The Firearm Blog

OK ... words fail me.

One of Colt's people at Media Day told me that the Colt SCW (Sub Compact Weapon), or at least the short buffer tube and foldable stock, will be coming to a semi-automatic civilian legal rifle.

Colt SCW at Media Day. © Bryan William Jones

The full auto version was on display at SHOT and I had the opportunity to shoot it. Lots of fun

Stock folded back

The American Journal of Roentgenology published a fascinating article back in 2001 about an incident at a MRI imaging center in western New York State. An off-duty police entered the MRI scanner room and attempted to place his Colt M1991 A1 pistol on the top of a cabinet. The pistol was wrenched from his grip by the magnetic field. It was pulled towards the machine and then discharged!

Pistol stuck to the MRI's bore.

The gun likely discharged as a result of the effect of the magnetic field on the firing pin block. The firing pin block was probably drawn into its uppermost position by force of the magnetic field. The firing pin block has to overcome only light pressure from a relatively small spring to release the firing pin. The pistol was likely drawn into the magnetic field so that the muzzle struck the magnet's bore first. With the firing pin allowed to move freely in its channel, the force of the impact on the muzzle end was sufficient to cause the firing pin to overcome its spring pressure and move forward to strike the primer of the chambered round.

This account explains how the weapon discharged when the thumb safety was engaged.

The journal article, unlike most journal articles I have read, is written in plain english and can be understood by a laymen. I recommend reading the full account of the incident.

[ Many thanks to PERRK for emailing me the link. ]

A journalist from the Malaysian newspaper Malay Mail was shown around the Colt's West Hartford factory ...

New machines were still being installed at the 26,687-square metre plant as The Malay Mail was shown around by Colt Defence executive vicepresident James R. Battaglini.

It takes 3 1/2 hours to complete a single M4 and the plant can churn out 900 a day with options for more when required.

The finished product then go below the plant for the test-firing process to ensure it performed to specifications.

Colt boasts a record of every gun made so that if it does not perform well, the company can determine if it is made to specs.

You may be thinking what a Malaysian newspaper is doing in West Hartford, Connecticut? Back in 2007 Malaysia announced plans** to switch away from the Steyr AUG and adopt the M4.

The Malay Mail also has a photo of some rare Colt pistols. Daniel Watters told me ...

there is one interesting picture showing a couple of rare Colt prototype pistols. These include the SSP and their submission for SOCOM's OHWS competition. I don't have a definitive name for the pistol above the OHWS, but I believe it was going to used as the platform for their "Smart Pistol". It certainly doesn't match any AA2000 variant that I remember.

[ Many thanks to Daniel E. Watters for sending me the link. ]

Parallel got the fright of his life when participating in a Magpul Dynamics "Dynamic Carbine" course.

Side of upper receiver blown open.

Bolt carrier split.

Bolt face split.

The drill was firing from the urban prone, weapon side position. We loaded and made ready and I waited for the threat command. When the threat command came I went into the urban prone position and fired. On the second round the upper receiver blew apart. It took a few seconds for me to get oriented and realize what had just happened. I checked to see that there wasn’t another round in the chamber and raised my hand to let Travis know there was a problem. Travis was already on the way as he said that he thought that I was on fire from all of the smoke that was rising from me. There was a medic who checked me out real good to ensure that some shrapnel hadn’t penetrated my skin anywhere without my being aware of it. I sustained only minor injuries (a bruise on the left forearm and some flash burn to the face).

...

The 6920 is on its way to Colt Manufacturing for analysis as of this posting. I will certainly post the results of the analysis as well as the resolution when that information is available. I would appreciate it if the wild guesses as to the cause of this failure were withheld until Colt Manufacturing has had a chance to check it out. I will give a few facts that will help to keep the conjecture to a minimum. The barrel was clear before and after the event and the ammo used was factory XM193. I don't know if the brass was ejected, it appeared to be, however, there could have been part of the brass case left in the chamber, I was too busy trying to get back to training to check, then the gun went via FEDEX to Colt before I had the chance to check because I was trying to catch up on all of the work I had neglected while out running and gunning.

Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the info.

Talo is selling a special edition Colt 1911 named the Colt Ghost Commander. It is a limited edition with just 400 being manufactured.

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Wayne Watson. Wayne blogs at Oswald Bastable's Ranting and New Zealand Back Country ]

Uberti's 1847 Walker Colt

A volunteer in the U.S. Army at the begining of the War in Mexico, another tall hero emerges from the Legendary Texas Rangers, Captain Samuel Walker. Experienced with the advantages of a repeating arm in combat, Walker teamed up with Samuel Colt in 1846 to develop what was to become the most sought after of the Hartford Model Colt percusion revolvers. As a Texas Ranger and Dragoon officer, Walker knew first hand that the early designs that Colt had produced were the key to an even more awesome light cavalry sidearm. The combined knowledge and experience of Walker and Colt brought out the first six-shot .44 caliber revolver, successfully arming a growing nation with a firearm it desprately needed and sealing the Army contracts that would pull Colt out of bankruptcy and secure his future. Captain Walker died in October of 1847 at the Battle of Juamantha, Mexico, but his legacy lives on in all Single Action revolvers and is honored with the Uberti Walker revolver, an exact and faithful reproduction of the original. ~from the Uberti Website

I fell for this hog-leg, when I first picked one up from a display at the Wairarapa Pistol & Sports Shooting Club- Trail's End 2004. The New Zealand Uberti agent, Neil Hayes, promises that every customer will go away smiling after firing one of these!

Certainly that has been my personal experience and that of every one I have loaned my Walker for a try.

There is always the appeal of the biggest, loudest and most powerful hand-howitzer that makes the red-blooded shooter just HAVE to fire that piece. The beauty of the Walker is that it won't leave you with torn thumb webbing, sprains or strains and medical bills! It WILL get folks peering into your bay to see what on earth you are shooting!

True to the original, The Walker has its faults- fortunatly the metallurgy is not one of them. The loading leaver does sometimes drop when firing, a problem corrected in the Dragons. I found that this can be fixed by dropping the charge back from 60 to 55 grains, but a simple fix for those who have to fire full house loads (and why would you buy a Walker if you weren't going to) is to tie it up with a short piece of leather thonging- no doubt as the Texas Rangers did.

The sights are basic,but that doesn't stop this shooting iron from delivering some grat groups- I have shot 2' groups at 25 yards, which is about as good as I can do with any non-target pistol. I evem manage to hit out 1/2 sized buffalo sillouette at 200 yards three times out of five- on a good day!

Wayne's Walker Colt

The Colt degign is a breeze to strip and clean. My method is to tap out the wedge, remove the nipples and place cylinder and nipples in a tin can with a little household detergent.

I then pour boiling water through the barrel and IMMEDIATELY spray liberally with WD-40- though the barrel and everywher else. Helps to have a rag to hold the hot steel!

The cylinders are scrubbed with a small bottle brush, then the water is drained and cylinder and nipples get the WD-40 treatment. Speed is the trick- rust sets in FAST.

From there it is wipe well and lubricate with a good quality oil, with a good quality grease on the arbor pin. Don't spare the cleaning cloth- it's cheap enough!

Four years later, My Walker still looks like new and it gets PLENTY of use.

This piece of history is available here in New Zealand for $595 NZ.

It is just too depressing for me to look up a US list price, so I will leave that to you!

Wayne Watson New Zealand

Colt have won a contract worth $126 million to manufacturer the FN designed M240B machine gun, the standard medium caliber machine gun of the Army and Marines.

Colt Defense, LLC., West Hartford, Conn., was awarded on Sept. 25, 2009 a $32,143,048 firm-fixed-price contract for M240B machine guns. Work is to be performed in Hartford, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2015. Bid solicitation was open to the Firms in the U.S. and Canada with two bids received. TACOM-RI, CCTA-AR-SA, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0175).

Daniel Watters, an expert on military procurement, told me that the military have been trying to maintain, or expand, the small arms production industrial base by procuring from second sources.

A mounted M240B

A big thank you to Daniel Watters for the info.

As of this month the M4 technical data has been transfered to the Army. The Army can now purchase M4 carbines from companies other than Colt, which up to know was the exclusive producers of the M4. Army Times reports:

As of July 1, the Army has taken control of the design rights to the M4 carbine from its sole maker, Colt Defense LLC. Translation: With an uncertain budget looming, the service is free to give other gun companies a crack at a carbine contract.

The transition of ownership of the M4 technical data package marks the end of an era and Colt’s exclusive status as the only manufacturer of the M4 for the U.S. military for the past 15 years.

What does this mean for Colt as a company? Not a lot. They will continue to be a supplier and will probably be able to manufacture the M4 cheaper than competitors when / if any more M4 carbines are purchased.

Over at Snowflakes in Hell Daniel E. Watters, an expert, said that the Army will still have to pay in royalties to Colt for every non-Colt M4 purchased. The technical specs are owned by Colt. Anyone wanting to supply M4s to overseas customers will need to get a license from Colt.

Colt has a few different next-gen carbines ready for the carbine competition later this year which could result in a selection of an M4 replacement.

There is also a discussion about this at Gun Pundit

Colt have recalled six different of their 1911 models. The Slide Lock Safety and Recoil Spring Guide Pad were not build to spec and could wear and break prematurely. The recalled pistol were sold since March 2007.

1911 WWI Replica (O1911) From: 4597WMK To: 5414WMK
1918 WWI Replica (O1918) From: 1001WWI To: 3431WWI
New Agent (O7810D) From: GT01001 To: GT04505
Combat Elite (O8011XSE) From: CG10000E To: CG11293E
Defender (O7000D) From: DR33036 To: DR35948
Talo Night Defender (O7000NDF) From: NDF0001 To: NDF0400

More information available at Colt.

Xavier, a fellow gun blogger, is having to send in three pistols back to Colt because of the recall!

Rock Island Auction are auctioning off a beautiful engraved and gold in-laid .25 ACP Colt Model 1908 “Vest Pocket” pistol.

In my opinion it is absolutely beautiful.

Wikipedia has an article about John Browning’s creation.

Hat Tip: Ammoland

Crazy Einar aka Michael Z. Williamson once described the Colt Python as jewelry for real men. This 1977 engraved piece by Colt’s custom shop is stunning. A suitable fashion accessory for men and woman.

Unfortunately the opening bid at gun broker is $2500! How many AR-15 lowers can you get for that?

Click to expand the images.

The Colt LE6940 Monolithic Advanced Law Enforcement Carbine, an upgrade of the 6920, have started popping up for sale. The rifle features Colt’s new monolithic upper receiver. This 1-piece receiver is machined from aluminum billet and includes a full length rail.

Photos from Gunbroker auction

The LE6940 has a 16.1″ free-floating, barrel, MaTech back-up rear iron sight and gas block mounted front sight. The rifles pictured are semi-automatic, but I am sure Colt will produce a variant with a rock-and-roll switch for law enforcement.

Bottom rail detaches from monolithic upper receiver (from Gunbroker)

The Colt name does not come cheap, although neither do monolithic receivers, and if you can find one for sale it will probably cost you $2400-$2800. It does come with two 20 round magazines and a sling … if that makes the price easier to swallow.

Some more photos:

Click to expand

This beautiful .38 Super chambered 1911 pistol from Colt is a special edition honoring Vincente Guerrero, the 2nd president of Mexico. The gun features:

Colt factory gold plated barrel bushing and spur hammer and strut. Old style factory roll marks. High polished stainless steel slide flats embellished in 24 kt gold with “La Patria”, the Rampant Colt Logo, and Vincente Guerrero with his dates

The pistol is being distributed by TALO Inc.