” guns; it would likely be my only rifle.

They have been reasonably priced and I doubt the slowdown is forever.

It’s not just a rollmark.