Then again, they've never been afraid of shying away from success, so maybe not.

Likely not.

I’ve pondered the question of why Colt decided on that policy ever since it was announced.

Speculating only, of course, because I’m not a high level company insider, but there are a few possibilities.

It may truly have been driven by the need to satisfy their more important customers and a desire to not annoy the rest of us by not being able to fill other orders. We’re always whining about this or that company’s failing to keep up with demand, so a flat announcement saying, “Don’t call us; we’ll call you,” may have seemed to be the best course of action.

Whether the above is correct or not, an announcement like that would also attract attention and (probably) increase interest and demand that would build up as people waited for the resumption of civilian sales.

Then although I can’t find it now, there is a new model AR that I believe I saw Colt had developed. If I’m right about it, suspending “consumer” sales would allow old stocks of their guns to be cleared out, and then they could announce with much fanfare, “We’re back, we’re better than ever, and we have what you want now!” If they build up their inventory so they could release a large number of guns at once, they could also boost prices for the new model.

It will be interesting to see.

I dunno.

The AR market is so oversaturated, and I don't know what share of the civilian market Colt held. "AR15" is a generic term now and I'm certain that a number of first time buyers were/are unaware of the lineage of the gun, so the brand may not have made much difference to them.

I think we already had this thread. Once again..they have no innovation or even care to make what the customer's want. Just a waning reputation with a shrinking fan base!!!

If Colt is at capacity filling their orders, I doubt they care. It's not like they are going to bump prices up (wholesale) with this temporary bump.

Besides first time panic buyers usually get whatever they can the cheapest. PSA, Shrubmaster, Del-ton, local manufacturers, etc.

I think they believe this reinforces their image as a premium manufacturer.

I couldn't care less what Colt does. I've shot plenty of Colt rifles, and they don't do anything that rifles from the other manufacturers don't do. If folks want to buy a Colt they're welcome to do so, but IMO they're just throwing their money at a rollmark.

Remember that before several weeks ago, before the word "Coronavirus" was burned into everyone's psyche, civilian gun sales were deep into the toilet.

From what I've seen of recent Colt quality, I'd prefer any other brand. That Python-jeez.

I wouldn't mind a Colt AR, but after trying to convince myself that I was OK with the 16" (non-Colt) carbines I bought 12-13 years ago, I have finally admitted that I HATE 16" carbines, esp with gov't barrels and M203 cuts. And that seems to be all I've ever seen from Colt.

Does Colt make a mid-gas 16"?

Colt may be the macro version of this but there is a micro too. A lot of gun stores around me pared down their inventory over the last few months. One even went so far as to literally brick up the retail portion of their store and just rely on their range.

The last few weeks could’ve put the gun store in the black I would imagine.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Remember that before several weeks ago, before the word "Coronavirus" was burned into everyone's psyche, civilian gun sales were deep into the toilet.

This is true and Colt may be the macro version of this but there is a micro too. A lot of gun stores around me pared down their inventory over the last few months. One even went so far as to literally brick up the retail portion of their store and just rely on their range.

The last few weeks could’ve put the gun store in the black I would imagine. My buddy called his club and they told him they had seven guns in the store left and no ammo at all to sell.

Lest we forget, Colt’s decision was made long before anyone had heard of COVID-19 or before the vast majority of us knew a coronavirus from a computer virus. What we’re seeing now would have been impossible to predict or factor into their decision no matter how smart anyone there had been.

Colt made a wrong business decision. And that decision was to focus years ago on supplying the gov’t market and neglecting the civilian market. They aren’t the first to choose wrong and they won’t be the last.

Colt was founded by making sales to the Military U.S. and a abroad. They have always suspended civilian sales when Government sales flourished.
Colt rifles were handed out freely during the Vietnam War. Colt 1911 pistols were century old iconic warriors of the U.S. The current Colt 1911 Delta Rail is selling well. Colt Corporation has been broken up like crackers over the past 50 years.

Colt has a large government contract to fill, that is all. Have a hard time finding 716's lately? MCXs, MPXs, OR M400s? It's the same reason, the majority of production is going to fulfill the India rifle contract, which is shockingly similar to the 716 TREAD.

So what to do if you're a MFD? Hire more guys, invest in more tooling, and buy more material during the worst gun market since September 10th, 2001? Or, rather, make guns for a contract that is guaranteed money and will help with your name brand equity? Colt has made some asinine decisions in the past, I don't believe this is one of them.