King’s Outdoor World Blog

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• 1. Coyote_63  |  January 20th, 2006 at 8:09 am

  This is a travesty. Is this to mean that the venerable model 94, the most popular brush gun ever, will cease to be produced? And that the model 70, a mainstay bolt action will be a goner too? Or relegated to the custom shop only? I hate to see this. I think that the increasing popularity of new high-powered handguns and increased visibility of brands such as Glock and H&K are helping the demise of major American firearms manufacturers. No more are the “big three” Colt, Winchester, and Smith & Wesson. Tradtition means nothing anymore, even to the manufacturers themselves, whose cost saving measures cheapened the weapons and are helping to drive themselves out of the market. Diminished quality in bluing, lesser materials used in stocks and grips, and less attention to the finer details of firearms production in an attempt to lower production costs to keep up with competition.
  Farewell Winchester Repeating Arms, and good luck.

• 2. ROBERT STOESSEL  |  February 25th, 2006 at 3:20 pm

  Hello:

  I have Model 23 Winchester with a reciever
  problem.This guns condition is as new in origional
  case with origional box and papers.I went to the range to pattern and that night after cleaning the guns lockup sounded hollow soon after went to my
  local Gander Mountain gunsmith they told me
  that the receiver has a crack about .375 inch
  and should not be fired.They recomended contacing
  Winchester customer service, winchester would
  some how make it right.This is where I am now.
  they still have my gun.Please help me as my father
  paid a lot for this gun.

  Respectfully yours,

  Robert Stoessel
  (812-235-6770)

• 3. Jim  |  February 27th, 2006 at 12:15 pm

  good, I hate Winchesters. Go out and get yourselves a Savage or a Ruger. Quit trying to be Clint Eastwood, and grow up.

• 4. Shane  |  March 3rd, 2006 at 8:45 am

  I dont understand this move, i have been looking to buy a new Winchester Model 70 (featherweight) in the new .325 WSM and I cant find them anywhere, and every dealer i have talked to from Cabelas down to the local gun guys say the same thing they cant keep them on the shelves….So how can they sight sagging sales as a reason for this Travisty? It is sad…And to JIM , Ruger has always sucked(in long rifles) and savage hasnt had a decent rifle since they canned the 99 series…and oh yeah, clint eastwood is a **&%$…John Wayne is still the man…(LOL)

• 5. david  |  March 4th, 2006 at 9:29 am

  A savage? Come on, even though I would not buy a winchester, I sure as heck would not buy a Savage. Try a Benelli, you will like the quality.

• 6. John Cantrell  |  March 4th, 2006 at 7:32 pm

  I own 7 USRAC lever guns. A few old ones too. I am sorry that an American Original will soon be history. One of my USRACs has been updated through the custom shop. While I have a few best quality guns in my safe, none are better than my Custom Winchester.

  Jim, David, I have a number of Rugers in my safe also. Unless you pay for better quality most new guns are produced at a relaxed standard of materials and workmanship.

  I hope you are never faced with the prospects of being limited to poorer quality, cheap labor and manufacturing. But then you may have a renewed appreciation for 100 year old design and manufacturing technology John Browning invented and Winchester produced.

  John, NRA Endowment member.

• 7. tino  |  March 6th, 2006 at 10:50 am

  David, You should be beaten for talking like that. Benelli is a SHOTGUN, we are talking about center fire rifles!! We’re not talking about shooting little birdies, we’re talking about shooting big game in open country, not behind some high fence.

• 8. John  |  March 6th, 2006 at 10:59 am

  Which one do you go by? Make up your mind tino/jim wtf?

• 9. David King - King's Outdoor World  |  March 7th, 2006 at 12:27 pm

  Here is some more news on the Winchester facility shutdown:

  CITY SEEKS ANSWERS ON WINCHESTER PLANT’S FUTURE . . . New Haven, Conn., Mayor John DeStefano Jr. met last week with officials from U.S. Repeating Arms Co.’s parent company, the Herstal Group, the New Haven Register reports. Details of the meeting weren’t revealed, but a spokesperson for the mayor said he would be urging the company through a letter to make sure the license to the Winchester brand name would go to any gun manufacturer taking over the facility. He will also urge the company to allow the city access to the facility if it is shut down and to leave behind equipment that was partially paid for with taxpayer funds. Herstal announced in January it would close the historic facility by March 31. The city has been working to find a buyer for the facility and said it has prospects. Another prospective buyer toured the facility Feb. 24, according to USRAC Facility Director Paul DeMennato.

• 10. david  |  March 7th, 2006 at 8:08 pm

  Ok, centerfire rifles…definitely a Remington

• 11. Del  |  March 8th, 2006 at 2:53 pm

  Benelli makes centerfire rifles as well as shotguns……

• 12. Enrique Rodriguez  |  March 14th, 2006 at 5:28 pm

  To whom it made concerned:

  Dear Manufacture:
  About two month ago I purchased from Wal-Mart a Winframe and four days later I was using it at my job place- Home Depot-. I did not notice that the latching sound was not a true one when I was cutting a small hold in a piece of wood. Short story, the knife folded and cut my small finger about half way. I thought my knife was defective ,but after checking four more units , all of them have the same problem, the utility section knife and tools do not LATCH.
  I would like to know: What is the company going to-do to this respect, THIS TOOL SHOULD NOT BE SOLD TO THE PUBLIC ANY MORE, and I will send you a copy of my injury finger at your request. Also, I lost sensitivity to the area cut and I can not close my finger all the way.

  My contact # 786-252-2247 or 954-885-9709
  Sincerely;
  Enrique Rodriguez

• 13. Lynn T  |  March 21st, 2006 at 6:49 pm

  Enrique,
  Sorry to hear about your finger. It will probably heal, unless it gets infected, then all bets are off. (Along with maybe your pinkie.)
  I’m not sure what a Winframe is. You need to elaborate. But realistically, you generally get what you pay for. Does the knife say CHINA anywhere? I thought so.

• 14. Rick Levandowski  |  March 31st, 2006 at 5:01 pm

  New Haven, isn’t that the same town that the imminent domain fight was held and lost?
  Serves ‘em right.

• 15. Darryl  |  April 5th, 2006 at 8:53 am

  I for one am saddened by the passing of the USRA Co. facility in New Haven. This event is especially close to home for someone like myself who lives in Michigan. We in MI, have watched as company after company has closed, moved, or been bought up by competors from overseas. We have no one to blame except ourselves, and our fellow Americans who see nothing wrong with buying goods made else where. My feeling is anyone who buys an imported firearm should be shot with it! Americans have to stand up for American companies, and spend their American dollars on American Goods!
  Is anybody reading this? It’s simple, either we support our neighbors jobs by spending our money on the goods they produce, we will all be slaves to the European Union or wotrse yet, the Asian countries.
  I hope everyone who reads this pulls their head out that dark place and finally sees how important it is to SUPPORT OURSELVES!!!!

• 16. Mike  |  April 6th, 2006 at 2:31 pm

  Should we all give Enrique a call to let him know what a dork he is for posting a letter “to the manufacturer” in a public forum discussing the closing of Winchester, instead of contacting the proper customer support channel?

• 17. Carl  |  April 6th, 2006 at 4:43 pm

  Winchester model 70s are excellant hunting style rifles. It is a raw deal that they closed the plant. I have heard from them that the reason for the closure was due to the fact that they were losing money due the union work force they had. These employees milk the system, are lazy and could care less about ther job….only their paycheck. Hope this teaches them a lesson. If you want the best bolt action rifle on the market, buy a remington 700. Certainly stay clear of the Rugers and Savages. You could build a better rifle than a Ruger with a cutting torch and a grinder.

• 18. HKUriah@AOL.com  |  April 9th, 2006 at 6:01 pm

  Well, I am not surprised. As much as I love Winchester rifles, let’s face it, the model ‘94 has been a lousy gun since the mid 80’s. “Angle Eject.” cross bolt safety, double action revolver style rebounding hammer with no half cock notch… All of these “improvements” have only served to ruin the gun. I am surprised they lasted this long.

  Many other company’s make *lots* of money making reproduction 73’s, 92’s and other “out of print” Winchester rifles that are nearly indistigushable from the originals. So what does Winchester do when it finally brings out “new” 92’s, 85’s and 86’s? They put modern features on them. Sorry, no sale.

  Saddened, but not really dissapointed…

• 19. Mike in Texas  |  April 11th, 2006 at 11:55 pm

  Your absolutley right about Winchester wrecking these fine guns with a bunch of lawyer crap like multiple safeties. And the guy crying about foriegn made guns. This is where socialist labor unions get you. I don’t give a d*@@ about my neighbors job to be honest with you. If he makes himself “in demand” in his chosen career field he will never be without a job. I owe him nothing and we owe American companies nothing. They owe us…..If they want to stay in business, make what we want, it’s that simple. I want quality American made lever guns, but if the assembly line worker who dips the gun in a vat of hot bluing makes $40 an hour then obviously the price will be too much in the end. The big three in Detroit better listen up, they’re next. Thank the unions.

• 20. Wynn  |  April 15th, 2006 at 3:26 pm

  I would like to say to Jim, Carl, and David that you guys obviously don’t know crap about rifles. If you did you would know how they are made and what makes the thing work best. Rugers are an investment cast piece of junk and if the late Lenard Brownell new they where routing out the stock he design on a cnc and not adding any bedding he would spin in his grave like a top. And for the Remington, I know they have made some progress in the accuracy department but the recoil lug is nothing but a d^m% washer screwed in between the barrel and the action for god sake. And the non-ajustable trigger is a joke. But I’m sure they had to design it that way to keep idots home gunsmithers from killing somebody.
  As for the Model 70 you will have to look long and hard to find anything that will come close. I have built my own stocks for more than 15 years and can’t find one action that was more of a pleasure to work on than the 70. The old war horse deserves a little more respect from everyone. I will miss them greatly. And I will never buy another Winchester product until
  Belgian bean counters are out. May FN HERSTAL ROT IN #%&&. OH YEAH BENILLI SMELLY BADDDD.

• 21. will  |  April 17th, 2006 at 6:25 am

  can you tell me the market share of Winchesterin north America

• 22. Mike Minshall  |  April 19th, 2006 at 3:28 pm

  I have a Winchester model 94 that I bought new as a 7th grader in 1978. Maybe not be the best deer rifle in the world, for it kicks hard, and the iron sights made life difficult (for me) to shoot beyond 80 yards or so. However, I will never sell it, for every time I see it I remember back to the time when I thought I was John Wayne. Yea, I said it. That rifle to me is a 57 Belair, my connection to Americana. I take it to the range now and then and shoot those 125 grain ” managed recoil ” rounds through it. It’s now more fun to shoot than it ever was. EVEN THOUGH THE MODERN COMPANY SUCKS, AND TRIED TO SELL US SUB STANDARD GUNS FOR THE LAST 4 DECADES,I hate to see them go the way of the Buffalo.

• 23. Zack  |  April 23rd, 2006 at 11:03 pm

  I am not surprised the plant is closing. Their quality was an absolute joke at the end. I purchased a Winchester 1300 shotgun 6 months ago and am very dissapointed. I looked down my barrel and saw a washboard effect under the roll stamp. I contacted Big 5 and they gave me another barrel, also defective. They checked about 10 shotguns and sent them all back. A man from Browning said he would call me when he found a non-defective barrel and I never heard from him again, Winchester closing is evolution in action and hopefully they will learn a lesson about producing garbage.
  GOOD RIDDANCE!!

• 24. marcus  |  April 30th, 2006 at 10:49 am

  I just found this out(of course a liberal press would keep it low key) while searching an web site to auction off my N.I.B. Model 70 Stealth in .308. I bought it 4 years ago, and had planned to use it as a base rifle for a custom tackdriver similiar to one of the rifle types used by the GODFATHER of USMC sniper school: the late and HONORED Carlos Hathcock. That project never got started, and the rifle has sat (still with factory packing grease on the bolt)new in the box. Although, I am still curious as to the value of the rifle, I’m not so sure that selling is a good idea anymore.
  This event is not the first, and not the last in a string of events that are a sign of Biblical Prophesy comming true. Yes I am a firm believer in GOD(not a conspiracy fanatic). Things will get worse, but we won’t even be aware implications until it’s too late. Most of our firearms are being made overseas, and that makes it very dangerous for the 2ND Amendment. The easiest way to make us “fall-in-line” with the whole new world order plan is to take away our ability to defend ourselves. Unfortunatley, these and future events are going to happen, and get considerably worse, but we can’t stop the word of GOD, and what’s been written in the Book of Revelations. We can however, seek a relationship with him through Jesus, and trust that they will protect us in the times too come.

• 25. King’s Outdoor Worl&hellip  |  June 5th, 2006 at 12:01 am

  […] On January 17, 2006, the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, makers of Winchester firearms, announced it would be closing its New Haven, Connecticut facility. Rumors have started circulating that the famous Winchester models 70 and 94 are gone forever and that Winchester is going out of business. We sat down with Scott Grange, the director of PR at Winchester and Browning to get the whole story. (Originally published in the May/June 2006 issue of Hunting Illustrated) […]

• 26. Tom  |  June 11th, 2006 at 12:26 am

  When all the American gun manufacturing plants are closed where will we get weapons to fight future wars? China? The EU? Good luck! What happens if they decide to supply the other guys and not us? If the good ole US of A can bail out the auto or airline industries, why can’t we help keep an industry that is essential to our national security afloat?

• 27. Lee Mertz  |  July 29th, 2006 at 1:12 pm

  We need to stop the shutting down American plants. The loss of jobs to China will one put us out of work and two take away our national defense. We won World War II by being able to out produce the Axis powers of Germany and Japan. Our manufacturing was second to none. What has happen to our country since? i think it is GREED. Companies don’t care anymore about their employees when they can buy cheap cheap cheap non quality items from China. Say just as the writer in front of me wrote, what happens when China decides not to sell to us any more? What happens when we go to war with China? We need to reopen plants and build new ones. BRING HOME the JOBS and protect America.

• 28. Rickey Prince  |  August 4th, 2006 at 5:12 am

  Me I think the model 70 is one of the best hunting rifle that was on the market,,but maybe we can buy all our guns from other places,that way when we go to war against them, may be we can use there ammo in our gun if they will sell it to whom they are fighting,Think about that.

• 29. Chuck  |  August 17th, 2006 at 1:20 am

  This is for Zack’s comment above. I purchased a Winchester model 1300 in Dec. of 05′. Never had a problem with it. I love the gun. I replaced the ribbed barrel with a rifled barrel and installed a cantilever mount and scope and it is deadly accurate. I routinely remove the trigger and clean along with the bolt and firing pin and inside the receiver. Awsome gun and am very sad to see Winchester go. My father has many winchester shotguns and rifles. His favorite is the model 101 O/U..Tried to have him sell it to me but he wants to be buried with it..DAM*!! Anyway, If you are still looking for a 28″ Ventilated barrel with a improved cylinder, let me know..

• 30. Chuck  |  August 17th, 2006 at 1:21 am

  my email address is Nascar355800@bellsouth.net

• 31. Stephen Melton  |  August 22nd, 2006 at 5:47 am

  I’ll miss the Defender line of shotguns and the Winchester name but so what….
  All it has to do with is the same as every where else in our global economy amongst multinational companies, the guys in the top management are gonna get theirs at the expense of us all. And heritage, tradition or anything else can be damned.
  Buy a Remington or Ruger centerfire boltaction, a Benelli, Remington or many others shotgun, a Marlin levergun, and let the greedy jerks at what’s left of the Winchester name pass away into history like they deserve.
  Lots of better guns out there, go get you some. And show winchester WE DON’T NEED THEM EITHER!

• 32. Tom Tom  |  September 3rd, 2006 at 9:18 am

  The AUCTION of the USRAC facility will be held Sept.27th & 28th,2006. After many attempts to save the company all the machinery & equipment used to mfg. the “Gun that won the West” will be sold at AUCTION. For full information visit www.thomasauction.com

• 33. Zack  |  November 13th, 2006 at 7:58 pm

  Thanks Chuck, I bought a smoothbore slug barrel off ebay and am satisfied. I am definitely not satisfied with the quality control of a plant the releases hundreds of defective products. And for those who are wondering, Browning could not find a non-defective barrel and has chosen not to contact me back for some time now. I would expect this poor quality from China, but I would like to thin that Americans take pride in their work and their product and this was obviously not the case with Winchester. I am not surprised they went under and hope it is an example to other companies who want to pass a “sub-standard” product on to the public. To the people wh are bummed Winchester is closing, go but a chinese imitation of a Winchester and I believe you will find it to be higher quality than the original.

• 34. richard the mossheart  |  December 11th, 2006 at 7:49 pm

  It truly saddens me to see this great American gun icon fade into oblivion I believe that American firearms are the best in the world. Colt, Remington,Winchester all the way!

• 35. Lee Garrett  |  December 15th, 2006 at 11:34 pm

  I can remember back in the late 60’s when I bought my first rifle, a used Winchester Model 94. I had a problem with the bluing, apparently the alloy they were using in the reciever back then didn’t really like it much. I called their customer service department and they told me to pack it up and send to them, which I did. They didn’t charge me a dime and the bluing has lasted ever since. The model 94 wasn’t a particularly good rifle even then but as a kid in junior high school their customer service won me over. I own a number of Winchester rifles and shotguns (mostly older ones) and they still serve me well. It saddens me to see the direction American business has gone over the last 40 years. Great customer service is a thing of the past. Sales and service are no longer about building a relationship with the customer. The demise of Winchester is sad but predictable. When you forget who your customers are and why they are your customers, failure will surely follow. I’d like to think that the failure of companies like Winchester would send a wake up call to American business but I don’t think they are asleep, they are comotose with greed.

• 36. Dean Spangler  |  February 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm

  Maybe some young enterprising American will step up and continue the line created by old Oliver. Olin Corporartion!!!!!! Hear us and make sure the name “Winchester” doesn’t die.

• 37. chrs_28  |  February 4th, 2007 at 8:07 pm

  i cant believe that winchester shut down its plant. america is loosing a major part of its heritage. winchester has been a big part of the west and today. i believe that winchester is the best firearms company ever. i have 4 winchester firearms and i will have them for the rest of my life. and iam still trying to buy a 93 30-30. good luck and God bess winchester!

• 38. arik  |  February 6th, 2007 at 4:57 am

  i have the 1200 gun maybe you guys know were can i get parts for it?

• 39. alan mcqueen  |  February 28th, 2007 at 10:28 am

  sorry but remington is their daddy.i do own one 94 ae in 357it is a beautiful gun but i have never shot it

• 40. Paul Max  |  April 2nd, 2007 at 9:50 am

  If you want a nice lever action go with a Henry.

• 41. Larry  |  May 27th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

  Does this mean that my .44 Mag 94 went up in value??

• 42. gregthetoolmanharley  |  August 14th, 2007 at 4:03 pm

  My model 70s are the best I have, best I’ve seen; period. I can shoot better and more consistant groups than all others I’ve tried and competed against.

  Winchester fell because of their messed up insistance that they needed to satisfy all the yuppies and weekend shooters with “short magnum calibers”. Their new short magnum line is over priced and under performs for the money. It was done to soak up yuppy money, but they didn’t sell well enough. Those that bought can’t afford the ammo so it isn’t selling either.

  Those buyers are likely not versed enough to reload and chronograph. The majority out there buying the short mags have never chronographed them next to a standard .270 winchester caliber or they would realize the waste of money. I’d put my worst old push feed Winchester model 70 up against any other any time. I’ve out shot fancy competition rifles with this old “deer” rifle a NRA competitions. That’s my worst winchester. I don’t hear much experience talking out there. Say something that shows the experience behind what you’re saying.

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