Saturday, June 13, 2015

"Iconic gunmaker Colt is on the brink of bankruptcy."

"Company missed a $10.9 million interest payment on its debt in mid-May."
So what went wrong? Starke blames weak leadership. The company also hasn't kept up with the times. Compact and light handguns have been popular in recent years. While Colt makes compact pistols like the Mustang and the Defender, customers seem to prefer other models made by another handgun maker Glock. American cops carry Glocks, which are known for being lighweight despite their ability to hold high capacity magazines. Though Colt is no longer the standard issue side arm, it makes a wide variety of other weapons for military, including the AR-15, the M-16 and the M4, and also the M203 grenade launcher. But the military is no longer Colt's cash cow as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down.
I had a long conversation with an insider about this in the press room at the NRA national meeting, and the short answer is "felonious mismanagement."

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

My prediction: Glock buys Colt and we finally get a Glock 1911.

For those paying attention, this is an actual sign of the apocalypse.

Anonymous said...

"felonious mismanagement"

What?

Again?

PO'd American said...

How could you possibly fail to make a profit in today's environment, except through criminal mis-management or sheer stupidity????

Anonymous said...

I have no pity for Colt as they thought the military was their bread n butter. Not the civilian market place. Where they should have concentrated on. Colt wrote off the civilian market place in Ct. , nation. With ["Hide you're wimmen folk"]Billy boy Clintons Federal assault ban.And [R],[I],[Ct],Governor Lowell Weicker .Who instituted Ct's, first [SO-CALLED] assault weapons ban. And Ruger reaped the rewards of that weapons ban.And Kahr is being flushed down the crapper by its mis management at the highest level. Behind Enemy Lines .In Unconstitutional ,collectivist Ct. We will not Comply nor Stand Down. AAA/O.11B20.

Block Of Instruction said...

Glad to see them go! I call it pay back for taking uncles money while hosing the shooting public, could not happen to finer .gov lackeys.

Anonymous said...

I'd say many are STILL pissed off and boycotting Colt after their arrogant statement back in 1998.

Ed said...

"American cops carry Glocks, which are known for being lighweight despite their ability to hold high capacity magazines."

More importantly, the cost of acquisition has been significantly less than Colt pistols.

Anonymous said...

Company located in Connecticut has nothing to do with "felonious mismanagement". Uh huh. Nothing to see here, move along...

Anonymous said...

Another possibility is a management tactic to run the company into the ground and then negotiate with the bond-holders for pennies on the face-value of their bonds. Bring the company out of bankruptcy in the body of a new corporate shell with all the physical assets to say nothing of the Colt trademark. The managers own the new corporate shell, all of old-Colt's assets and the bond-holders eat the sand they were given for the bonds.

It's OK; just makes room for new innovative players.

THEBigFatPanda said...

Glad I got my Colts before the poo poo hit the fan. Next stop; Springfield.

Rick said...

My Colt 1911 is in the safe and my SAA is on order. If the company goes bankrupt the name will live on as a branded trademark. Hell I just bought a Winchester Rifle made in Japan by Miroku.