Colt, On the Brink of Disaster, Awarded M4 & M4A1 Contract. Kinda.

By Nick Leghorn

Colt has been teetering on the brink of disaster. They recently filed for bankruptcy, and they have been frantically trying to cut their losses while preserving their executives’ golden parachutes. Colt had been relying on military contracts to carry their balance sheet after ignoring the civilian market for decades, but when FN Manufacturing came along and snagged the contract from Colt (under-bidding and out-performing the old prancing pony) the last cash cow for Colt finally keeled over. Word comes today that the Army has re-awarded the M4 and M4A1 contract to both FNM and Colt, and some media outlets have jumped on this as a “new” thing that might save Colt. Here’s the thing: it really isn’t . . .

The Army does not own the M4. The US Government does not own the M4. FN Manufacturing does not own the M4. So who does? Colt.

The prancing pony owns and retains control of the technical data package (TDP), and every single firearm manufactured from that TDP requires some royalties to be paid to Colt. Unless the Army wants to transition to a new firearm (which they are trying to do, but very slowly) then the …read more

Source:: Truth About Guns