Colt Defense LLC - The end of a legend is drawing near and it will go down because of money hungry private equity firms.

By Rob Janicki
Everyone involved in gun collecting or the shooting sports knew the demise of Colt Defense Industries was only a matter of time.  Colt Defense Industries is the latest iteration of the venerable and historical Colt name of yesteryear.  It was bound to happen since it has been funded and ultimately ransacked by the money men of New York, who plundered it with little regard for the future of the once iconic brand name of Colt.

Colt Defense LLC is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a situation where the future could bring a Colt that looks little like its iconic predecessor—if any part of Colt remains at all.

... signs of Colt’s current demise has been evident since “the mid-2000s,” when “the private equity firm Sciens Capital and its affiliates loaded Colt with debt… while taking cash out in the form of ‘distributions’ and ‘advisory fees.'”

As Breitbart News previously reported, the consensus opinion of those looking from the outside in is that Colt depended on its military contracts and failed to keep up with the times regarding the civilian market. In the end, Colt lost a strong foothold in both—the Army did not renew a contract for Colt M4s in 2013 and the civilian market went to lighter gunmakers like Glock.

The latter day Colt Defense Industries simply ossified in their government and consumer offerings along with being systematically savaged financially by the private equity firms that saw Colt as being just another business to plunder, rather than as an iconic and historical manufacturer of fine guns.  

As an example, Colt long ago gave up the manufacture of what most gun collectors know to be the finest revolver ever manufactured, The Colt Python.  There exists an untapped market for new production of Colt Pythons, which continues to be ignored.  I am a gun collector, along with being a recreational shooter, and fortunately have one original production Colt Python in my collection.  I almost hesitate to even fire the gun anymore because of its appreciated value.  It's current market value, even in its used condition, is well over 1000% from its original selling price.

Colt needs to be bought out by gun folks who have a love for the old iconic history of this brand and accord it the respect it once held in the gun world and could hold once again in the right hands and with the right management leadership.