Watchtower on The Move
Building the next great American firearms company.
By Christopher Cogley
Although Watchtower is expanding its product line for civilian shooters, it will also pursue military contracts and law enforcement offerings.
When Jason Colosky left the corporate world, he did so with the idea of taking over a firearms company and turning it into a business that he could be proud of—a business that represents the way American manufacturing once was, and the way, Colosky believes, it can be again. When he initially considered F-1 Firearms, he didn’t think the company had the potential to live up to that vision. He kept an open mind, though, and decided to visit the manufacturing operation in Texas. What he saw changed his mind completely.
“What I found out was that they had a precision manufacturing operation that is incredibly efficient,” Colosky says. “What sucks the life out of you is the amount of waste that accompanies most manufacturing. But their waste was miniscule, and that told me they knew what they were doing, and they knew how to do it right.”
The other thing that struck him was the tolerance of F-1’s signature AR-platform rifle. As a former special operator, Colosky has carried his share of rifles and knows first-hand the dangers of having a weapon that rattles when you’re trying to move as silently as possible.
“The rifle they were making was so tight that you could shake it and it wouldn’t make a sound. From a pure quality standpoint, I really liked that,” he says.
The visit was enough for Colosky and his team of investors to acquire F-1 with the goal of transforming the company into something that Colosky sees as seriously lacking in the U.S. firearms industry. “Most of the great titans of our industry have gone away. They’ve moved operations and ownership overseas,” he says. “We founded Watchtower with a very simple vision statement—to be the next great American firearms company.”
Arguably the most important aspect of that vision statement is “American.” Everywhere you look, you find tributes to American history within the ethos of Watchtower. The company was named after Operation Watchtower, the codename for the Guadalcanal Campaign. Every serial number begins with 1775. The new Apache 1911 is a tribute to the famous Operation Apache Snow battle in Vietnam. The list goes on and on, and it will continue to grow as the company expands and evolves.
But Watchtower’s commitment to America doesn’t end with not-so-subtle tributes to our history. “We have not, and will not, outsource anything overseas,” Colosky says. “Watchtower firearms will always be made by Americans, for Americans.”
That commitment will continue to have an even larger impact considering the plans for expansion that are already in the works at Watchtower Firearms. Although the top-of-the-line AR platform that originally attracted Colosky to F-1 will evolve and improve in the coming years, it will continue to be a staple for Watchtower. But the company is also committed to diversifying its offering to cater to a much wider group of customers.
It didn’t take the company long to develop an offering of high-quality suppressors, and earlier this year Watchtower launched the Apache Double Stack 1911 pistol. Based on this timeless design, Watchtower has given the Apache a modern flair that is certain to garner a second (and third and fourth) look from any firearms enthusiast who sees it.
But the stylized design of the Apache is much more about function than it is about aesthetics. Manufactured with the same technique and PVD finish that makes the AR so reliable, the action on the Apache is designed to glide silently and effortlessly with smooth surfaces that are as easy to clean as they are to operate.
“We know how important it is that our platforms work every time, and that’s our focus on every firearm we make,” Colosky says. “The quality piece has to come first. That’s what I saw in F-1, and that’s what we’re building on as we expand our offering.”
It isn’t just its product offering that Watchtower is broadening, it’s also its clientele. “We’re expanding our civilian offering, but we’re also starting to get some significant law enforcement contracts,” Colosky says. “We want to get into military spheres as soon as possible, then we’ll be going after foreign military contracts.”
Regardless of how large the law enforcement and military sectors of Watchtower’s business become, Colosky says the company’s commitment to its civilian firearms dealers will never change. The company is amping up its marketing budget so small dealers don’t have to spend as much to get the word out about Watchtower’s firearms, and it’s also pricing its products to make sure that gun stores can hit the margins they need to remain profitable.
“We want to help support the mom-and-pop stores, and those are just some of the ways we’re doing that,” he says.
That’s just one more example of Watchtower’s commitment to America. And one more way that they are going about achieving their goal of becoming the next great American firearms company. (watchtowerfirearms.com)
Jason Colosky, CEO of Watchtower Firearms, says the company intends to build all products in the U.S.A.