Colt Suspends Manufacture Of
Controversial AR-15 For Civilian Market
National Public Radio,
by
Scott Neuman
Original Article
Posted By: M2,
9/20/2019 6:59:36 AM
Firearms manufacturer Colt says it is suspending production of its popular AR-15 semi-automatic assault-style rifle for the civilian market, saying it will concentrate instead on fulfilling contracts from the military and law enforcement.
"The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity," Colt Defense LLC president and CEO Dennis Veilleux said in a statement on Thursday. "Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future."
The AR-15, a semi-automatic version of the U.S. military's M16 — which was standard
Reply 1 - Posted by:
LadyVet 9/20/2019 7:07:48 AM (No. 184719)
Article is misleading. It was a financial decision. They needed production capacity to fulfill military contracts.
2 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
globalwarmer 9/20/2019 7:08:33 AM (No. 184720)
Another company caves to Leftist bullies.
2 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Osprey21 9/20/2019 7:08:44 AM (No. 184721)
This has nothing to do with the Left/Leftists. Colt has been in a downward spiral for years after loosing the .gov contract and their bankruptcy affirms that.
4 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 9/20/2019 7:41:35 AM (No. 184749)
If the AR had a walnut stock and wasn’t painted black, I suspect the gun grabbers wouldn’t know it even existed...
5 people like this.
As #1 pointed out, this was a financial decision. Colt examined their sales numbers and inventory quantities (at least, that is what their announcement reads like) and decided their production capacity can be more profitably utilized making other weapons.
3 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 9/20/2019 8:00:21 AM (No. 184769)
There are so many AR-15 manufacturers for civilians that it is a race to the bottom price-wise. So Colt got out and stuck with the government, which pays top dollar.
4 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Knotwyrkin 9/20/2019 8:03:13 AM (No. 184772)
Colt did not cave. They are shifting production to military weapons as they have significant inventory of civilian AR-15s. This is being vastly overspun by the gun-deniers.
2 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
philsner 9/20/2019 8:03:55 AM (No. 184773)
There is nothing "controversial" about the AR-15. There are only clueless leftists.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
anniebc 9/20/2019 8:12:33 AM (No. 184779)
Not a cave. Sorry, NPR. Some of us can read.
0 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
BarryNo 9/20/2019 8:42:05 AM (No. 184800)
They'd do better to expand manufacturing facilities.
1 person likes this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 9/20/2019 8:45:32 AM (No. 184803)
There are so many, much better, options for AR-15's today than Colt. Most people "build their own" piece by piece anyway, since it's become "modular." Colt is understandably not selling them like they once did.
3 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Laotzu 9/20/2019 8:49:35 AM (No. 184810)
Has NPR ever called abortion "controversial" in a headline?
2 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Petronius 9/20/2019 9:11:36 AM (No. 184843)
As others have pointed out, there is a glut of AR-15 on the market bringing beggar's prices. The only way for Colt to compete pricewise would be to put out a substandard model (like they tried with the Expanse and other models) These "Poverty Pony" models were met with derision by the consumers, no one buys a Colt to brag to their buddies about how cheaply it was made.
Colt still has inventory out and available to consumers, they are wise to focus on lucrative military contracts (militaries do not buy PSA, CORE, Diamondback and Anderson rifles) and wait out the inevetiable thinning out of the AR manufacturing herd.
1 person likes this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Banjo Willy 9/20/2019 9:43:39 AM (No. 184881)
Umm..Kay ,,,, Buh-bye
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
MOAB 9/20/2019 9:51:22 AM (No. 184897)
I will never purchase another Colt firearm.
0 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
VietVet68 9/20/2019 9:53:55 AM (No. 184901)
This was definitely a monetary decision by Colt. Anyone who is the least bit savvy about guns knows that there are literally dozens of well known manufacturers making AR-15 clones selling at half the price of a Colt weapon. NPR thinks they're taking a victory lap over the demise of the dreaded black rifle but it aint so.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
DVC 9/20/2019 10:28:53 AM (No. 184929)
Colt will be in bankruptcy again as soon as current contracts run out, because this action will cause their civilian sales, already small, to dry up because people are angry.
Never mess with people's gun rights. The customers WILL remember.
Colt has been run by various groups of non-gun oriented people for at least 30+ years, they have been messing up their product line, quality and everything regularly, have high costs of labor (unions) and very high costs. Most will not pay what Colt wants for an AR15, lots of alternatives out there, also high quality, too.
1 person likes this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
DVC 9/20/2019 10:31:43 AM (No. 184932)
I haven't purchased a complete AR rifle in decades. I purchase stripped lower, parts kits and pieces and assemble exactly the model I want. Rifle or pistol, short medium long bbl, flat top or handle top, heavy barrel or light, various optics.....all sorts of choices, FAR more than the few overpriced examples that Colt sells.
This WILL affect their handgun sales, just watch.
1 person likes this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
earlybird 9/20/2019 10:48:54 AM (No. 184949)
Colt has been a mess ever since a five-year strike in the 1980s. Replacement workers led to a decline in quality that was so precipitous that the Pentagon dropped it as a supplier of M-16s and awarded the contract to a company in Belgium. That led to an appearance in bankruptcy court to save the company.
In 1998, a virtue-signalling CEO came out for a federal requirement for gun training, which led to a boycott. It also pursued "smart guns" which fed the mistrust.
Then it lost its M-4 contract with the military, which landed another trek to bankruptcy court to save the company.
Expect another trip next year. Smart guns ruined the brand.
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2019/09/highlights-of-news_20.html#more
2 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
GO3 9/20/2019 11:27:18 AM (No. 184992)
Agree with others here; it is a business decision. but I doubt it will help Colt. The Army has just awarded Sig Sauer a contract for evaluation of its replacements for the squad rifle and the squad automatic weapon in 6.8:
https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/sig-sauer-army-ngsw-machine-gun-rifle-contract/
If the eval is successful look for phasing in of the new firearms and the turn in of M4/M16s. I still think the AR-15 is truly America's rifle and the other manufacturers mentioned will more than meet the need at a much better price than Colt. As far as battlefield performance of the M4/M16 I think those weapons would have been replaced sooner had it not been for the extreme insider wheeling and dealing of the two USMC generals who headed up Colt defense in the 2000s. If Sig Sauer wins the production contract I wouldn't look for a civilian version anytime soon given cost of the weapon itself and the cost of the hybrid ammo. The AR15 will be here to stay in civilian hands for a long time.
0 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
couchguy 9/20/2019 4:01:01 PM (No. 185187)
#1 is right, Colt is behind on military and police orders and there's plenty of stock on hand for civilian purchases. Colt is a bit pricey for me. Lot's of excellent 100% American made AR's out there for half the price.
0 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
JimJr 9/20/2019 4:10:42 PM (No. 185194)
#4, That's a Mini-14. And yes.
1 person likes this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "M2"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Comments:
Leftists won this round.