# Colt in the news



## WillBrink (Apr 21, 2008)

Nothing like a long term "no bid" contract to make sure the guys doing the fighting have the best weapon for the tax payers money:

*Colt's grip on military rifle criticized*

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer Sun Apr 20, 4:22 PM ET

HARTFORD, Conn. - No weapon is more important to tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than the carbine rifle. And for well over a decade, the military has relied on one company, Colt Defense of Hartford, Conn., to make the M4s they trust with their lives.

Now, as Congress considers spending millions more on the guns, this exclusive arrangement is being criticized as a bad deal for American forces as well as taxpayers, according to interviews and research conducted by The Associated Press.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080420/ap_on_re_us/the_gun_wars


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## Jollygreenfe (Apr 21, 2008)

Here we go again... Nothing sticks to Colt, they always come away clean, politics at its worst. I even heard at the SHOT show this year that Colt also has a gas pistion system designed and would present it if asked. Guess all the lawsuits were just smoke and mirrors so Colt could use the time to develop their GP system. Does anyone have any more info on this by chance?

BTW I hauled ALLOT of individuals around the Southern AFG area that carried 416s, and 550s. All I had to do was give the standard safety brief and tell them not to fall out of the Huey. By the looks of things, most of them were in thier late 40s to early 60s!!!! Nice guys though :)


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## WillBrink (Apr 21, 2008)

Jollygreenfe said:


> Here we go again... Nothing sticks to Colt, they always come away clean, politics at its worst. I even heard at the SHOT show this year that Colt also has a gas pistion system designed and would present it if asked. Guess all the lawsuits were just smoke and mirrors so Colt could use the time to develop their GP system. Does anyone have any more info on this by chance?
> 
> BTW I hauled ALLOT of individuals around the Southern AFG area that carried 416s, and 550s. All I had to do was give the standard safety brief and tell them not to fall out of the Huey. By the looks of things, most of them were in thier late 40s to early 60s!!!! Nice guys though :)



So these were contractor types? As far as I knew, the only mil group who had gone to the 416 was 1st SFOD-D/CAG, who had a direct hand in developing the 416. Are there others?


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## Jollygreenfe (Apr 21, 2008)

Not sure, I didn't want to ask. Those guys had some nice kit I think the one thing that really cought my eye was the Sigs. The only other time I saw someone carring one was when we were hauling some Brit types in the Mi-8.


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## pardus (Apr 21, 2008)

WillBrink said:


> And for well over a decade, the military has relied on one company, Colt Defense of Hartford, Conn., to make the M4s they trust with their lives.



I just seen a doco that had H&K (IIRC) building M4's in SC. :uhh:

I hope the Army gets smart and adopts a piston rifle...


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## AWP (Apr 21, 2008)

pardus762 said:


> I hope the Army gets smart....



BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(breathe)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


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## pardus (Apr 21, 2008)

Yeah.....


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## WillBrink (Apr 21, 2008)

pardus762 said:


> I just seen a doco that had H&K (IIRC) building M4's in SC. :uhh:



So HnK has a contract to build M4s now too?



pardus762 said:


> I hope the Army gets smart



Against Army Policy I am told....:uhh:


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## WillBrink (Apr 21, 2008)

Jollygreenfe said:


> Not sure, I didn't want to ask.



Understood. :confused:


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## surgicalcric (Apr 21, 2008)

WillBrink said:


> ...As far as I knew, the only mil group who had gone to the 416 was... Are there others?



There are a few.  The largest was AWG but recently the Army made them turn theirs in and go back to using colt's weapon...  I guess they didnt want AWG's weapon to outperform those they were teaching...  

Crip


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## WillBrink (Apr 21, 2008)

surgicalcric said:


> There are a few.  The largest was AWG but recently the Army made them turn theirs in and go back to using colt's weapon...
> 
> Crip



Ah, I recall. Forgot about that. Poor SOB's.


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## pardus (Apr 21, 2008)

WillBrink said:


> So HnK has a contract to build M4s now too?




It was my understanding from the show that H&K were the only one's building M4s :confused:


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## AWP (Apr 21, 2008)

The M4 isn't a bad rifle, it is just old and better products exist. The Army, out-of-the-box thinkers that they are, doesn't get it.


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## HoundDog (Apr 22, 2008)

Jollygreenfe said:


> Not sure, I didn't want to ask. Those guys had some nice kit I think the one thing that really cought my eye was the Sigs. The only other time I saw someone carring one was when we were hauling some Brit types in the Mi-8.



It might not have been a HK it could have been a Barret http://www.barrettrifles.com/rifle_rec7.aspx


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