Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Interests > Tilted Weaponry


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 01-18-2006, 10:31 PM   #1 (permalink)
Addict
 
Winchester Rifles to Be Discontinued

Saw this on yahoo.com news. Sad, I've never handled a Winchester myself.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060118/...hester_closing

Quote:

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 18, 4:06 PM ET

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The traditional Winchester rifles carried by pioneers, movie stars and Wild West lawmen will be discontinued in March, a Belgian manufacturer said Wednesday, confirming the end of an American icon that became known as "The Gun that Won the West."

Once the U.S. Repeating Arms plant closes March 31, the only new rifles carrying the famous Winchester name will be the modern, high-end models produced in Belgium, Japan and Portugal. The older models, including the famous Winchester Model 94, will be scrapped.

"The name will continue, but not with those traditional products," said Robert Sauvage, a spokesman for the Herstal Group, the Belgian company that owns U.S. Repeating Arms and the right to the Winchester name.

Herstal announced Tuesday that the U.S. Repeating Arms factory in New Haven would soon close, capping 140 years of Winchester manufacturing in the city.

"Economically speaking, we cannot continue. We have lost a lot of money," Sauvage said.

More than 19,000 Winchester employees worked in New Haven during World War II, but after years of a softening firearms market, the plant now employs fewer than 200. All will lose their jobs when the plant closes.

Officials and union leaders said they hoped someone would buy the plant and continue building the traditional rifles, but the Winchester name wouldn't necessarily come with the factory. Such an arrangement would need to be worked out separately.

Missouri-based Olin Corp. owns the Winchester brand name. In the late 1970s, after a massive strike by its machinists, Olin sold the plant to U.S. Repeating Arms along with the right to use the Winchester name until next year.

Sauvage said the Herstal Group wants to extend that right past 2007 but Olin has not decided whether to allow it. Spokeswoman Ann Pipkin said Olin is disappointed with Herstal's decision to close the plant and may sell the Winchester naming rights to someone else.

"The legendary Winchester name, we want it to be on a great-quality firearm," she said.

The Winchester model 1873 lever action rifle, popular among American frontiersmen at the end of the 19th century for its reliability, inspired the 1950 James Stewart film "Winchester '73."

John Wayne made the Winchester a signature of his movies and Chuck Connors posed menacingly with his Winchester on advertisements for the television series "The Rifleman."

President Teddy Roosevelt was also a Winchester devotee, using the 1895 model on his famous 1909 African safari, which historians credited with boosting the sale of Winchester sporting rifles.

While collectors were drawn to Winchester's many commemorative or special-edition rifles, sportsmen often still hunt with rifles that are generations old, a longevity that historian R.L. Wilson said became both the hallmark of the Winchester brand and part of its demise.

"It's not unusual in my work, I'll talk to someone, they'll say, 'I've got my rifle that belonged to my grandfather. I'm still using it,'" Wilson said. "These things get recycled as long as you keep a gun clean and you look after it."

Sauvage said Herstal is proud to have manufactured Winchester rifles for so long. He said he thinks customers will continue buying the new line of weapons, which can be produced quickly and for less money, because Belgium, like America, has a reputation for quality manufacturing.

Others say it won't be the same.

"It would be like Chevrolet going out of business or Chevrolet being made in Japan or China," firearms historian Ned Schwing said. "Winchester is an American legend, whether you're a gun person or not."
Cobalt_60 is offline  
Old 01-19-2006, 12:51 AM   #2 (permalink)
Kick Ass Kunoichi
 
snowy's Avatar
 
Location: Oregon
That's actually good for me...I own a Winchester rifle from the 1890s. All this means is that the price will go up should I choose to sell my beautiful antique rifle (fat chance in hell).
__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
snowy is offline  
Old 01-19-2006, 01:02 AM   #3 (permalink)
Tilted
 
I guess it's time to get a model 94...
syquestrd270 is offline  
Old 01-19-2006, 07:29 PM   #4 (permalink)
With a mustache, the cool factor would be too much
 
Fremen's Avatar
 
Location: left side of my couch, East Texas
it's a sacrilege...
__________________
Google
Fremen is offline  
Old 01-20-2006, 05:57 AM   #5 (permalink)
Getting it.
 
Charlatan's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
Winchester '73 was a cool film. James Stewart westerns rock.
__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke
Charlatan is offline  
Old 01-20-2006, 09:06 AM   #6 (permalink)
beauty in the breakdown
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
What?!?

Really, I guess we should have seen it coming. Who buys a new Model 94 anymore? But still, it's a sad thing to see...
__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato
sailor is offline  
Old 01-21-2006, 01:40 PM   #7 (permalink)
Myrmidon
 
ziadel's Avatar
 
Location: In the twilight and mist.
I'm speechless.

and I'm also going out with my brother this week and buying up everything that says winchester on the side and has a lever on it.
__________________
Ron Paul '08
Vote for Freedom
Go ahead and google Dr. Ron Paul. You'll like what you read.
ziadel is offline  
Old 01-21-2006, 09:46 PM   #8 (permalink)
Myrmidon
 
ziadel's Avatar
 
Location: In the twilight and mist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by onesnowyowl
That's actually good for me...I own a Winchester rifle from the 1890s. All this means is that the price will go up should I choose to sell my beautiful antique rifle (fat chance in hell).

its already worth around 5k.

this has nothing to do with the value of your rifle, I dont see the line being discontinued have an effect on the value of your gun one way or another.


(if you give me a serial number and model number and condition of the firearm I can give you better idea of its value, then you should make sure your insurance company is aware that you have it.)

just some friendly advice
__________________
Ron Paul '08
Vote for Freedom
Go ahead and google Dr. Ron Paul. You'll like what you read.
ziadel is offline  
 

Tags
discontinued, rifles, winchester

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:12 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360