"Colt says it will only sell AR-15 to ..." Topic

…military & police forces, ends public sales.

"Gunmaker Colt announced Thursday that it was discontinuing retail sales of its AR-15 line of semi-automatic rifles.

The company will continue to manufacture the rifles for the military and law enforcement agencies, Dennis Veilleux, Colt's president and CEO, said in a statement…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I already got mine ! And have had it for decades !

Yawn. there are over 279 other domestic AR15 producers. it's a crowded market, colt is in bankruptcy, and this is them admitting they can't compete in a free market and can only survive with government price controls (procurement contract pricing models)

I never thought I'd see the day that COLT would rely on communism because capitalism was too hard. (looks at the DPMS AR15 in his cabinet and shrugs)

Not positive but did see a comment their patents are up, I have 2 Colt handguns and think they are great.

IIRC Colt outsourced production to a third-rate manufacturer and then asked premium prices for the horsey badge.

People vote with their wallets, once they know they can get twice the gun for half the price …

Bye bye Colt, others will grab your minute market share. You will die a typical bad business idea death as current generation collectors don't want single action cowboy guns, nor a 1911 handgun when they can get double stacked wonder 9mm pistols & AR-15's from multiple other good manufacturers.

i didn't know they still made AR15's…….

I thought they ended years ago, gauging from no one I know actually owns one made by them.

So "the people" can't get this rifle anymore, but the state can still get military weapons? Who do they intend to police with these weapons?

Does any military use AR15's? I am aware law enforcement in the U.S. does have them in limited numbers. Colt is trying to make a subtle political statement. If they tried making weapons the public wanted, they wouldn't be facing bankruptcy.

There was a time Colt was the only real game in town for AR-15s. Not anymore. Well…bye.

Does any military use AR15's?

The US Military today AFAIK generally gets issued the later version of the original AR-15/M16 i.e. the M4. Again basically the old M16 with improvements, etc.

If they tried making weapons the public wanted, they wouldn't be facing bankruptcy.

Colt makes many other weapons types other than the AR-15. Don't think they'd face bankruptcy, but sales overall might go down?

There was a time Colt was the only real game in town for AR-15s. Not anymore.

Very true … a number of AR-15 "proxies", etc. are available. E.g. the AK-47 seems to be readily available in many cases. Not an M16 but will still do the job. I've used both … A weapon is only as good as the gunner using it …

Back in the late 1980's when Colt was trying to introduce their AR-15 as a sporting weapon, there was a small niche market for semi-auto military-style weapons.

It sold well on the IPSC type circuit where high capacity and quick follow up shots were premium.

For a long time people got all kinds of paramilitary type guns, like long barrel Uzi carbines, M1 carbines, the Ruger Mini-14 and various Warpac weapons like the SKS and AK derivatives.

Post 9/11 the market for military style guns exploded and the AR-15 became Barbie for men. For a while prices were high until economy of scale pushed down prices and everyone started to produce AR-15 in every variant possible.

Colt seems to have wanted to maximize profit and used cheap components sold at premium prices. People will put down good money for a great gun, especially if it has the pedigree like a Colt, except that you could get an off the rack mid-price AR and still have a better rifle than the Colt.

Many manufacturers have died because they thought they could surf on brand recognition alone. If you are one of the few nobody notices your AR is a piece of crap, but when there are many great ones on offer, you stand out very quickly.

The weapon designed by Eugene Stoner and Jim Sullivan for the ArmaLite corporation was adopted by the US Air Force in its original AR-15 design and then as the Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16 by the Army a few years later. Variants of this rifle are still in service today.

The AR15 designation has become the default name for any rifle based on the original Armalite design though it may only share a passing resemblance to the original. The military refer to their rifles as the M16Ax variant.

There are a few rifles that are similar to the M16, notably the M27 in use by the US Marines which is a H&K design based on the H&K 416, derived from the M16, but with a different mechanism.

FN USA is the current supplier for US military M16/M4 rifles so you have to wonder to whose military COLT is selling their rifles. I suppose their only advantage over some of the other AR15/M16 manufacturers is capacity and there may be LE sales happening. The cops I know love theirs.

From other gun boards I frequent, and mirroring some other comments here, COLT went cheap on manufacturing and are asking premium prices which resulted in overpriced crap, hence the shooting public has left them.

When I was in the market for an AR15A2 a while back I looked at Colt vs FN and others and the Colt was more expensive than everybody else by a couple of hundred dollars, so I went another route.

I believe that Colt Canada, fromerly Diemaco still is in business selling M16 variants to Canada and the Netherlands.