Colt's Manufacturing Company (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is a United States firearms manufacturer originally founded in 1836. It is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of dozens of different firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century. Colt has made many civilian and military designs used in the United States, as well was many other countries.
Among the most famous colt products are the Walker Colt, used by the United States Mounted Rifles in the Mexican-American War, and the "Colt .45" revolver, the proper name of which is the Single Action Army or Peacemaker. Later well-known CMC revolvers include the Colt Python and Colt Anaconda. John Browning also worked for Colt for a time, and came up with now ubiquitous parallel slide type of design for a pistol, which debuted on the Colt M1900 pistol, leading to numerous pistol designs including the famous Colt M1911 pistol. Though they did not develop it, for a long time Colt was primarily responsible for the M16 rifle production, as well as of many derivative firearms. The most successful and famous of these are numerous M16 carbines, including the Colt Commando family, and the M4 carbine.
Colt also developed many important less known firearms that were often ahead of their time. Among the most recent was the CAR-15 family–an innovative weapon system family of the 1960s, as well as a number of 5.56 mm machine guns such as the Colt CMG-1, CMG-2 in the 60s in the 70s. They also invented the Colt SCAMP PDW, a little known firearm of the late 1970s that was among the first of its type. Colt's produced also the first 15 000 Thompson Submachineguns Mod 1921. Another important design was the lesser-known Colt-Browning Model 1895 (Potato Digger) - one of the first gas-actuated machine guns. Going back even farther reveals other important products of the 19th century. The Colt Revolver Rifle, one of the first repeating rifles, and used during the American Civil War. In addition to this were a large number of famous revolvers, such as the 1847 Colt Walker, the smaller Dragoon Mod. 1848 of the same caliber .44, the Navy Mod. 1851 cal .36, the Pocket Mod. 1849 cal .31 and numerous other famous revolvers of the 'Wild West'. His designs played a major role in the popularization of the revolver and the shift away from earlier single pistols and pepperbox type weapons. While Colt did not invent the revolver concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful ones with patents on many of the features that lead to them being so popular.
In 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colt's Manufacturing Company. Colt Manufacturing Company now serves the civilian market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement, military, and private security markets worldwide. Prior to the split Colt was also well known for their production (now taken over by Colt Defense) of the M1911 semi-automatic pistols, M4 carbines, M16 assault rifles, and M203 grenade launchers, although none of these were Colt designs, excepting the M1911 . Diemaco of Canada was also purchased, and renamed Colt Canada, though most of its products remain the same. Diemaco and Colt had earlier worked together on designs and shared many similar products.
The Colt .45 may have won the West, but it took a New York investment firm stepping in with some cash to keep the company from waving the white flag (during a post-Cold War decline in weapons sales and tough foreign competition). Through the company's subsidiaries, Colt's Manufacturing makes handguns (Cowboy, Pocket Nine, Defender) and semiautomatic rifles (M-4). Colt's Manufacturing boasts more than a dozen distributors throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. Founded in 1836 by Samuel Colt, the company is about 85%-owned by investment firm Zilkha & Co., which has been breathing new life into the company since 1994 when it bought the firm out of bankruptcy.
When World War II ended, Colt's government orders dried up, leaving the company's finances in shambles. Operating now under the name of Colt's Manufacturing Company, the company spent the postwar years frantically searching for ways to cut costs and improve manufacturing efficiency. The Korean War in the early 1950s provided a rush of business for Colt's, but the surge was only temporary. By the middle of the decade, the company was once again losing money. With losses mounting by the month, Colt's began actively looking for a prospective buyer for the company. In 1955 Colt's was purchased by Penn-Texas Corporation, a holding company controlled by Leopold Silberstein, and one of the first conglomerates.
For the rest of the 1950s, Colt's operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn-Texas. Silberstein lost control of Penn-Texas in 1958, and a year later Penn-Texas changed its name to Fairbanks Whitney, following its acquisitions of two larger companies, Pratt & Whitney, a Connecticut manufacturer; and Fairbanks Morse Company, a diesel engine firm based in Chicago. A major overhaul of the parent company's management in 1964 resulted in yet another name change. Although Colt's represented only a small fraction of the conglomerate's business, the name chosen was Colt Industries, and Colt's became the Firearms Division.
The escalation of the Vietnam conflict in the 1960s brought a new rush of business for the Firearms Division of Colt Industries. The M-16 rifle, developed by Colt in 1959, soon became the standard issue for U.S. armed forces. The first big government order for M-16s came in 1963, when the Air Force agreed to purchase 25,000 of the rifles. By 1966 the Division had 1,600 employees, nearly half of them engaged in putting together M-16s. The company delivered its one millionth M-16 rifle in 1969. That year, the Division was divided into two separate units, one for military production and one for small arms.
When Vietnam began winding down in the early 1970s, Colt was again faced with the pressures of adjusting for peacetime production. The company began to focus more attention on sporting guns, and in 1970, rifles and revolvers for sport generated $17 million in revenue. Around the same time, interest in classic Colt guns as collector's items began to climb. In order to capitalize on this emerging market, the company established its Custom Gun Shop in 1976. The Custom Gun Shop specialized in producing replicas of famous historic Colt guns, such as the ones presented by Samuel Colt to Czar Nicholas I of Russia and to the Sultan of Turkey in the 1850s. By the end of the 1970s, the Custom Gun Shop was generating annual sales of $3 million. For 1977, Colt's Firearms Division recorded $11 million in profit on sales of $77 million, trailing only Winchester, Remington, and Smith & Wesson in volume. Orders from the U.S. Government, however, dried up almost completely that year, and the Division's sales and profits lagged for the rest of the decade.
The slump at the Colt Firearms Division continued into the 1980s. Military demand was still depressed, and Colt was also continuing to lose ground to competitors in the law enforcement market, long one of its most important outlets. In 1982 and 1983 the company laid off 700 employees, half of its total workforce. Rumors of the Division's imminent demise began to circulate. Labor problems made matters even worse. In 1986 workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) began a strike that eventually became the longest in Connecticut history. The company continued operating with replacement workers. Colt suffered a huge blow in 1988 when it lost out to FN Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of a Belgian company, in the bidding for the U.S. Army contract to make M-16s, its bread-and-butter product. That year, parent Colt Industries went private, with ownership consolidated into the hands of Colt Holdings Inc., a newly created holding company. The Firearms Division was put up for sale soon after.
CF Holding Corporation, a group of private investors led by Shared Technologies Inc. chairman Anthony Autorino, purchased the Firearms Division in 1989 for about $100 million. The newly independent company was christened Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., the same name it had carried for a period after World War II. The company quickly resolved the lingering strike, reinstating striking workers and giving the UAW three seats on the board of directors. As part of the transaction, a Connecticut state pension fund paid $25 million for 47 percent ownership of Colt's. With new management intact and labor disputes under control for the time being, Colt's set out to win back some of its lost police business and stake out more ground in the sporting gun market.
Sales remained hard to come by in the early 1990s, however. Colt handguns had a difficult time finding a niche in a market flooded with cheap handguns and more sophisticated semi-automatic weapons. Colt products were considered either too expensive or too old-fashioned by many police departments and other potential buyers. Under the burden of a growing debt load, Colt's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992. While in bankruptcy, the company took measures to streamline its operations while updating its manufacturing equipment. Colt's suffered a setback in 1993 when the semi-automatic, military-styled Sporter--the company's best selling rifle--was banned in Connecticut, its home state.
In spite of that ban and potential bans in other states, Colt's was able to emerge from bankruptcy in 1994 when it was purchased by a partnership headed by the New York investment firm Zilkha & Company. The partnership acquired an 85 percent stake in Colt's. Whether Colt's new ownership can return the company to the exalted position it once held among gunmakers remains to be seen. Even during one of the most humble periods of its business history, the Colt name continues to evoke a sense of historical import and a great deal of respect among gun enthusiasts, regardless of the difficulties the company has encountered in recent times.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1855 as Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company
Employees: 925
Sales: $100 million
SICs: 3484 Small Arms
Address:
P.O. Box 1868
Hartford, Connecticut 06144-1868
U.S.A.
Among the most famous colt products are the Walker Colt, used by the United States Mounted Rifles in the Mexican-American War, and the "Colt .45" revolver, the proper name of which is the Single Action Army or Peacemaker. Later well-known CMC revolvers include the Colt Python and Colt Anaconda. John Browning also worked for Colt for a time, and came up with now ubiquitous parallel slide type of design for a pistol, which debuted on the Colt M1900 pistol, leading to numerous pistol designs including the famous Colt M1911 pistol. Though they did not develop it, for a long time Colt was primarily responsible for the M16 rifle production, as well as of many derivative firearms. The most successful and famous of these are numerous M16 carbines, including the Colt Commando family, and the M4 carbine.
Colt also developed many important less known firearms that were often ahead of their time. Among the most recent was the CAR-15 family–an innovative weapon system family of the 1960s, as well as a number of 5.56 mm machine guns such as the Colt CMG-1, CMG-2 in the 60s in the 70s. They also invented the Colt SCAMP PDW, a little known firearm of the late 1970s that was among the first of its type. Colt's produced also the first 15 000 Thompson Submachineguns Mod 1921. Another important design was the lesser-known Colt-Browning Model 1895 (Potato Digger) - one of the first gas-actuated machine guns. Going back even farther reveals other important products of the 19th century. The Colt Revolver Rifle, one of the first repeating rifles, and used during the American Civil War. In addition to this were a large number of famous revolvers, such as the 1847 Colt Walker, the smaller Dragoon Mod. 1848 of the same caliber .44, the Navy Mod. 1851 cal .36, the Pocket Mod. 1849 cal .31 and numerous other famous revolvers of the 'Wild West'. His designs played a major role in the popularization of the revolver and the shift away from earlier single pistols and pepperbox type weapons. While Colt did not invent the revolver concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful ones with patents on many of the features that lead to them being so popular.
In 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colt's Manufacturing Company. Colt Manufacturing Company now serves the civilian market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement, military, and private security markets worldwide. Prior to the split Colt was also well known for their production (now taken over by Colt Defense) of the M1911 semi-automatic pistols, M4 carbines, M16 assault rifles, and M203 grenade launchers, although none of these were Colt designs, excepting the M1911 . Diemaco of Canada was also purchased, and renamed Colt Canada, though most of its products remain the same. Diemaco and Colt had earlier worked together on designs and shared many similar products.
The Colt .45 may have won the West, but it took a New York investment firm stepping in with some cash to keep the company from waving the white flag (during a post-Cold War decline in weapons sales and tough foreign competition). Through the company's subsidiaries, Colt's Manufacturing makes handguns (Cowboy, Pocket Nine, Defender) and semiautomatic rifles (M-4). Colt's Manufacturing boasts more than a dozen distributors throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. Founded in 1836 by Samuel Colt, the company is about 85%-owned by investment firm Zilkha & Co., which has been breathing new life into the company since 1994 when it bought the firm out of bankruptcy.
When World War II ended, Colt's government orders dried up, leaving the company's finances in shambles. Operating now under the name of Colt's Manufacturing Company, the company spent the postwar years frantically searching for ways to cut costs and improve manufacturing efficiency. The Korean War in the early 1950s provided a rush of business for Colt's, but the surge was only temporary. By the middle of the decade, the company was once again losing money. With losses mounting by the month, Colt's began actively looking for a prospective buyer for the company. In 1955 Colt's was purchased by Penn-Texas Corporation, a holding company controlled by Leopold Silberstein, and one of the first conglomerates.
For the rest of the 1950s, Colt's operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn-Texas. Silberstein lost control of Penn-Texas in 1958, and a year later Penn-Texas changed its name to Fairbanks Whitney, following its acquisitions of two larger companies, Pratt & Whitney, a Connecticut manufacturer; and Fairbanks Morse Company, a diesel engine firm based in Chicago. A major overhaul of the parent company's management in 1964 resulted in yet another name change. Although Colt's represented only a small fraction of the conglomerate's business, the name chosen was Colt Industries, and Colt's became the Firearms Division.
The escalation of the Vietnam conflict in the 1960s brought a new rush of business for the Firearms Division of Colt Industries. The M-16 rifle, developed by Colt in 1959, soon became the standard issue for U.S. armed forces. The first big government order for M-16s came in 1963, when the Air Force agreed to purchase 25,000 of the rifles. By 1966 the Division had 1,600 employees, nearly half of them engaged in putting together M-16s. The company delivered its one millionth M-16 rifle in 1969. That year, the Division was divided into two separate units, one for military production and one for small arms.
When Vietnam began winding down in the early 1970s, Colt was again faced with the pressures of adjusting for peacetime production. The company began to focus more attention on sporting guns, and in 1970, rifles and revolvers for sport generated $17 million in revenue. Around the same time, interest in classic Colt guns as collector's items began to climb. In order to capitalize on this emerging market, the company established its Custom Gun Shop in 1976. The Custom Gun Shop specialized in producing replicas of famous historic Colt guns, such as the ones presented by Samuel Colt to Czar Nicholas I of Russia and to the Sultan of Turkey in the 1850s. By the end of the 1970s, the Custom Gun Shop was generating annual sales of $3 million. For 1977, Colt's Firearms Division recorded $11 million in profit on sales of $77 million, trailing only Winchester, Remington, and Smith & Wesson in volume. Orders from the U.S. Government, however, dried up almost completely that year, and the Division's sales and profits lagged for the rest of the decade.
The slump at the Colt Firearms Division continued into the 1980s. Military demand was still depressed, and Colt was also continuing to lose ground to competitors in the law enforcement market, long one of its most important outlets. In 1982 and 1983 the company laid off 700 employees, half of its total workforce. Rumors of the Division's imminent demise began to circulate. Labor problems made matters even worse. In 1986 workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) began a strike that eventually became the longest in Connecticut history. The company continued operating with replacement workers. Colt suffered a huge blow in 1988 when it lost out to FN Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of a Belgian company, in the bidding for the U.S. Army contract to make M-16s, its bread-and-butter product. That year, parent Colt Industries went private, with ownership consolidated into the hands of Colt Holdings Inc., a newly created holding company. The Firearms Division was put up for sale soon after.
CF Holding Corporation, a group of private investors led by Shared Technologies Inc. chairman Anthony Autorino, purchased the Firearms Division in 1989 for about $100 million. The newly independent company was christened Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., the same name it had carried for a period after World War II. The company quickly resolved the lingering strike, reinstating striking workers and giving the UAW three seats on the board of directors. As part of the transaction, a Connecticut state pension fund paid $25 million for 47 percent ownership of Colt's. With new management intact and labor disputes under control for the time being, Colt's set out to win back some of its lost police business and stake out more ground in the sporting gun market.
Sales remained hard to come by in the early 1990s, however. Colt handguns had a difficult time finding a niche in a market flooded with cheap handguns and more sophisticated semi-automatic weapons. Colt products were considered either too expensive or too old-fashioned by many police departments and other potential buyers. Under the burden of a growing debt load, Colt's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992. While in bankruptcy, the company took measures to streamline its operations while updating its manufacturing equipment. Colt's suffered a setback in 1993 when the semi-automatic, military-styled Sporter--the company's best selling rifle--was banned in Connecticut, its home state.
In spite of that ban and potential bans in other states, Colt's was able to emerge from bankruptcy in 1994 when it was purchased by a partnership headed by the New York investment firm Zilkha & Company. The partnership acquired an 85 percent stake in Colt's. Whether Colt's new ownership can return the company to the exalted position it once held among gunmakers remains to be seen. Even during one of the most humble periods of its business history, the Colt name continues to evoke a sense of historical import and a great deal of respect among gun enthusiasts, regardless of the difficulties the company has encountered in recent times.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1855 as Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company
Employees: 925
Sales: $100 million
SICs: 3484 Small Arms
Address:
P.O. Box 1868
Hartford, Connecticut 06144-1868
U.S.A.