^^^^Trump would probably read that letter from the CEO and say "Are you gonna trust some French guy?"
^^^^Trump would probably read that letter from the CEO and say "Are you gonna trust some French guy?"
There's nothing civil about this war.
Just picked up my 6920 Magpul. It'll likely be a safe queen, but, between this and Beto, I was triggered.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
I still don't trust it. "Foreseeable future" can mean a long fucking time. Basically they are saying we'll be happy to supply you with low capacity pistols because we believe this is all you will be allowed to own so we are adjusting to cover our asses and won't be bothered to even support your products with parts. Cool, smart business move but fucks customers who have products they will not receive support for. Dick move and pisses me off I can't get so much as a freaking barrel and have to look for it in the grey market. Okay, BCM just got a bunch of business and a new customer for life so long as they never pull shit like this or DD.
I'm in the low-cost-country manufacturing business. (Not having a great year . /tangent).
Here's my take.....
Colt has limits on their inputs to make good quality products.
- Skilled Labor
- Quality materials
- Factory space
- etc.
If they are in a position to re-allocate those inputs to produce higher margin products while fully utilizing their available inputs, then, it's really a simple business decision to switch from low-margin civilian goods to higher margin LE and MIL goods.
I'll give you an example.....
I have a customer that makes metal parts in the USA. Stamped, CNC Lathe, Laser, etc. He runs his shop 2 full shifts, nonstop. When his customers come to him with low-margin projects, he has to choose.... Do I fit this new thing in, and defer higher margin stuff, or do I send it over to RoyGBiv (with permission from the end customer, of course).?
I quoted him on a project where my customer needed to shorten the lead time (ocean shipping is slow). For what he quoted me to make locally, I could get production done faster overseas (10 days there vs 45 here), put it on an airplane, and still save a lot of money, vs his domestic quote. No quality issues. And I certainly can't blame him. What is the opportunity cost for him to make my lower margin product? It's the same for Colt.... Colt can sell a civvy AR and make $200, or a MIL AR and make $1k. If they stop selling civvy AR's, they can fill that production capacity with other, more profitable business.
Easy choice. Only the marketing of it is difficult.
If I was Colt, maybe I'd go upmarket on the civvy side instead of withdrawing. Pulling out entirely is gonna alienate some folks.
Last edited by RoyGBiv; 09-19-2019 at 05:36 PM.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
What "high volume contracts" are they referring to? Have there been more recent M4A1 orders or foreign sales? It seems like the USMC is buying more HK M27s, while Geissele and Daniel Defense are supplying the URG-I to SOCOM. Looking to the future, Colt is nowhere to be found in the NGSW program (not that I'm sanguine that this most recent attempt to replace the military service rifle will bear any more fruit than the numerous failed past efforts, but I can tell you one guaranteed way to ensure you don't win a future contract is to not submit an entry into the competition).
As to Colt's shrinking market share, that's what happens when literally all of your competition makes your core products too.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
Honestly, this is a perfect example of bad management.
Colt didn’t need to say shit. Ever.
When RSR or whoever called to order they should have said, “Cool, we’re X-months out right now. Bear with us.”
/End
When this email went out they should have said, “We have 180-days of rifle inventory available for Civilian sales. Colt remains committed to serving all of our customers.”
Don’t talk fucking logistics openly. Stop running your fucking mouths you idiots.
If I were running Colt I would have fired every fucking person involved with this. From the sales guy to the PR person. No one talks fucking logistics, manufacturing, sales, money, no one fucking talks about our business to anyone outside of our business.
Now that Colt has stepped in it. They should need to burn off the shit stink. They should do a run of 901s in 6.5 CM - something that no one can really construe as a LE/MIL weapon and send them out.
Last edited by RevolverRob; 09-19-2019 at 07:17 PM.
To answer my own question, according to TFB, Colt "has been awarded a $41,924,594 firm-fixed-price contract to provide M4s to more than a dozen countries through US Department of Defense foreign military sales. While the number of rifles to be produced is not specified the completion date is set for 18 September 2024, and depending on per rifle cost may run to between 50-70,000 rifles..."
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
Didn't something similar happen to Beretta during the move?
But without the badly phrased email.
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI