Save Winchester thank you & new website

[GunGopher]

Hello all,

Thank you to those who helped us in the Save Winchester effort. Unfortunately Olin gave the name back to Herstal through Browning this time, but we are going to continue to work in the industry to support American arms manufacturing. In furtherance of this goal we have launch the American Firearms Company. Lastly, today and tomorrow they are auctioning off the equipment inside the Winchester Factory, a sad day for all.

Mike
www.AmericanFirearmsCompany.com

 

[ilbob]

In some respects it is a sad day, but really, there are very few companies that lasted as long as Winchester did. Times change, people's needs change, and they acquire different buying habits. Companies that do not adapt to that reality will go under - as they should. The customer is king and if you do not produce a product people are willing to buy at a price and in enough quantity that you can make a profit - you will go under. Nostalgia is worth absolutely nothing in that equation.

I wish you the best of luck in your new endeavor. Nothing wrong with making guns in America. I am not convinced that making guns of a type that cannot be sold at a profit is a good idea though. keep in mind the profit motive and forget the nostalgia angle.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Winchester has not been Winchester for a long long time. It became nothing more than a trademark on a mediocre product line. It was time for it to go, and I hope nobody resurrects it.

 

[STAGE 2]

+1 to lone gunman. I have as much love for american products and tradition as the next guy. But when companies start to play on those things by putting out an inferior product and saying "buy american" I give them the boot.

I'll support our country and buy its products as long as they keep up their end of the bargain by putting out a quality product. If they don't then my money is going elsewhere.

 

[Axman]

Well, things do change. Even Chrysler Corp. is now Daimler Chrysler. Who'da thunk???

 

[halvey]

May be a chicken and egg thing, but what came first, Winchester neglecting their product line then sales falling off, or did it's customers gravitate towards the cheaper imports?

I looked at some 94's last year and I'd be embarassed to put out such a product. Rust on a new 94 is unacceptable. Bluing loss on a new 94 is unacceptable. One 94 I saw had it's forearm coming loose.

I ended up buying a Marlin and hopefully Marlin will continue to produce their lever lines here.

 

[rbernie]

Even Chrysler Corp. is now Daimler Chrysler. Who'da thunk???

And Volvo and Mazda and Rover and Jaguar are majority owned by Ford, and Saab and Opel and Vauxhall and Holden are owned by GM, and so forth. Globalization works both ways, but we never seem to whine when The Big American Conglomorate, Incorporated goes overseas and buys out somebody else's name and market rights.

I'm sorry to see Winchester go, but those that point out that Winchester of last year is NOT the Winchester of my youth are absolutely correct. Flogging decades' old products that are not price- or feature-competitive is no way to run a railroad.

I looked at some 94's last year and I'd be embarassed to put out such a product. Rust on a new 94 is unacceptable. Bluing loss on a new 94 is unacceptable. One 94 I saw had it's forearm coming loose.

Capitalism has spoken. Like it or not, it sure beats the alternative.

 

[TimboKhan]

I tend to agree that the Winchester of today was not the same as the Winchester of yesteryear. I looked at a new 94 at a gunshow about a year ago, and I was horrified at what an obvious piece o' crap it was. Rattly, poorly finished, poorly fit. I am lucky enough to own a 94 made somewhere at or before 1953 (since my dad bought it, used, in 1953), and that gun really is a very nice, very well made rifle. If you can somehow manufacture a rifle of that same quality that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, then I say more power to you. If not, well, any new lever actions I buy will be Marlin.

 

[halvey]

Capitalism has spoken. Like it or not, it sure beats the alternative.

Exactly my point. That's why I said:

I ended up buying a Marlin and hopefully Marlin will continue to produce their lever lines here.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

May be a chicken and egg thing, but what came first, Winchester neglecting their product line then sales falling off, or did it's customers gravitate towards the cheaper imports?

Cheaper imports?

The mainstay of Winchester has always been lever action rifles. Winchester failed to realize there was a market for the Yellow Boy and 1873. Uberti came along and started producing those. They sold great to cowboy action shooters, and Winchester let itself lose that market. Those "cheaper imports" cost about $800-$1000; much more than the Winchester crap being produced.