Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Ruger Redhawk In .45 ACP And .45 Colt

June 15, 2015 by 6 Comments

Now this is interesting. Ruger is getting into the .45 ACP revolver game. They have just announced a new version of the Ruger Redhawk that will handle both the .45 ACP with moon clips and the .45 Colt.

The specs are below:

Model Number: 5032 | Caliber: 45 Auto / 45 Colt
Material: Stainless Steel Finish: Satin Stainless
Front Sight: Ramp Rear Sight: Adjustable
Barrel Length: 4.2″ Overall Length: 9.50″
Weight: 44.00 oz. Grips: Lasered Hardwood
Twist: 1:16″ RH Grooves: 6
MA Approved & Certified: No CA Approved: No
Capacity: 6 Suggested Retail: $1029.00

It’s a bit pricey but they are still making double action revolvers unlike the bankrupt Colt. I have a couple Ruger revolvers and they are solid, well-made handguns.

UPDATE: Ed Head has part one of his review of the Ruger Redhawk in .45 ACP/.45 Colt up. Ed is one of the people that Ruger sends firearms to so that they can be wrung out before launch.

Uncategorized

It’s Official – Colt Is In Bankruptcy

June 15, 2015 by

It have embedded below the Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed by Colt Defense LLC and its associated companies with the US Bankruptcy Court for Delaware. The associated companies include both Colt’s Manufacturing Company and Colt Canada. The petition was filed on Sunday evening according to their press spokesman.

I have not had time to read the whole document and I’m not an expert on reading bankruptcy petitions. However, I did read through the list of unsecured creditors to whom it owes money. Number two on the list was Magpul. Colt owes Magpul almost $1 million presumably for PMags, MOE furniture, etc. Many of the other unsecured creditors are small companies that provide services to the firearms industry. As such, Colt’s bankruptcy is going to be felt throughout the industry.

Jim Shepherd at The Outdoor Wire has some good commentary about the role of Sciens Capital Management in the Colt bankruptcy. They are the favored buyer or stalking horse bidder. Also read the commentary on the bankruptcy at Weaponsman.com.

More filings and the press release can be found here.

Uncategorized

Report: Chapter 11 Filing Tomorrow For Colt

June 15, 2015 by

Matt Jarzemsky of the Wall Street Journal reports that Colt Defense LLC will go into bankruptcy tomorrow.

Gun maker Colt Defense LLC plans to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection by Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, amid business-execution issues and a heavy debt burden.

The company has secured financing from its existing senior lenders to continue operating while in bankruptcy and expects to remain in business after the restructuring, the people said.

According to the article, Sciens Management LLC owns 87% of Colt Defense. Moreover, some of the principals of that firm have ownership stakes in Colt’s West Hartford, CT plant. The lease on that plant comes up for renewal in October.

Colt will be relying on a bankruptcy court-ordered auction of business assets to help pay down its $355 million in debt. The primary assets that they own are their intellectual property (patents) and their trademark. It is my understanding that these have been heavily mortgaged already.

For a great historical perspective on the origins of Colt’s problems, see this post in the Weaponsman blog by “Hognose”.

I will be checking Pacer tomorrow to see what I can glean from the bankruptcy filing.

Uncategorized

Irony

June 13, 2015 by 1 Comment

Huff Post College ran a story this week about the move to rename university buildings that had been named for ardent segregationists and racists.

Two weeks ago, the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced that Saunders Hall — named for William Saunders, a 19th-century North Carolina secretary of state and chief Ku Klux Klan organizer — would be renamed Carolina Hall.

This wasn’t enough for many activists who have been fighting to remove Saunders’ name. The same day, the board also announced a 16-year freeze on naming other buildings — meaning that Aycock Residence Hall, named for white supremacist and former North Carolina Governor Charles Aycock, will remain as it is until at least 2031.

Aycock Residence is just one of many college buildings named for American historical figures who were known to have an active role in perpetuating systemic racism. At some schools, students, professors and community members have been fighting to remove these names, in some cases coming up against strong administrative opposition. At other schools, the names remain uncontested.

There is also a move to rename Tillman Hall at both Clemson and Winthrop Universities in South Carolina. Sen. Ben “Pitchfork” Tillman (D-SC) was an active participant as an orator

If find it ironic that many of the same people that want to remove the names of these building are the same people who are fighting the hardest against HB 562. That bill would do away with North Carolina’s pistol purchase permit system (among other things). While the white supremacist movement got its start in North Carolina through the machinations of Furnifold Simmons, his lieutenants included the above named Charles Aycock, Angus McLean, and Cameron Morrison. These three all have university buildings named for them at UNC-CH.

I guess it is one thing to take the name of a white supremacist off a university building but a wholly different thing to repeal a law enacted by white supremacists to keep African-Americans unarmed if it suits the aims of modern day gun prohibitionists. Ironic, isn’t it?

Uncategorized

My, How Times Have Changed!

June 13, 2015 by

The Complementary Spouse and I were enjoying our morning coffee while reading the  weekend Wall Street Journal. She came across an article about the term “grand slam” and how it migrated from the card game bridge to general usage to baseball to other sports. As she was reading it she came across the following paragraph which caused us both to laugh about how times have changed.

The rapid popularity of bridge brought its lingo into common use by the turn of the 20th century, and “grand slam” gained a more general meaning of “a great success.” When Asheville, N.C., easily passed a Prohibition referendum in October 1907, the Winston-Salem Journal referred to it as “the grand slam made by the prohibitionists.”

 What makes this so funny to us now is that Asheville won the title “Beer City USA” in 2010 and 2011. It tied with Portland, Oregon for the title in 2009 and with Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2012. In a poll put on by USA Today and 10Best, it came in as number three on the list of Ten Best Beer Towns. The fourth annual Asheville Beer Week just ended two weeks ago. It is said that beer rivals the Biltmore House as a draw for tourist to the area.

Asheville and adjoining towns are home to at least 28 breweries including the East Coast locations of Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Oscar Blues. Sierra Nevada and New Belgium are ranked at number three and four respectively on the Brewers Association list of Top 50 Craft Breweries. We also have two hard cider makers and four craft distilleries in the area. Our local community college even offers an associates degree program in brewing, distillation, and fermentation which has competitive entrance requirements.

The city fathers buried in Riverside Cemetery might be rolling in their graves but the rest of us are enjoying Asheville’s new grand slam just fine.

Uncategorized

Hog Wild In Hong Kong

June 11, 2015 by 1 Comment

I knew that Texas and many places in the South have trouble with wild pigs. It looks like they aren’t the only ones. According to the Wall Street Journal, the population of wild pigs or boars has exploded in Hong Kong. The number of human-pig interactions has grown due to the growth in the number of wild pigs.

On a Sunday in May, a wild boar got into the Paradise Mall in the city’s Chai Wan district, walked into a children’s clothing store and scared off the two employees. The small female boar climbed up into, and then crashed through, the store’s ceiling. It bit a mannequin and was trapped in a changing room before it was tranquilized by authorities.

Earlier in the day on the other side of town, another wild boar was subdued in a public park after taking a swim in a lake. The week before, police with riot shields chased a boar into a parking garage and barricaded it with dumpsters before it was taken away.

“They are wild animals and not pets,” says Chan Kang, the 72-year-old factory owner who leads the Sai Kung Wild Pig Hunting Club—so named because Hong Kongers use the terms “wild pig” and “wild boar” interchangeably. “They are fierce and not kind.”

But partly due to the new boar boosters, Mr. Chan’s team killed “less than 3 boars” last year compared with “over a hundred” a year a decade ago. The boars are growing in number and “fear no man,” Mr. Chan said.

The city, he says, didn’t have a wild boar problem when the hunters were allowed to roam more freely.

On the other side of the spectrum is the Hong Kong Wild Boar Concern Group who contend that the boars are gentle and the hunting of them  should stop. Roni Wong, who founded the group, hands out pamphlets featuring drawings of the boars as fuzzy, adorable animals. Even though he has a picture of a boar nuzzling a cat, I’m wondering if the boar is merely sizing up the cat as a potential meal.

Seeing the damage that hogs have caused both farmers and the environment in the US, it is hard to believe that Chinese hogs are any different. Perhaps Hong Kong would be better off letting Mr. Chan turn a few hogs into Moo Shu Pork. Either that or we send them Pigman.

Uncategorized

The Misuse Of The Courts – Cold Steel V. CRKT

June 11, 2015 by 10 Comments

Thanks to a post by Linoge on Facebook, I became aware of a lawsuit filed at the end of last week by knife company Cold Steel against fellow knife company Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). It seems that Cold Steel is upset over an advertising claim by CRKT that some of the CRKT lock systems make their folding knives “virtual fixed blade” knives. Rather than fighting it out in the marketplace and the court of public opinion, Cold Steel has filed suit in US District Court for the Central District of California.

Cold Steel and CRKT both serve what I would call the mass middle market of the knife industry. You have the Frosts and Uniteds who make their knives in Pakistan and China on the low end with the Benchmades, Emersons, and Chris Reeve Knives on the higher end. I have a number of knives from both companies including some with the disputed lock systems by CRKT.

Lynn Thompson, president of Cold Steel, explained his lawsuit as being about safety and “protecting customers fingers”. He says he had sent a letter to CRKT demanding they amend their advertising copy which CRKT ignored. His post makes it sound like he is engaging in lawfare out of altruism. He does say that any profits from the lawsuit will be donated to Knife Rights. Frankly, it sounds like he is getting a lot of heat about it.

The lawsuit below contends that the “virtual fixed blade” advertising claim for CRKT’s knives that have LAWKS, AutoLAWKS, and L.B.S. is “a completely false claim” and that these knives “will fail catastrophically when significant pressure is applied.” Cold Steel alleges that the locking mechanism can be caused to fail by applying slight pressure on the spine or side of the knife. They contend this become a safety issue “if the knife is used to stab a hard surface or pry a resilient material.” To me it would seem that stabbing a hard surface or using a knife as a pry bar is an intentional misuse of a knife regardless of whether it is a folder or fixed blade.

Cold Steel contends the advertising claims of CRKT have caused an “immediate and irreparable injury” for which they are entitled to a permanent injunction of those claims. Moreover, they are asking for actual damages, the profits that CRKT has made from the sale of these knives, exemplary damages, court and attorney’s fees, AND three times the profits that CRKT made or losses that Cold Steel alleges to have incurred, whichever is greater.

As anyone who has attended a NRA Annual Meeting or seen one of Cold Steel’s videos will know, Lynn Thompson is a showman. This lawsuit, to me, comes under the heading of lawfare – using the courts against your competitors – and is frivolous. I don’t think it really has much to do with false advertising or a concern for the customer but rather a different way to draw attention to yourself and your company. The timing of it is also suspect. It was filed two days before the opening of the June 5-7 Blade Show. This is the knife industry’s version of SHOT.

My contact at CRKT says an official response from them will be forthcoming. When it is, I will publish it.

My personal response to this lawsuit will be to vote with my wallet. I won’t be buying any new Cold Steel knives in the future. I don’t approve of lawfare and I won’t subsidize it with my consumer spending. In fact, I may just have to buy that CRKT Liong Mah GSD knife I fondled handled at the SHOT Show.

Uncategorized

The R51 Debacle Coming Home To Roost?

June 10, 2015 by 8 Comments

Remington Outdoor Company announced big changes in their management yesterday. George Kollitides is out as CEO and Chairman along with the CFO Ron Kolka who is “retiring”. In addition, Walter McLallen and James Pike are retiring from the Board of Directors. Kollitides is being replaced by Jim “Marco” Marcotuli who is a director. Marcotuli will be the President, CEO, and interim Chairman.

If I had to speculate, I’d say that both the board and Cerberus didn’t feel that Kollitides was up to the management challenges facing Remington. They are combining operations of most units in Huntsville, they are facing a threat to one of their iconic products – the Remington 700 rifle – over trigger issues and attendant lawsuits, and their splashy roll out of the R51 pistol turned into a debacle over quality issues.

It was also reported on Monday in the Sacramento Bee that the California State Teachers’ Retirement System had finally cashed out their holdings in Remington aka Freedom Group.

The announcement came three weeks after Remington’s owner, New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, offered to let CalSTRS and other investors cash out of their investments in the gun maker. Cerberus will place its investment in Remington in a separate investment vehicle.


“Consent to monetize our exposure to Remington Outdoor completes our decision to divest from banned firearm manufacturers,” said CalSTRS Chief Executive Jack Ehnes in a prepared statement. “All along we have sought a transaction that balances the best financial interests of the more than 879,000 educators we serve, while holding consistent with the values of our membership.”

CalSTRS had previously sold their investments in publicly traded Ruger and Smith & Wesson. The Remington investment was part of $375 million investment by the teachers’ pension in Cerberus Capital Management.

According to the press release from Remington Outdoor Company, Kollitides stepped down “to pursue other interests but will continue to serve as a paid Senior Advisor to the Company for one year.” That is HR-speak for he was allowed to resign in lieu of being fired and a “Golden Parachute” for keeping his mouth shut about it.

Ron Kolka had only been the CFO of Remington Outdoor Company since 2013. He had previously been the CFO of Daimler Chrysler prior to the Cerberus Capital buyout. He then stayed on with Cerberus after the Chrysler bankruptcy. For the next 30 days, he will be working with Jeff Pritchett who is joining the ROC board. Pritchett started his career with GM and then with Delphi in financial management. He then was the CFO of Vertis Communications before moving to Cerberus in 2013. Given that Remington had an increased net loss for the last quarter when compared to a year ago and also had a substantial decline in sales, I think this is a move to shore up the financial side of the company.

Jim Marcotuli who is stepping up to the CEO position has been the Co-Lead Director, Operations, of ROC since September 2014. Prior to joining Cerberus a few months prior to this, Marcotuli had been the President and CEO of North American Bus Industries which makes transit buses since 2009. He was responsible for moving much of their operations from Hungary to Anniston, Alabama.

Moving up to Vice Chairman of the Board will be Jim Campbell. Prior to joining Cerberus and the ROC board, Campbell spent 30 years with General Electric where his last job was as CEO, Appliances and Lighting. He joined GE as a management trainee in 1981 a year after Jack Welch became CEO of GE. Campbell came up through the “talent pipeline” at GE which was a rigorous performance driven, “up or out”, environment. While there really isn’t much of an age difference between Campbell and Marcotuli, I see Campbell’s role at ROC as being a mentor to Marcotuli. He is quoted in the press release as saying, “I look forward to supporting Marco and the rest of the team as we redouble our efforts to ensure superior quality and customer service are front and center in everything we do.”

Walter McLallen came to the ROC Board from hedge fund Meritage Capital Advisors. He was being paid at least $235,000 annually to serve as Vice Chairman of the Board. In addition, Meritage was being paid a retainer of $400,000 annually for advisory services. McLallen is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Meritage. McLallen is in his late 40s according to his Bloomberg profile.

Also retiring with McLallen is James J. Pike. Pike has been a member of the Remington board since 2007. He is a Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Managment. In his case, age may be a valid reason for his retirement. According to Bloomberg, Pike is 71. He served in management roles within the metalworking and parts industry for much of his career.

I see the combination of Marcotuli and Campbell as an effort to bring in more experienced management for Remington. Both are a good 10 years or more older than Kollitides and both have experience managing manufacturing operations. Kollitides, by contrast, came from the mergers and acquisitions world. His expertise was useful in building the Freedom Group/Remington Outdoor Company stable of companies. However, it isn’t what was needed going forward to help ROC regain its footing in the firearms world.

Uncategorized

Well That Didn’t Take Long

June 10, 2015 by

As I reported yesterday, the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari and accept Jackson et al v. San Francisco for review. The case involved a San Francisco requirement that a handgun either be in a safe or have a trigger lock on it if it wasn’t being carried on the person in a home. Seemingly this was at odds with the Court’s ruling in DC v. Heller where they ruled that the District of Columbia could not require a firearm to be either locked up or disabled. As Justice Clarence Thomas noted, the ruling of the 9th Circuit allowing the San Francisco law was “in serious tension with Heller.”

Unfortunately, Justice Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia were the only two voting to hear the appeal. As Dave Workman wrote earlier this morning, the decision will open the door to other cities imposing a similar law.

So they have.

Albany (NY) Common Council’s Public Safety Committee is proposing such an ordinance for the city that would apply to all firearms. The bill is on the full council’s agenda for June 15th.

City gun owners may soon be required to keep their firearms under lock and key at home.

A proposed law vetted Monday by city lawmakers would force gun owners to store their weapons in a “secure container” or disable them with a trigger lock whenever they are “out of his or her immediate possession or control” at home.

The Times-Union reports that the cities of Buffalo and Rochester already have so-called safe storage laws on the books and that the New York State Assembly is considering a similar law called “Nicholas’ Law”. That bill is expected to be voted on by the entire New York State Assembly as early as the end of this week. The state law would make it a felony if someone is injured by an unsecured firearm. Fortunately, passage of the bill through the New York State Senate is doubtful.

Uncategorized

NJ Gun Attorney Evan Nappen On The Pardon Of Steffon Josey-Davis

June 10, 2015 by 1 Comment

New Jersey attorney Evan Nappen, the man who wrote the book on that state’s gun laws and who represented Steffon Josey-Davis, was on NRA News yesterday. He was interviewed by Cam Edwards regarding Gov. Chris Christie’s complete and full pardon of Steffon. Nappen said the next step would be to go to court and get an expungement of the conviction from Steffon’s record.

Nappen also discussed the recent murder of Carol Bowne who was still waiting for her gun permit to be approved when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.