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Winchester gone?

roysclockgunroysclockgun Member Posts: 310 ✭✭✭
edited January 2006 in Ask the Experts
Has all production of Winchester firearms ceased? Rumors of the label moving to China true?
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Comments

  • peace6817peace6817 Member Posts: 10 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    i heard they were closing their doors but realy hope this is not
    true realy hope china thing is false too
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  • shkshk Member Posts: 50 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    They are closing the New Haven plant March 31st. Check our the general forum for more info.
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  • Bill CostikBill Costik Member Posts: 1,845 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I for one am not that sad they are going. A lot of their guns have been built overseas for a while now. And IMO most of the the stuff they turned out was crap.
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Bill may be right, be he has never seen the fit and finish on my 9422.
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  • JimmyJackJimmyJack Member Posts: 5,515 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Foolish talk from Bill! No matter what your personal likes are it will be a sad day!
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  • roysclockgunroysclockgun Member Posts: 310 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If we lose Winchester, that loose is like another nail in the coffin of what we once were as a nation. I lived through the time when the "post-64" rifles were only a tinsel reflection of the older models, but they made a valiant comeback and the "new old Model 70" while not as handsomely done as those of old, is a fine shooter.
    Losing the brand names that have been long lived institutions for us is not a thing over which to wring ones hands. My greatest regret involves the lose of jobs for yet more Americans. I suppose that some who proudly built rifles will now have to become telemarketers.......oh no, that is not right, most of the telemarketing jobs have gone to India!!!!
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  • hadjiihadjii Member Posts: 976 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    IMHO, while the newer Winchesters are supposidly not as good as the pre-64's, I just bought a model 70 sporter varmint that was manufactured in 1991, and I really like this rifle. It's heavy as a sonofagun, but that's what I bought it for, and I like the finish on it. I do have a non-related question though. I put a really small dent in the wood. Is there a way to steam it out or lift the wood back up somehow without removing the finish?
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Guys, Winchester was bought by Olin in 1931. for some years now, Herstal (Belgium) has licensed the winchester name from Olin and sold Winchester rifles built by them as US Repeating Arms Co. In a very real sense, this peice of American History has been gone for 25 years already.
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  • Dean CascioDean Cascio Member Posts: 2,301 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dog
    Your right about Herstal (Belgium) being the corp HQ, but at least they still made the Win 94 in America.
    Dean

    quote:Originally posted by He Dog
    Guys, Winchester was bought by Olin in 1931. for some years now, Herstal (Belgium) has licensed the winchester name from Olin and sold Winchester rifles built by them as US Repeating Arms Co. In a very real sense, this peice of American History has been gone for 25 years already.
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  • roysclockgunroysclockgun Member Posts: 310 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    HeDog wrote: "In a very real sense, this peice of American History has been gone for 25 years already."

    The same can be said of many more of our durable goods. Parts and the entire finished product may be "out sourced" and/or made offshore. That said, we can still have the name recognition attached to the product and if quality is kept up, we can remain loyal to that name brand. Maybe I am all wet and being able to buy a Winchester rifle just because my first rifle in 1948 was a Winchester means nothing. Two years ago, I bought a Winchester Ultimate Shadow. Neither the fit nor the finish compared to my 1952 made Model 70 .270Winchester, but for practical use, the action was the same and on the hunt, the rifle felt good and served me well. I liked being able to go out and buy a Winchester rifle 50 years after acquiring my first Winchester. If Winchester is gone, it's gone and we all will survive the loose. But a lose it is, none the less.
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