Colt Defense

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Colt Defense LLC, together with its subsidiaries, is an American designer, developer and manufacturer of small arms weapons systems for individual soldiers and law enforcement personnel. It is headquartered in West Hartford, Connecticut. The company traces its portfolio of products and services back to Colt's Manufacturing Company and prior to that to Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company.

Contents

The company and its predecessors have supplied small arms weapons systems to the United States Government and other governments throughout the world since the Mexican–American War of 1847.

History

In its 2002 reorganization, Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc. [1] split off Colt Defense to supply military, law enforcement and security markets. Sales to the U.S. Government (including U.S. Government sales to foreign governments) accounted for 57% of net sales in 2010 and 33% of net sales through the first three quarters of 2011, the change being a result of both reduced purchases of the M4 carbine by the U.S. military, and increasing direct sales to foreign government customers. [2]

On October 14, 2010, the company announced that the board of directors had appointed Gerald R. Dinkel as president and chief executive officer of the company, succeeding William M. Keys, who remains on the board of directors as chairman. [3]

In 2013, Colt Defense acquired New Colt Holding Corp., parent company of Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC, forming a single company to develop, manufacture and sell firearms under the Colt name for all markets. [4] On 15 June 2015, Colt Defense filed for bankruptcy, citing both assets and debts in the $100 million to $500 million range. [5]

In January 2016, Colt Defense announced that the bankruptcy court had approved its restructuring plan. [6]

Colt Canada Corporation, its Canadian subsidiary, is the Canadian government's Center of Excellence for small arms and is the Canadian military’s sole supplier of the C7 rifle and C8 carbine. Colt Canada began as Diemaco in 1974 and was acquired by Colt in 2005 from Héroux-Devtek. The company and its subsidiaries maintain manufacturing facilities in West Hartford, Connecticut and Kitchener, Ontario.

Products

M4 Carbine M4A1 ACOG.png
M4 Carbine

Colt was the original producer of the M16 rifle, rights to which it purchased from designer ArmaLite, and today offers a complete "Family of Weapons" based around the derivative M4 Carbine, which includes a heavy barreled rifle (HBAR), a carbine with sliding stock (M4 & ACC-M), a personal defense weapon with folding-collapsible buttstock (SCW), a piston carbine (APC), a Commando M4 with a 10.5 in. (26.7 cm) barrel, an infantry automatic rifle (IARTM), a submachine gun chambered for 9mm ammunition, and the 40mm M203 grenade launcher.

In July 2012, the U.S. Marine Corps awarded Colt a five-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract for up to 12,000 M-45 MEUSOC Close Quarter Battle Pistols (CQBP) based on the current embodiment of the M1911 pistol design. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbine</span> Shortened version of a standard firearm

A carbine is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M16 rifle</span> American assault rifle

The M16 rifle is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M4 carbine</span> American assault rifle

The M4 carbine is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colt's Manufacturing Company</span> American firearms manufacturer

Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the successor corporation to Colt's earlier firearms-making efforts, which started in 1836. Colt is known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms, most especially between the 1850s and World War I, when it was a dominating force in its industry and a seminal influence on manufacturing technology. Colt's earliest designs played a major role in the popularization of the revolver and the shift away from single-shot pistols. Although Samuel Colt did not invent the revolver concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M203 grenade launcher</span> Grenade launcher

The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil forces low. While compatible with many weapons, the M203 was originally designed and produced by the United States military for the M16 rifle and its carbine variant, the M4. The launcher can also be mounted onto a C7, a Canadian version of the M16 rifle; this requires the prior removal of the bottom handguard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CAR-15</span> Carbine of the United States

The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 or CAR-15 is a family of M16 rifle–based firearms marketed by Colt in the 1960s and early 1970s. However, the term "CAR-15" is most commonly associated with the Colt Commando ; these select-fire carbines have ultrashort 10.5-inch (270 mm) and 11.5-inch (290 mm) barrels with over-sized flash suppressors.

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The 1913 rail, also known as the Picatinny rail is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail. It was originally used for mounting of scopes atop the receivers of larger caliber rifles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushmaster XM-15</span> Brand of semi-automatic rifles and carbines based on the AR-15 platform

The Bushmaster XM-15 series is a line of AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles and carbines manufactured by Bushmaster Firearms International, LLC. Variants include the Bushmaster M4-type Carbine, Patrolman series, QRC series, Bushmaster XM15-E2S, and the Carbon 15 line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armscor (Philippines)</span> Firearms manufacturer

Armscor Global Defense, Inc. is a firearms manufacturing company based in the Philippines. It is known for its inexpensive 1911-pattern pistols, revolvers, shotguns, sporting rifles, firearms parts and ammunition. Armscor, whose manufacturing facility is located in Marikina, produces about 200,000 firearms and some 420 million rounds of ammunition a year, where 80 percent of this is exported and sold to over 60 countries. The company was known as the Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) until 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heckler & Koch HK416</span> German assault rifle

The Heckler & Koch HK416 is an assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader Dynamics Series T2 MK5</span> Assault rifle

The Leader T2 MK5 Series firearms were chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge and manufactured by Leader Dynamics of Smithfield, NSW, Australia (1978-1982/1983). The Leader was the brainchild of British weapons designer Charles St. George. It was originally a contender for a 5.56 mm Australian military service rifle to replace the then-issued Lithgow L1A1 SLR and Colt M16A1 rifles. What was unique about this endeavor was that Australia had never designed or manufactured its own commercial gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. The rifle was abandoned when the Steyr AUG was adopted for use by the Australian military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H&R Firearms</span> Firearms brand

Harrington and Richardson is an American brand of firearms and a subsidiary of JJE Capital Holdings. H&R ceased independent production February 27, 2015.

The Colt Automatic Rifle or Colt Light Machine Gun is a 5.56 mm NATO, open-bolt, full-automatic-only firearm developed by Colt Defense. It is based on the M16A2/A4, and has a distinctive squared-off handguard, vertical grip, carrying handle and integrated bipod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MEU(SOC) pistol</span> Semi-automatic pistol

The MEU(SOC) pistol, officially designated the M45 MEUSOC, is a magazine-fed, recoil-operated, single-action, semiautomatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It is a variant of the M1911 for use by the Force Recon Element of the United States Marine Corps' Marine Expeditionary Units from 1985 until 2022. It is assigned NATO Stock Number 1005-01-370-7353.

The Type CQ is an unlicensed Chinese variant of the M16 rifle manufactured by Norinco. According to the Norinco website, the rifle is officially known as CQ 5.56.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adaptive Combat Rifle</span> Assault rifle (Remington ACR)

The Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) is a modular assault rifle formerly designed by Magpul Industries of Austin, Texas, and known initially as the Masada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced Armament Corporation</span> American firearms manufacturer

Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) is an American company that develops and manufactures firearms, firearm suppressors, muzzle devices and related accessories.

References

  1. "Colt Defense, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Mar 26, 2013" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved Mar 27, 2013.
  2. "10Q dated October 31, 2011".
  3. "Colt-Defense-LLC-Announces-Gerald-R-Dinkel-as-President-and-Chief-Executive-Officer-of-the-Company". Archived from the original on 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
  4. "Colt's Manufacturing LLC".
  5. Colt files for bankruptcy, seeks August auction accessdate=2015-06-15
  6. Smith, Aaron. "Colt gunmaker emerges from bankruptcy". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  7. "Colt Defense LLC Announces Award of Marine Corps M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistol (CQBP) Contract". Archived from the original on 2012-08-29.