#Colt

The MEU stands for Marine Expeditionary Unit. In this video you get to see Force Recon practicing with their M4s and Colt 1911s.

The NY Times  reports that Colt is close to finalizing a bankruptcy plan which will give bond holders a severe “haircut” ie. Colt will owe them a lot less than they currently do. I have to admit that the specifics of this plan are to complex for me to understand. Maybe a financial guru can explain how this all works in the comments below. From NY Times …

Some AR companies add more accessories to their guns to appeal to buyers, but according to Shooting Illustrated, Colt is going the other way with the OEM series.

Trigger Firearms sent in the above photo of a Colt revolver they recently sold as a clone because nobody could determine if it was real or not. If it is a clone, it is an exceptionally well made clone. They wrote …

JohnInBlackHawk sent us a photo of this awesome commemorative piece he made. He writes …

TFB writer and adventurer Claymore sent us this photo taken of him in the late 1970s …

The Associated Press is reporting that the original Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut is to become a national park. Hailed as the result of a “decade-long push,” the factory, active until 1994, included “armories, buildings for worker housing, and an Episcopal church Elizabeth Colt commissioned in her husband’s honor following his death. The Church of the Good Shepherd features revolver parts carved into sandstone above one of the entrances and, at the rear, stained glass with a rendering of Samuel Colt in flowing robes.”

After the Ichord report of 1967 identified the early failures of the M16 rifle in combat, particularly failures to extract, solutions to the problem of fouling were investigated by Colt, as well as Rock Island Arsenal (a government entity), and Olin/Winchester. Colt’s effort was the 703, which they somewhat presumptuously offered to the Army as the “M16A2” in 1969. The 703 was not only one of the first – if not the first op-rod AR-15s, it was also the first “hybrid” AK/AR-15 design, utilizing a very AK-esque gas block and fixed flexible piston:

At the Colt booth in Shot Show 2015 there is a display of a Colt SLR. The SLR is made by Ohio Ordnance Works under license by Colt. The SLR is semi-automatic version of the Colt BAR. The SLR comes in a Italian leather-bound display case. Two 20 rd mags, Leather sling and a cleaning kit. It is chambered in 30-06. Has an OAL of 47″ and weighs 16 lbs. According to the Ohio Ordnance representative, they are only making 1000 units. At a retail price of $8,799.00.

Colt has launched an initiative offering groups (such as law enforcement offices) the ability to make orders for commemorative custom firearms. From the press release:

LooseRounds has posted an early review of the Colt 901 MARC rifle. In addition to doing standard 100 yard accuracy testing, he also tested the target at 1,000 and 1,200 yards. That’s really stretching its legs!

If you’re a gun person, John Browning probably makes the top of your list of “greatest firearms designers”, and for many, the 1911 handgun is his finest creation. There’s an argument to be made that (certainly for the time) the 1911 is as perfect a handgun as can be made by human hands, but it didn’t spring fully formed from the head of John Browning like Athena from the head of Zeus. A lot of development went into turning John Browning’s original creation into the “perfected” 1911. And there’s probably no better illustration of that online than the video Forgotten Weapons posted at the end of last month:

Following right on the heels of Colt Defense narrowly avoiding default on its loans, Colt Defense announced it may miss its May 2015 high yield bond payment. Forbes reports:

Recently the author embarked on heavily modifying a Kimber Custom II Series 80 style 1911. In the process he ordered custom parts, some of which will be reviewed on TFB. Some of the parts he ordered were from proven companies such as Ed Brown and Wilson Combat. Other parts were acquired from other companies, such as VZ Grips and WePleadThe2nd holsters.

Jerry Miculek compares a S&W L-Frame against a Colt Python and a Ruger Speed Six. He admits it to us that he is a little biased since he has been shooting for S&W for the past 25 years. After the test firing he does a table top talk and breaks down the features of each one. The table top discussion does seem a bit biased and heavy towards the S&W line of revolvers but that is to be expected.