Winchesters by Browning???

[brianidaho]

FYI

Not a very informative press release, but perhaps there is hope for the '94 and model 70.

Anyone heard any more?

Bri



http://www.winchester.com/pressroom/news/pressreleases/releasedetail.aspx?storyid=172

8/15/2006
East Alton, IL, August 15, 2006 --Winchester announced today that it has entered into a long-term license agreement with Browning for the manufacture and distribution of Winchester brand rifles and shotguns.


?With this new agreement, Winchester is confident that Browning will produce innovative firearms worthy of the Winchester name, continuing a tradition that people around the world associate with the Winchester brand,? stated Richard Hammett, President Winchester Ammunition. ?We are proud of our heritage as The Gun That Won the West and consider this arrangement as entering a new era for the legendary Winchester firearms brand.?

Charles Guevremont, President of Browning is equally optimistic and excited about the opportunity to continue the production and distribution of Winchester firearms. ?We are more committed today than ever before to the development of exciting new Winchester firearms designs,? said Guevremont. ?We will continually strive to build the quality products that generations of loyal Winchester customers have come to expect and will be proud to own and use for decades to come.?


Winchester is a division of Olin Corporation. Olin Corporation is a manufacturer concentrated in three business segments: Metals, Chlor Alkali Products and Winchester. Winchester products include sporting ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and industrial cartridges.


For more information on Winchester products, including press releases and images, visit www.winchester.com, and then click on Press Room.

 

[DPris]

Browning bought the brand name to keep using on foreign production for the parent company, FNH.
They're not sure how they'll use it yet, but the equipment is worn out & labor costs are too high in New Haven, so they won't re-open the plant there.
Talked to Browning this morning, the conversation was full of "new", nothing about the older lines. US Repeating Arms is basically dead, USRAC was pretty much the plant/production, Browning was doing marketing, sales, service, etc. for the Winchester brand.
Denis

 

[Anthony Terry]

Hopefully browning will put the same quality in the new winchesters that they have in their rifles. Browning is top of the line for affordable, semi-custom, out of the box rifles. After buying and shooting my 30-06 a-bolt medallion, the accuracy is just right on. The browning rifles are just built right. Hopefully they'll make some better quality winchesters.

 

[stevelyn]

WildAlaska post a thread here awhile back that Mossberg was going to eventually resume manufacturing the Winchester products.

Has something changed or is this a different issue?

 

[Olaf]

Winchesters actually produced by Browning......or Mossberg ???? Winchester has only been a brand....periodically sold by one corporate entity to another....for a very long time. No offense to any fanciers of so-called Winchester products.... but the name Winchester means nothing to me. I have no doubts that FNH will do a good job with the Winchester trademark (they make quality products anyway)....and make a lot of money....but something about this just seems fake. I really don't care where the guns are made, or by whom....but they aren't really "Winchesters". Just like everything else in the world today, marketing is all that's counted as important. I guess that's the essence of my complaint... it's all just for show.

Oh well....another good reason to stick with old "Mausers". At least I am reasonably sure who actually made them.... or am I ?

 

[gak]

Start making 70s and 94s (and 92s and 86s again, etc.) in Miroku and they will come.

 

[deadin]

Winchesters by Browning???

Why not? It used to be Browning by Winchester.

Dean

 

[DPris]

What it's shaping up to be is Winchester as a brand name used by Browning/FNH, like Charles Daly is a brand name used by KBI. There is no Winchester company anymore, there is no Charles Daly company anymore.
Browning will not produce or make any Winchester branded guns, anything sold under the Winchester brand will be outsourced like everything else Browning sells. Browning has a long-established history of contracting out, and without plants, equipment, and people to maintain, it's been a profitable one for the company. Can't see 'em changing that now.
Denis

 

[OJ]

This Winchester 95 30-06 Hi-Grade was made by Miroku under license from Winchester and is not only the best looking gun in my safe but, is the best shooting gun there also.

The current news looks more like a solution than a problem to me.

 

[ZeroJunk]

I hope they do something with the safety on a model 70.I love the rifles but the last couple that I bought had an extremely tight and noisy safety.Even using your thumb and index finger it was a problem in close hunting situations.Guess it was a lawyer thing.

 

[Tom Matiska]

..... but the equipment is worn out & labor costs are too high in New Haven, so they won't re-open the plant there.

I thought that US Repeating Arms built a new state of the art plant across the street from the old "Winchester" plant in the 90's. Unless I've missed a recent twist to the story, I think buying the "Winchester" name from Olin and buying the machinery from former licensee US Repeating Arms are different subjects.

 

[onemsumba]

To find out what really is going to happen we need to wait until Sept 1st for the announcement.

what we do know
- There is no Winchester Rifle company. Only a Winchester Brand manufactured by various other companies.

1) FNH owns Browning and The Win plant in New Haven and the licenses from OLIN to manufacture Win branded rifles
2) cost of doing business in the NH plant was too high
3) the products made in NH were discontinued by FNH the other "Win" branded products will still be made by outsourced contractors for FNH
4) The Super X rifles are just Win branded BAR's.

So it makes sense to consolidate the Marketing and Manufacturing Contracts of the Win branded products under the Browning Management Company. Economies of scale and all that.

What is to become of the model 70, et al seems to still be TBD.

With all due respect Wild Alaska's prediction is just speculation. Unless he can offer proof that he is employed by Olin, FNH, the city of New Haven Conn. or Mossberg and is engaged in the contract negotiations.

Now if he is on one of those then he should be terminated for disclosing confidential information on the sale prior to its announcement. This is in keeping with best business practices and ethics and I'm sure the non disclosure agreements that are in place amongst those entities. Not to mention what the SECC would do as this would be insider information (if FNH, OLIN, et al are publicly traded)

 

[maas]

i would like to see winchester being made in the USA. if its not going to be, keep it closed. japan Winchesters wouldn't be as bad as say Brazilian but it would be a sad day for an American name. notice how browning doesn't have a cheep line, winchester needs to do the same. if they gave up the ranger line along with the non floor plate, push fed model 70's they'd be ahead of the game. this seems to work for browning so why wouldn't it work for them. i was a die hard winchester nut but lately Ive been buying brownings. the newest winchester i own is a model 94/22 that was made in 97 and its an awesome gun.

 

[DPris]

Tom,
I believe they built a new building, but Browning told me yesterday the machinery is old & worn out, apparently dating way back in some cases.
You're correct, buying the brand from Olin and the equipment from the defunct USRAC are two different matters.

One has it.

I'd personally prefer to keep the 94s & the 70s going, and in this country. I would not buy a Brazilian 94, or an Italian 94, but I will say that my Miroku Winchester 86 Extra Lite in .45-70 is the finest levergun I own, and beats anything Winchester's put out in this country in the last 40 years by a mile.
The country's different, I may not like Made In Japan stamped on it, but I can't deny the quality & I'm pretty fond of the gun.

Denis

 

[dave0520]

Brian, it only makes sense the Browning would buy Winchester. I mean, John Browning designed quite a few of the Winchester guns IIRC, including the 94. I have no doubt that Browning will continue to import quality firearms under the Winchester brand name.

 

[Tom Matiska]

Miruko has made some of the finest Winchesters, Charles Dalys, etc ever made. At one time I believe they were making so many guns for various companies that they were (maybe still are) the largest firearms manufacturer in the world.