And there was much agitation in the interwebs when Colt announced that they were leaving (again) the civilian market to concentrate in Military and Police business. The ZOMG! were loud and across the sphere and many a conspiracy was brought out. The official reason?
Over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has seen a significant decline in demand, leading to some of the lowest prices ever seen for new-in-box AR-15s.
“What’s true today is that the MSR market is much more price-driven,” Spitale said. “We’ve seen a pretty sharp decline in rifle sales, given our price points, resulting in significant inventory build-up held by our distributors.”
The Truth About Colt’s AR-15 Production
They could not compete. Let’s face it, Colt is not an inexpensive rifle and if you can afford one, God bless. But technology has made the production of non-military spec AR-15s available to more than just Military contractors and that reflects on the availability and lower prices. I mean people, you can buy a stripped receiver in blister pack! That is pure unadulterated Capitalism, Huzza! .
And I think Colt has never gotten the feel of selling to the public. I don’t thin it is in its corporate DNA and truthfully, outside of a few AR purists, few people will miss them. A decade or more ago, having a Colt AR was the goal of anybody getting in the platform. Now? And that price? It would end up being a Safe Queen.
Godspeed to Colt and I do hope they make money for everybody in the company.
Overheard at Colt HQ:
“Guys, Remington just declared bankruptcy. They are going to beat our record for the number of times a gun company can hit rock bottom. What can we do to go back to being the industry’s top loser?”
“I have an idea…”
I still remember when as the unit weapons officer I signed for our allocation of weapons. My assistant (who had just completed Colt’s armorer class) almost literally started crying when he unpacked the first M16A2 and discovered it was an FN. I topped him though, the shotguns ended up being Mossberg 500s (nothing wrong with Mossies) instead of the Reminton 870s I had requested.
I personally believe a part of it besides what you already spoke upon is that many of the other manufacturers out there can meet or beat colt in terms of quality at a similar price point. And unlike Colt actually be available on the market. There are manufacturers out there that are better than mil-spec that sell exclusively on the civilian market. Colt guns by their very nature are always going to be more expensive. And I am of the opinion that it’s better to spend more for quality then spend less because it’s cheaper. One of the most favorite guns I have is a colt series 70 which is only a couple of years old.
One of my builds cost me just over $1,000, $1,130 if I remember correctly. But it’s a Spikes Tactical upper with a failzero nickel boron BCG and NB coated upper with a $200 drop in trigger and VTLOR furniture. I would say it is better built than a Colt and in the ten years I’ve had it I’ve never once had a failure that was the fault of the gun itself. So I could have bought the colt and done stuff to it to personalize it or make adjustments and by extension spend more than I would have if I just built it to how I wanted it.
[…] Although we covered Colt’s announcement over a week ago. It seems that only in the last couple of days the full “impact” was felt around the social media and, of course, the boys and girls of Gun Control. But as I always warn, read the original document before you get your undies all in torsion. Why? Because in some instances like Gun Control’s (and unfortunately some gun owners) favorite Fake Media Outlet, The Trace, had no qualms being “obfuscative” about the truth: […]