Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why did Colt discontinue its revolver line of products?

Unions....

I remember looking at a Smith in a gun store some time during the '70s. I think they were owned by Bangor Punta at the time. Only one side of the barrel had rifling!

Apologies, been busy till now. I was born and raised in the UK, served in the British Army for 12 years and moved here permanently in 2005. In 1997, in response to a horrific school shooting, the UK Govt basically, with very, very few, extremely limited exceptions banned the private ownership of handguns. They already had full gun registry so confiscation was easy. Hate to be reminded of all the guns I had that went in the smelter cuz it makes me so very sad.....

The smith revolvers just are not what they used to be, I bought and sold two new model 63 22's two years ago. I won't buy a new SW again. I am convinced a new Colt would have to cost almost $2000 for them to do it right.

Bad ground ....

As for Colt Revolvers, one must never forget the Colt SAA.
From what I have read there is about a two year backorder for this model, even the Colt Custom Shop is backlogged and not taking anymore work right now.
I have two Colt SAA and need at least one more, even an average SAA that's 100 years old brings over $2000 and a new one if you can find one runs about $1400.
So there is a market out there for their handguns, they just can't make enough of them.

Saw one "collectors" Phython at the National Show in Virginia and it was $4200. A couple more ranged from $2k - 4k. There were several Smiths that were far more attractive.

Python prices are insane.

I worked on Colt and Smith revolvers during my stint as small arms repairman in the US Army, and continued working on Smiths, Rugers, and others since my discharge. Internally, Smiths are definitely tougher than Colts, and simpler to work on. Rugers are by far the toughest of the lot. They are built like tanks, both internally and externally. The Taurus revolvers I worked on are rough copies of the Smith action. They are usually "functional", but nowhere near as well-made and refined as the good earlier Smiths.

I owned a beautiful Smith 25-5 back in the 80s. It was very well-made and the finish was exquisite. But there was one glaring design flaw: The groove diameter was .451, and the throat diameters were anywhere from .456-.459. Figuring it would never shoot worth beans (it didn't) and I had nothing to lose, I decided to see just how smooth and light I could make the DA trigger. When I was done, I could not lift a 6LB weight off the table with the trigger, with only the slightest of hitch about midway through. It would make a fine pin gun, but I never did try that sport. I sold it for more than I paid for it. I always wondered what Jerry Miculek would think of that one.

Thanks for the response. I really like the Ruger sp-101 series and was told by a smith pretty much what you wrote up.

Still cannot get over the price tags on some of these Colts.

DH

Fill the throats....

The latter Colt DA's like the MKIII, MKIV, King Cobra and Anaconda where built more like Rugers.

Anyone seen the python with the nickel receiver and the blued barrel?

Saw one last week. Guy said only one of 50.

Hmmmmmm....

Wasn't uncommon for guys to two tone guns back in the day, or make Smythons.

As with most stuff, verify!

Ive got a bridge for sale. Truly Unique. One of one.....

and goes to Nowhere..

I laughed HARD when I read this- all of my revolvers are Rugers, and I agree wholeheartedly with both the aesthetics and reliability factors.

Colt priced themselves out of business. Colts have always been over priced . This is what you get when you ride the waves on the brand name alone. As much as i liked the Colt Python the Smith revolver was a better handgun .

Compliments of "gonehuntin"

http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2013/10/22/colt-re-introduce-double-action-revolvers/

Will Colt�s Manufacturing Company (aka Colt) bring back the double action revolver next year? It sounds like there are serious moves in that direction, and we could see something in 2014.

Colt abandoned the double action revolver market during the last decade for a variety of reasons that were never made public. However, popular speculation suggests that the Colt revolvers were not price competitive. Combined with the flagging demand for revolvers, the manufacture of the revolvers was either not profitable, or maintained only very thin margins.

But now, it looks like Colt is tooling up for a new run of double action revolvers.


Joyce Rubino, the vice president of marketing at Colt�s Mfg Co, made an appearance on Tom Gresham�s Gun Talk last month. During that conversation, Gresham asked if Colt would ever re-introduce the double action revolver. Rubino stated �I certainly hope so.� But, Rubino did not stop there. She continued:

"Yes�We are looking into the investment that would be required to bring back the double action revolver line. I can�t say which versions or SKUs would be available first."

A short time later, Rubino added that the company was looking ��to see what we can get into the marketplace first.�

If (when) Colt rolls out new revolvers, it would be reasonable to expect just a few models initially. While Colt had a number of highly respected revolvers, I would expect two different models initially: the Python and a variation of the Detective Special.

The Python would be, to me, an obvious choice. This revolver was considered one of the best, if not the finest, double action revolver to ever be made. I�ve never owned one, but I have shot them, and they are very nice shooting guns. I�m sure the company could sell a boatload of these with that beautiful Colt bluing.

The key to Python sales would not be competitive pricing, rather it would be offering the premier .357 Magnum revolver. Going cheap and competing on price with this revolver would be a huge mistake.

An updated Detective Special would make a lot of sense to me as well. Concealed carry handguns have been a large driving force in the gun market for many years now, and I do not think that demand will abate in the near future. Smith & Wesson continues to see very good sales from their line of J-frame revolvers like the 642. I expect Colt would like to take a piece of that market from S&W.

The Detective Special offered the advantage of six rounds compared to the S&W five rounds. That one-shot advantage resonated with many buyers in years past, and I expect it would continue today. If Colt offered a �hammerless� version of the Detective Special, and get the price in the neighborhood of the 642, I suspect they would have a winner with this gun.

What do you think? Will we see new Colt revolvers at SHOT Show? What would be your first choice in production?