At Millbrook, a Canadian *C25* for Europe's rifle market
Colt Canada's C25 showing in Britain puts Canadian rifle-making in the export conversation. The domestic order deserves a precise account, as does civilian policy.
Colt Canada took its C25 to Britain's DVD exhibition in September with a substantial customer already at home. Canada has ordered an initial 30,000 General Service rifle systems. At Millbrook, the Kitchener manufacturer put the new platform in front of UK and European audiences, giving Canadian rifle-making a sales pitch beyond the domestic contract.
That deserves attention from Canadian shooters. We spend plenty of time following equipment made somewhere else. Here, the engineering, production work, and a large part of the promised supply-chain spending belong in Canada. I want that capability to succeed, and I want the civilian conversation about firearms to show comparable interest in how the equipment actually works.
The September 16 announcement carried by EDR described the C25 presentation at DVD2026. The organizer lists September 16–17 at UTAC Millbrook, Bedfordshire. The public record establishes an overseas showing and a Canadian order. I found no primary announcement of a British C25 purchase in the sources checked for this article.
A rifle sold as a system
Colt Canada's announcement identifies a 5.56 NATO rifle with a 13.7-inch barrel and a two-stage trigger. It also promotes reductions in sound, flash, and recoil. Those are the company's claims; this article contains no handling report or independent performance test.
The accompanying optic is part of the story. Colt Optics announced a custom 1–6x low-power variable optic and dual-ring mount for the C25 General Service configuration, which it says will be produced in Canada. The buyer is acquiring an integrated setup, with an optic and mounting arrangement chosen for its intended role.
As a precision shooter, I find that more interesting than a barrel-length specification on its own. My own equipment choices involve the relationship between rifle, optic, and use. An appealing specification has to survive the rest of the setup. Anyone who has priced an optic after choosing a rifle knows how much enthusiasm the second invoice can absorb.
For the C25, useful scrutiny means asking what the complete system delivers over its service life. Reliability, support, training, and replacement parts all belong in a procurement judgement. The announcement gives readers the manufacturer's proposed benefits. Published acceptance results would let outsiders assess those benefits against the requirement. The announcements do not include those results.
The Canadian order, with the options attached
The Defence Investment Agency's March 19 announcement separates the order into phases. The first covers 30,000 General Service systems over three years, at approximately C$307 million including taxes.
The larger 65,402 figure includes an optional second phase: another 19,207 General Service systems and 16,195 Full Spectrum systems. Those options matter when describing the scale of the programme. Calling all 65,402 firm C25 orders would flatten both the contract structure and its two configurations.
Colt CZ Group reports C$273 million excluding taxes for the initial phase, with deliveries during 2026–2029. The different tax basis explains the two headline prices. Neither total, divided by the rifle count, supplies a useful Canadian retail price for a bare firearm.
Ottawa says Colt Canada has committed to at least 80 per cent Canadian content under the contract. That is a meaningful commitment to track as deliveries proceed. Canadian manufacturing also deserves accurate ownership language: the Kitchener company belongs to Colt CZ Group. The Canadian contribution here concerns the work, expertise, and supply chain.
An export business with an existing customer base
Colt Canada's European business predates this C25 presentation. In February, Colt CZ announced that Denmark had exercised an option for additional C8 MRR rifles, expanding that programme from 26,000 to more than 50,000 rifles. The announcement identifies Ontario production and says deliveries were underway.
That provides a concrete example of allied demand for Canadian-made rifles. It concerns the C8 MRR, a distinction worth keeping beside the new C25 pitch. Existing customers give a manufacturer experience and relationships; each new order still needs its own evidence.
For me, this is the industrial reason to follow Millbrook. A domestic service contract can sustain production while foreign customers give the same business a broader market. I would like to see Canadian companies retain that work and develop the people who can do it. Future C25 export awards, delivered systems, and documented support arrangements will tell us how much of the pitch turns into business.
Opinion: bring that precision home
Military procurement and civilian ownership serve different purposes. Armed forces set requirements for service weapons; licensed Canadians choose equipment for hunting, sport, and other lawful uses. A military contract supplies no civilian purchase permission, and I am making no claim about C25 retail availability or the classification of an exact civilian configuration.
Canadian law already makes relevant distinctions. Criminal Code section 84 separately defines automatic and semi-automatic firearms. The prescribed regulations also prohibit firearms by design or model, including listed Colt models and variants under Schedule Part 1, item 87. The legal question requires the actual definitions and the exact firearm.
I support Canadian rifle manufacturing and lawful civilian ownership. My objection is to loose reasoning about the latter. When government restricts an owner's equipment, it should explain the particular risk, the evidence connecting the restriction to that risk, and the result by which the policy will be judged. Owners deserve an answer they can examine.
The C25's European showing gives Canadian shooters something worthwhile to follow: a rifle developed for a defined customer, a domestic manufacturing commitment, and an overseas market still being pursued. I can welcome all three while asking Ottawa to bring the same specificity to the rules governing my sport.
Follow Canadian gear developments and their ownership context in The Dispatch.
Feature image: generated illustrative product photograph grounded in official C25 references. No actual exhibition, factory visit, or product test is depicted.
Sources
- EDR: Colt Canada brings C25 to UK and Europe, September 16, 2026.
- DVD organizer: event dates and venue.
- Colt Optics: C25 General Service optic announcement, March 23, 2026.
- Defence Investment Agency: CMAR contract announcement, March 19, 2026.
- Colt CZ: initial Canadian contract, March 19, 2026.
- Colt CZ: Danish C8 MRR expansion, February 18, 2026.
- Criminal Code, section 84, and SOR/98-462, Schedule Part 1, item 87. Sources checked October 2, 2026.
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