#Colt

Colt has a very storied history of producing phenomenal single-action and double-action revolvers. To the dismay of many, over the years they slowly dwindled down that inventory to only the SIngle-Action Army leaving consumers reminiscing of the good ol’ days and wanting more. Well, Colt responded to those sentiments by bringing back the Cobra .38 Special. Now this year at SHOT Show 2018 they have announced a newer iteration of that revolver called the Night Cobra.

The Army Marksmanship Unit’s .264 USA – a medium-sized 6.5mm round in-between the 6.5mm Grendel and 6.5mm Creedmoor in size – is not yet dead, it seems. The round, about which little had been heard in official channels for a couple of years, is the subject-in-part of a new solicitation released by the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office’s Technical Support Working Group (CTTSO TSWG). The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) describes a need for a Lightweight Intermediate Caliber Cartridge (LICC) and an “Individual Weapon System (IWS), designed to “overmatch” targets out to 800 meters. The specifications for the new weapon are quire ambitious, with a threshold velocity requirement of 2,650 ft/s with a 108gr bullet, and an objective requirement of 2,750 ft/s with the same, both from an 11.5″ barrel!

The Armalite AR-10 is the original lightweight 7.62mm combat rifle – a space-age amalgam of aluminum, steel, and advanced plastics capable of a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute and weighing just a hair over 7 pounds, unloaded. Its younger, 5.56mm caliber brother, the AR-15, is today perhaps the dominant rifle design in the West, but the .30 caliber AR-10 is the one the started it all, the progeny of Eugene Stoner’s brilliant design and Fairchild’s advanced manufacturing.

Continuing our series of articles telling about the most expensive firearms sold in the major US auction houses, today we’ll take a look at the ten most expensive firearms sold in December 2017 Rock Island Premiere Auction. This time there are also two world records set.

Recent evidence has suggested that there is an uptick of mounting evidence to suggest that rebels in the Jammu and Kashmir province of Northeastern India are slowly trading their traditionally used 7.62x39mm  Kalashnikov patterned derivatives for 5.56x45mm M4 carbines. This has been blasted all over the Indian media after an image of a Hizbul Mujahideen went floating on social media posing with an M4 patterned carbine. After that image came online, there was a raid in the district of Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir in which several Kashmiri terrorists were killed, along with an Indian soldier. During the raid what would appear to be U.S. made Colt marked 5.56x45mm carbine was showcased at a news conference. Alongside it was a pre-1986 AKS74U (or at least a copy of such), completely misidentified by the Indian media as an “AK47 Draco” under the headlines of “Recovery of US-made M4 carbine shows Pak complicity in Kashmir militancy”.

Colt’s M5 Enhanced Carbine recently drew much interest and speculation at the formidable company’s latest entry into the AR15 market. However, we’ve recently learned more about the origins of the M5 and how it came to the U.S. market, oddly enough from the Australian Defense Forces. Interestingly, the M5’s first appearance wasn’t at BIDEC 2017, and was specifically mentioned in an article in Asian Military Review’s issue of May 2017–

Colt have produced a limited run of Civilian-legal M203 grenade launchers. The iconic under-barrel grenade launcher will be offered through Arms Unlimited – one of Colt Defense’s law enforcement distributors. While this isn’t the first 37mm M203 to hit the market it is the first from the original manufacturer.

How low can the AR market go? Pretty darn low, apparently. A recent sale at Ground Zero Precision brought the price of their TAC-15M rifle down below $400 – Well below.

Hartford gunmaker Colt’s Manufacturing has introduced a new carbine model at the 2017 Bahrain International Defence Exhibition & Conference (BIDEC). The weapon, called the M5 Enhanced Carbine, is an AR-15-style rifle fitted with Geissele Super Modular Rail handguards sporting low profile screw mounting points, an ambidextrous lower receiver, and a short-stroke gas piston and operating rod gas system. The website Army Recognition has posted an article on the new carbine, as well as what appears to be a segment of a press release from Colt:

In examining the future of infantry capability, we must not only be aware of potential technological solutions, but of the need to re-think and re-work what it means to train and prepare troops for future battlefields. At the core of this is the simple matter of man and rifle, of marksmanship.

If you read The Firearm Blog on a regular basis, then you must remember that earlier we have published articles identical to this one. We’ve been looking at the ten most expensive firearms sold in main auctions of America’s largest firearm auction houses: James D. Julia and Rock Island Auction. This article is no different than those previous ones except it covers the top ten of highest priced guns of the latest September 2017 Rock Island premiere firearms auction. In our list, we have the prices realized, which include the hammer price plus 15% “buyer’s premium” which is the auction house’s fee. As always, the list goes in price ascendancy order with the least expensive being the number 10 and the most expensive being the number one. The firearm names also link to the corresponding RIA page, where you can read more detailed descriptions and see more and higher resolution images of the guns.

Irfan Z. is a long time friend of TFB, and has contributed tips about various subjects, particularly within Southeast Asia. This is his first guest post entirely written by him, for TFB.

When you think of iconic and historic firearm companies it is typically a short list that comes to mind. Colt, for most enthusiasts, should be on that list. Similarly, when you think of reputable safe companies Liberty Safes comes to mind. So why not pair the two together? Colt’s legendary name and reputation proudly displayed on the front of a Liberty Safe. I personally did not sit in on the board meeting that decided this move, but the reasoning sounds plausible.

The single action Colt revolver is nearly synonymous with the cowboys of the western United States. From the reality of history to the fantasy of Hollywood, Colt wheel guns are credited with helping to tame the wild frontier.

Talo Distributors recently announced a new limited run of Colt 1911 pistols to commemorate its 50th anniversary of business. The new guns feature the detailed work of Ray Armand Jr, an award winning firearm engraver.