
Colt is ending production of AR-15s - smacktoward
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2019/09/colt-is-ending-production-of-ar-15s/
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steve19
This is not surprising. Colt has been hanging by a thread ever since coming
back out of Chapter 11 in 2015, but has been in all sorts of financial woes
since the mid 1980s. They are just trying to survive at this point.

If labor relations interests you, it's a fascinating company. They had a long
stand off with the union in the mid to late 80s. They replaced all Union staff
who had striked. Four or five years later the union eventually won and all the
existing staff, who were hired during the 5 year strike, were fired and the
old union staff replaced them. Not only that but the union got given a
significant chunk of the company.

The problem was that the old staff could not operate the updated machinery.
The military unhappy with the quality canceled contracts. It was a disaster
and ended up killing the company and they went into chapter 11 for the first
time. That was the end of Colt.

[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/nyregion/workers-
rejoice-...](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/nyregion/workers-rejoice-at-
end-of-4-year-strike-at-colt.html)

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tyingq
No lack of demand. People are just buying less expensive clones of the AR15,
like the Springfield Saint. $650 vs the $1k real AR15.

~~~
matt-attack
Correct. There is no one brand of AR-15. It’s an interoperable platform (for
the most part). You can buy a bare lower receiver from any manufacture
(basically just a part with no moving parts milled from a single block of AL).
Then just go and buy various parts kits or buy the parts individually to
customize to you own needs. It’s what makes them so popular. You can customize
them infinitely and they’re extremely affordable and very reliable, safe and
accurate.

People who own them don’t think of them as the crazy “military style” weapons
you hear them described as. Most who own then just think of them as “the most
standard and obvious rifle you can possibly buy”. Like you go into most gun
store and it’s just the platform that is _everywhere_. It’s “gun” in the
dictionaries in heads of gun wonders. It’s nothing “crazy” to them.

~~~
tyingq
What's funny is that a Mini14 ranch rifle would be more acceptable to anti-
assault rifle people. Even though it's roughly the same thing.

~~~
codezero
This comment makes it seem like you think that people against high powered
rifles are unaware of the technology and capabilities of weapon systems.

I also think you are wrong.

~~~
somebodynew
The .308 cartridge commonly used to hunt deer carries substantially more
energy than the .223 or 5.56 used in a Mini-14 or AR-15. If not energy, by
what metric could the latter be described as "high powered"?

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neverartful
Velocity is a big part of the equation.

~~~
partialrecall
All* full sized rifle rounds are supersonic and cause the cavitation the 5.56
has become infamous for (e.g. _bruh it goes so fast it 's basically
explosive!_ \- overheard in a cafe). The terminal effects of 5.56 on flesh are
severe, but not moreso than other rifle rounds. A full sized rifle round will
cause more damage and can do it from much further away.

* excepting a few that are deliberately manufactured to be subsonic, because they are niche products.

~~~
jabl
IIUC many military 5.56mm rounds are designed to fragment upon impact (against
the spirit if not the letter of the Geneva convention). 7.62mm rounds are (or
at least used to be) designed to hold together in one piece.

~~~
ntw1103
The latest military 5.56 rounds are actually steel, and designed for
penetration, not fragmentation. The US army is now using M855A1(Steel core,
and steel penetrating tip), which replaces the M855(jacketed steel core) What
you are thinking of is the 1899 Hague Convention, not the Geneva convention.
Also, the USA was not a signing country.
[https://www.army.mil/article/41283/army_begins_shipping_impr...](https://www.army.mil/article/41283/army_begins_shipping_improved_556mm_cartridge)

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lstodd
I find all this talk of mass shootings and gun control pointless.

There are shootings only because shooting is currently most cost-effective. It
is not that people want to shoot people, it's that they want to kill people.
That is the problem, and banning one single way of killing can not solve this.

There are so many other ways. I sometimes wonder why all those shooters bother
to walk and shoot instead of just blowing it all up or burning it all down.

That's what you'll get by banning guns - same idiots but using propane or
anfo. Is that what you really want? An idiot with a gun can at least be
stopped. You can't stop an explosion or a fire-induced panic.

Or maybe let's focus on why people start wanting to kill people?

~~~
djohnston
The rebuttal to your argument is that it takes less effort to insert a
magazine and pull a trigger than it does to craft explosives. For those who
resort to blades because they can't access rifles, that's still a better
outcome since projected fatalities will certainly be lower.

I agree that there is a deeper problem that should be addressed, but there's
no reason you can't soften the current burden.

~~~
kls
Takes less effort than chaining the doors and lighting the place on fire? That
is the method du jour among the Mexican crime syndicates right now for mass
killing other gangs in bars and safe houses. It's just not Tatic-cool, which
is what these US kid mass shooters are going for.

~~~
lstodd
This.

Propane is too hi-tech, my fault, sorry. It'll all burn and kill everyone
quite nicely just with the air.

What the fuck is going on? Why no one ever tries to investigate the root
causes?

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jeffdavis
What is the real significance here? They are a single manufacturer of a
standardized style.

Is this part of a trend of lower sales? Some kind of non-business motivation
(politics, pressure, etc.)? Or just a business with a product that doesn't
compete?

I'm not sure there's a lot of intellectual content here either. The AR-15
itself isn't much different from other rifles except it looks scarier. Which
is largely because it's made of modern, mass-producible materials rather than
wood.

~~~
binaryblitz
> Is this part of a trend of lower sales?

"Colt Firearms will be ending its production and sales of its AR-15 rifles due
to lack of public demand amid excess market capacity."

It's the first thing on the page...

~~~
jeffdavis
That's ambiguous about whether demand for all AR-15s is down, or just for
Colt's AR-15. Seems like just Colt's, which means this doesn't seem to matter
a lot.

~~~
goatinaboat
_That 's ambiguous about whether demand for all AR-15s is down_

Thanks to Robert Francis O’Rourke AR-15 sales overall are having another
record month.

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notus
It's not Colt branded AR-15's most people are buying. It's the AR-15 platform
that allows people to build a decent AR-15 for 300 bucks that is making them
so prolific.

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bifrost
I keep hearing $300, where? This does not seem to exist outside of airsoft...

~~~
manfredo
Buy an anderson lower and a cheap steel barrel palmetto arms upper. Getting it
below $300 can usually only be done when parts go on sale, but it can be done.

~~~
bifrost
Thats kinda my point, its not a gun, its parts. You can't walk into a store
with $300 bucks and walk out with a useful thing.

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jmpman
I expect they could lower price and remain profitable for the civilian market,
however they would then be required to pass along that lower price to the
government. Now they’re likely locked into government procurement contracts
and they’re able to sell at a high margin. Net profit would decrease by
lowering price.

~~~
dfsegoat
I don't think they could compete in Civ market.

There are far too many AR-like specialty co's out there (DPMS Panther Arms,
Rock River Arms etc). - and these have successfully filled both the consumer-
grade AR, as well as govt. contracts to lesser agencies. [1,2]

E.g. I believe Rock River mfgr's the DEA's standard carbine, or did for a
time.

1 -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DPMS_Panther_Arms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DPMS_Panther_Arms)

2 -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_River_Arms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_River_Arms)

~~~
jmpman
The DPMS prices are incredibly low. I’ve seen a DPMS AR for $399, almost 1/3
the cost of a Colt.

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vorpalhex
If you're going to drop $1k, you can probably do better than colt.

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693471
"Committed to the 2nd amendment"

No, you're committed to make money

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sunkenvicar
Too bad. They make beautiful rifles.

Many people, like myself, bought a cheaper mass-market AR-15 instead. I spent
the money I saved on ammunition. :)

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Havoc
Not particularly familiar with US market but the internet lead me to believe
large chunks of it are 3D printable anyway?

~~~
benjohnson
The single part that the US Government considers the 'core' of the AR-15 rifle
can be manufactured easily with a decent CNC machine out of aluminum. You
could possibly print it with a very sophisticated 3D printer using advances
materials.

Interestingly enough, depending on if a government-enforced "buy-back" scheme
takes place it may be a wise investment to be able to manufacture this basic
part in bulk.

~~~
misterprime
3D printing the lower receiver for net gains in a government buy-back program
is a hilarious idea.

~~~
bifrost
You don't even need to do that for gun buybacks. People routinely make
firearms with $10 of homedepot parts and turn them in. In theory you could
turn in a "Zero Percent Lower" which are about $20 or so...

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roflchoppa2
you can DIY them in your shed, why drop $1k

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rayiner
Relevant take on this narrative: [https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/colt-
ar-15-production-...](https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/colt-
ar-15-production-abc-news-report-bends-truth-to-fit-narrative/)

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shujito
This page is listed in the unified hosts, why is that?

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paggle
So I can cross my fingers and hope that the AliExpress AR-15 the 8channer is
using will jam.

