Colt's Manufacturing Company
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:Cleanup-date {{Infobox Company | company_name = Colt's Manufacturing Company | company_logo = Image:Colt logo black.jpg | company_type = Public | | foundation = 1847 | location = [[]], [[]] | key_people = [[]] | industry = Defense | products = Firearms, weapons | revenue = Template:Profit | num_employees = ~ (2004) | homepage = www.colt.com }} Colt's Manufacturing Company (CMC) is a United States firearms manufacturer founded in 1847. It is best-known as the manufacturer of the "Colt .45" revolver, the proper name of which was the Single Action Army. Later well-known CMC revolvers include the Colt Python and Colt Anaconda.
In 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colt's Manufacturing Company. Colt Manufacturing Company now serves the civilian market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement, military, and private security markets worldwide. Prior to the split Colt was also well known for their production (now taken over by Colt Defense) of the M1911 automatic pistols, M4 carbines, M16 assault rifles, and M203 grenade launchers, although none of these were Colt designs.
Contents |
History
1847-1911
Image:Colt logo.jpg CMC was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1847 by Samuel Colt in order to produce revolvers, which Colt held the patent on, during the Mexican-American War. Colt's earlier venture, the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, had declared bankruptcy in 1842 and was no longer producing firearms, but the efficiency of the revolver design had become apparent to the US Army and they sought out the young entrepreneur to produce more.
Colt's early history largely revolved around the production of revolvers, developed out of Sam Colt's original 1836 invention of the revolver. Colt is perhaps best known for the famous "Colt .45", a name which actually refers to two separate historically significant firearms. The first of these is the aforementioned Single Action Army, of which Colt was the original producer, and which was one of the most prevalent firearms in the American West during the end of the 19th century. Colt still produces this firearm, though now they are available only as a Custom Shop offering. All original, good condition first generation Single Action Armys, those produced between 1873 and 1941, are among the most valuable to the collector. Especially valuable, often going for well over $10,000, are the OWA and the Nettleton Single Action Army Colts.
The OWA Colt refers to the earliest issued Single Action Armys which were inspected by Orville W. Ainsworth. O.W. Ainsworth was the ordnance sub-inspector at the Colt factory for approximately the first thirteen months (Oct. 1873 to Nov. 1874) of the Single Action Army's production. It was Ainsworth that inspected the Colts used by General Custer's 7th Cavalry troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. However General Custer himself fell holding a couple of Schofield revolvers (made by rival gunmaker Smith & Wesson) in his hands.
Henry Nettleton was the ordnance inspector in 1878 at the Springfield Armory. Second only to the OWA Colts, Nettleton Colts are prized by serious collectors. Both the Nettleton and OWA Colts will have the cartouche (OWA or HN) on the left side of the wood grip.
The Single Action Army has been copied by numerous makers both in America and in Europe. The two major makers of Colt replicas are Aldo Uberti in Italy and United States Firearms Mfg. Co. in Hartford, Connecticut. Both companies make superb replicas that are much more affordable than the real Colt (for those who don't have to have the "real thing").
1911-1984: The Boom Years
The second famous "Colt 45" is the John Browning-designed M1911, which was the standard US military sidearm from 1911 to 1985. The M1911 is still frequently used by civilians, law enforcement, and military agencies today.
The 1960s were boom years for Colt with the escalation of the Vietnam War, Robert McNamara shutting down the Springfield Armory, and the US Army's subsequent adoption of the M16 (which Colt held the production rights to).
1984-1992: A Period of Decline
The 1980s marked the beginning of Colt's decline. Colt had long left innovation in civilian firearms to their competitors, feeling that the handgun business could survive on their traditional double-action revolver and M1911 designs. Instead, Colt focused on the military market, where they held the dominant contracts for production of rifles and pistols for the US military.
This strategy dramatically failed for Colt through a series of events in the 1980s. In 1984, the US military standardized on the Beretta 92F and ended the nearly 75 year production of the M1911. Meanwhile, the military rifle business was shrinking since the US Military did not have a major demand for more M16s and was giving away thousands of them to US allies around the globe leaving Colt with fewer reliable streams of profit.
In 1986 Colt's workers, members of the United Auto Workers went on strike for higher wages. This strike would ultimately last for four years, and was one of the longest running labor strikes in American history. With replacement workers running production, the quality of Colt's firearms began to slip. Dissatisfied with Colt's production, in 1988 the US military awarded the contract for future M16 production to Fabrique Nationale.
With the loss of both their primary military handgun and rifle markets, Colt had little hopes of survival but to turn to the civilian handgun market. Unfortunately, Colt's range of handgun products in the late 1980s was critically out of touch with the demands of the market, and their once-vaunted reputation for quality had suffered during the UAW strike. Colt's stable of double action revolvers and single action pistols were seen as old fashioned by a marketplace that was captivated by the new generation of "wondernines" - high-capacity, 9mm caliber handguns, as typified by the GLOCK 17.
Realizing that the future of the company was at stake, labor and management agreed to end the strike in an arrangement that resulted in Colt being sold to a group of private investors, the State of Connecticut, and the UAW itself.
The new Colt first attempted to address some of the demands of the market with the production in 1990 of the Double Eagle, a double action pistol based heavily on the M1911 design which was seen as an attempt to "modernize" the classic Browning design. Colt followed this up in 1992 with All American 2000, which was unlike any other handgun Colt had produced before.
The All American 2000 was a polymer framed, rotary bolt, 9mm handgun with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. It was everything that Colt thought the civilian market wanted in a handgun. Unfortunately, the execution was terrible. Early models were plagued with inaccuracy and unreliability, and suffered from the poor publicity of having to be recalled. The product launch failed and production of the All American 2000 ended in 1994.
All of the above ultimately led to the company's chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992.
1992-Present
The Boycott
In 1994, the assets of Colt were purchased by Zilkha & Co, a financial group owned by Donald Zilkha. Zilkha's financial backing of the company, combined with his connections to the Democratic Party, enabled Colt to begin winning back military contracts. Profits from these contracts were to be used to again attempt to regain their share of the civilian market, but it was not to be.
During a 1998 Washington Post interview, CEO Ron Stewart stated that he would favor a federal permit system with training and testing for gun ownership. This, in combination with the growing revelations of Zilkha's ties to anti-gun factions of the Democratic Party, led to a massive grass-roots boycott of Colt's products by gun stores and ordinary gun owners, some of whom sold their Colt firearms to cut into Colt's market share even more. This ultimately led to the resignation of Ron Stewart.
Zilkha replaced Stewart with Steven Sliwa and focused the remainder of Colt's handgun design efforts into "smart guns", a concept which was favored politically but had little interest or support among handgun owners or Police Departments. This research never produced any meaningful results due to the limited technology at the time.
The boycott of Colt continues today in that many in the gun rights movement still refuse to buy any of Colt's products.
Competition Heats Up
Most problematic for Colt, its flagship 1911 pistols and AR-15 rifles had to compete with a glut of the company's own used rifles and pistols that could be purchased at prices well below what Colt offered for their new products on the civilian market.
Colt also has to compete with other companies that make 1911-style pistols such as Kimber and AR-15 rifles such as Bushmaster. Bushmaster has subsequently overtaken Colt in the number of AR-15s sold on the civilian market.
Colt suffered a stinging legal defeat in court when it sued Bushmaster for copyright infringement claiming that the "M4" in M4 Carbine was a trademark that it owned. The judge ruled that since the term M4 is a generic designation that Colt does not specifically own, Colt had to pay monetary reimbursement to Bushmaster to recoup Bushmaster's legal fees.
Colt today is a shadow of its former self. It survives primarily on the manufacturing of military weapons based on other companies' designs, and on the continuing production of classic Colt designs which are sold primarily in the limited collector's market. Colt has also failed to place entries into the US Army's OICW,XM8, or SCAR programs to find a replacement for the M16.
Many have speculated an even bleaker future for Colt once the US Army adopts a new standard-issue assault rifle.
See also
External links
- Colt Defense
- Colt's Manufacturing Company
- Colt Automatic Pistols Home Page
- BUSHMASTER WINS TRADEMARK CASE BROUGHT BY COLT DEFENSE LLC.
- Colt Gun Reviews and Reference Guide
Patent
- US1304 -- Implement in firearmsde:Colt (Hersteller)