Savage is on the block

I thought the left were all against bullying? #Hypocriticallefties

BTW, the lunatic left is already making threats at any potential buyer:

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Won't have any significant effect on a buyer looking to take the firm private.

Riomouse911 said:

I thought the left were all against bullying? #Hypocriticallefties

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How many times do I have to tall you guys, Liberals make rules to apply to OTHER PEOPLE.

Do as WE say, not as we DO is their mantra...............

Okay so if Vista divests itself of Savage yet keeps making ammunition, leftist snowflake companies like REI will keep buying their CamelBak Brand?

It sounds to me like Vista needs to sell off both their ammo and firearms businesses to people who don’t worry about snowflakes. Are the Vista executives stupid enough to believe that their ammunition entities won’t be the next target?

Looks like the weaklings at Vista are going to continue to be pushed around by the snowflakes.

I see this as more of a sound financial move than them taking an anti-gun stance. If it were truly anti-gun they wouldn't continue to sell ammo and accessories. The gun market is soft right now. Over the last 10+ years guns have been sold at record numbers and most people already own more than they need. Lot of used guns out there at bargain prices right now. That makes it harder to sell new ones. Savage will be bought and continue in business. But Savage and most all firearms manufacturers are looking at a few lean years.

But all of those people who bought guns still need ammo, reloading supplies, optics, and other accessories. The real profit has always been in ammo and accessories anyway.

I dont think savage is going anywhere.

George P said:

Do as WE say, not as we DO is their mantra...............

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The ends justify the means.

I suspect that many - perhaps all - of these corporations that have bought up firearms and ammo manufacturing names are not our friends at all. They'll continue making and selling while it lasts. And then suddenly, one day, decide to cease producing all guns and ammo.

RPZ said:

I suspect that many - perhaps all - of these corporations that have bought up firearms and ammo manufacturing names are not our friends at all. They'll continue making and selling while it lasts. And then suddenly, one day, decide to cease producing all guns and ammo.

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Yep we need gun people in the gun business. It’s a long term proposition.

You mean like ATK who makes more ordnance for the military than anyone else? Federal morphed, morphed again and again. I suspect the motive is lack of profit margin, nothing more

George P said:

You mean like ATK who makes more ordnance for the military than anyone else? Federal morphed, morphed again and again. I suspect the motive is lack of profit margin, nothing more

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Has to be. If REI knows or finds out who Vista really is, they still won’t do business with them.

Again I’d rather have a few good gun people in the business for the long haul who understand the cycles than a ton of investment companies (Freedom Group, for example) making firearms as cheaply as they can and who tuck tail and run at the first sign of a downturn. This might be better off for Savage in the long run.

I sold into the ammo industry for several years. Federal ATK was definitely geared to Govt. Contracts. Winchester did both. Remington was focused on consumers. And Fiocchi was the value line. My biggest project was designing a system to seal the cartridge into the case head to abate water incursion and setback.

Blue Feather said:

Yep we need gun people in the gun business. It’s a long term proposition.

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And family businesses that won't float their businesses open to takeover. Once a company goes public scraping the last dollar, and political influence, intimation etc come into play.

Indeed, it’s a rare bird that gets bought out by capital investment companies or hostile corporate raiders and stays true to anything that previously made their company's reputation or success.

I learned that living up on the North Coast of Ca in the 1980’s when Charles Hurwitz and Maxxam bought out The Pacific Lumber Co. That company went from planning for the long-term viability of the small timber operation with sustained-yield harvesting to clear cutting their forest reserves to maximize Maxxam’s return practically overnight. Short term profits, but a long term failure.

I don’t own a Savage rifle, but someday I just might...

jmr40 said:

Over the last 10+ years guns have been sold at record numbers and most people already own more than they need.

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How do you know that? That's just a WAG based on how many you own.

CoalTrain49 said:

How do you know that? That's just a WAG based on how many you own.

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And what about how many we don't need, but that we just WANT

CoalTrain49 said:

How do you know that? That's just a WAG based on how many you own.

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Probably based on a record number of background checks...eh?

prplbkrr said:

Probably based on a record number of background checks...eh?

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Background checks do tell you how many guns have been sold but they don't tell you how many were sold to gun owners.

But I agree with jmr40, lots of people added to their collections of guns in the last 10 years. I waz just razzin him.

Conglomerates run into certain problems. One problem is that their various subs sometimes have conflicts. Those conflicts can come in the form of market appeal conflicts and investor appeal conflicts. Vista appears to be suffering from both at the moment. Their non-firearm brands are being influenced/hurt by their firearms brands (retailers dropping one because of the other, activist investors/divestors punishing the stock price because it is "tainted" with guns, etc.). The synergies of common distribution channels and shared overhead are outweighed by these conflicts. Probably better to cut the firearms brands lose to operate in their own market space, where their customers and investors will necessarily be limited to the people who are OK with firearms.

jski said:

Vista also owns Federal, CCI, Bushnell, etc. I assume they're focusing on Federal?

BTW, the lunatic left is already making threats to any potential buyer:
Gun Maker Complains That People Are Saying Mean Things About Its Products on Social Media

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Wow... When Savage sold, not too many years ago, it went for top $$$... I think it's going to be a tough sell today, given competition from Mossberg, Remington and Ruger...

jski said:

I agree, gun companies ought to be owned by enthusiasts, not bean counters.

BTW, is Weatherby the only example of this? And what's the future of Ruger, being a publicly traded company?

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I believe that Mossberg is family owned, as is Beretta.

There's also the issue (for some) about the firm's very name -- "Savage."

The name supposedly comes from an orphan English boy. Powhatan demanded a hostage from the Jamestown settlers, and no one cared much about this boy so they handed him over. He loved being an Indian, and they doted on him. Other Englishmen called him "the savage" and the name stuck.

According to one version of the story, when he grew up, the Indians told him they knew he was really White, and they knew White men liked land -- so they gave him the Eastern Shore.

In any case, there are plenty of Savages in Virginia to this day and there is a Savage Island in Chesapeake Bay.