Tag Archives: new colt

Colt Fills the Stable with a New Grizzly, Kodiak, and Vipers

Posted on by 2 comments

While everyone knows such long-legged wheelguns as the Peacemaker, Python, and Navy ’51/Army ’60 Series guns, Colt has seen dozens of short-lived revolvers in its company history. Handguns that just slipped in and slipped out just as fast.

For instance, in 1993, the Colt Kodiak, a limited-run of no more than 2,000 .44 Magnum that was built by the Colt Custom Shop in 1993 on the Anaconda series frame, hit the shelves and was never seen again.

In 1994 the Colt Custom Shop made a short run of just 999 Colt Grizzly models in .357 Magnum using a King Cobra frame with a Magna-Ported 6-inch Python series barrel.

Even before that, in 1977, the company made an aluminum-framed version of its 4th Model Police Positive– a revolver that itself was headed for cancelation. Using the small D (Detective) frame, it was light and rated for just .38 Special. Dubbed the Viper, it is one of the hardest of Colt’s “snake guns” to capture.

A circa 1977 nickel Viper

Well, for what it is worth, Colt just dropped new versions of all three of these guns on the market.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Could the days of pretty ponies be back?

Posted on by Leave a comment

Colt long used a deep rich charcoal blue or “fire blue” on highly polished slides and frames going back to the early 1900s while their famed Royal Blue finish peaked on the company’s Python model .357 revolvers in the late 20th Century, the company moved away from it in most models about two decades ago, leaving the famed “Prancing Pony” short on show horses.

Well, In the latest installment of getting back to its roots, Colt announced this week that a high polish Royal Blue finish is making a come back on at least one handgun model.

Nice

More in my column at Guns.com.

Welcome back, Commander

Posted on by Leave a comment

The Colt Commander was introduced in 9mm for an Army pistol contract in 1949 aimed at providing a more effective replacement to the .32 ACP Model 1903 “General Officer’s Pistol.” It soon became popular on the civilian market and in 1971 a steel-framed (to differentiate it from the Lightweight Commander) Combat Commander went into production. That 70 Series Colt remained in the stable until 1980 and, after a brief hiatus, was replaced by the 80 Series variant that remained in production in one form or another until 1998 but has sadly been missing from the lineup since then.

Now, to borrow a phrase from John Wick, it looks like the Combat Commander is back, at an MSRP of $949.

colt-revamps-combat-commander-1911-for-2017

More in my column at Guns.com.

Colt finally gives the people what they want

Posted on by Leave a comment

2017 seems to be a year of “everything old is new again” at Colt as the company brushes off legacy tried and true designs and revamps them in an attempt to give the people what they want. Already leaked for this is the upcoming M16A1 reissue, a retro Vietnam era SP1-style AR-15 that is expected to begin shipping this year.

Another new offering is a rail gun version of Colt’s Delta Elite. The big 10mm longslide has been a favorite of “centimeter” aficionados for years and is in current production, but lacked the accessory rail.

colt-delta-elite-rail-gun-cc

Then, after vacating the double-action revolver market, now have a stainless steel-framed Cobra reboot.

colt-cobra2

More in my column at Guns.com.