“Colt Defense LLC’s debt rating has been cut to the lowest level possible after the hand-gun maker skipped an interest payment and extended its deadline for creditors to approve either a debt exchange or a prepackaged bankruptcy,” bloomberg.com reports. “Standard & Poor’s reduced Colt’s rating two grades to D from CC . . . The new rating means S&P considers the company ‘in default or in breach of an imputed promise’ and that it has ruled out the possibility the manufacturer will make good on a missed interest payment during a 30-day grace period.” The rest of the article is full of investor speak. Suffice it to say . . .
FIRE SALE! One hopes. Meanwhile, Colt has made just about every mistake known to gun manufacturing and marketing. The CEO came out in favor of federal licensing for gun owners (leading to a boycott), they invested in “smart guns” and discontinued their legendary revolver line in 1999. (No party like it was reported.)
We can only hope that the company’s new owners make a new Python. It would be hellishly expensive to tool up to manufacture the revolver, and would take time (the expertise is long gone), but a properly made Python would snake up the sales charts. At least in theory. In practice, stick a fork in it. The legendary Colt brand is done. [h/t Dyspeptic Gunsmith]