Last issues of Winchester
What were the last rifles that Winchester made before they went out of business and when were they issues?
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First, Winchester did not go "out of business". They are still going strong, and their primary product is ammunition. Now with that stated, Winchester got out of the firearms manufacturing business back in January of 1981 (when they sold the New Haven, CONN factory to the newly formed U.S. Repeating Arms Company). At the time when they sold the firearms factory, they were manufacturing just two rifles... the Model 94 and the Model 70. Neither of those models is considered "collectable" if it was made in 1964 or later. 0 -
Not to hijack the thread but when Winchester licensed their name to USRA in 1981 what were the thoughts of the general shooting community? Did anyone think it was a good thing or was it looked upon as negative? 0 -
"Winchester" Model 70 are currently being made in S. Carolina by FN and soon will be making model 94s there also. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by DEEREHART
Not to hijack the thread but when Winchester licensed their name to USRA in 1981 what were the thoughts of the general shooting community? Did anyone think it was a good thing or was it looked upon as negative?
Hello Doug,
I believe that the public was neutral on it. Most of the diehard shooting & collecting public had been turned off by the "less than high quality" line of firearms that Winchester had foisted on them since 1964, and most likely viewed the change of ownership as a step forward.
p.s. Larry is highly impressed with your generosity and the gracious assistance that you gave him. I too am very grateful for the help you gave him, as that old phart is a near father figure to me. I owe you one big favor that can be cashed in on at anytime you need it.0 -
No need to thank me,just his company for a few hours was payment enough,besides I got to check out some very fine rifles and hear a few good stories a couple about you. 0 -
quote:Neither of those models is considered "collectable" if it was made in 1964 or later.
Which is not to say that dealers have not inflated the prices of all things with the Winchester name since the demise of USRAC in 2006. I do agree with Bert that in the end they will not be sought as collectables, with the possible exception of the 9422.0 -
Winchester was still manufacturing the Model 21 after USRAC took over. There were absolutely no changes to the way the M21 was produced. The 21s made under USRAC are just as collectable as the previous ones and you probably have a better chance of finding one with factory papers too. 0 -
I think people had high hopes for USRA, which were only partially met. But the quality of the product did seem to improve. We had a sales disaster with one of the post-64 Olin guns in our shop one day, when the boss was unboxing some newly-arrived Canadian Centennials. A gun came out of the box with wood that was so glorious that a customer who was standing there declared that he wanted to buy it on the spot. The boss smiled and handed it to the customer while opening the action - and the action disintegrated, with some of the action parts bouncing off the customer's shoes. The customer turned a little green and told the boss that he had changed his mind. It was this kind of thing that generated hope when USRA started up.
I think USRA may have missed the boat in one area, that being that it was known that rifles in classic configurations were big sellers. Octagon rifles in .38-55 and carbines in .25-35 could have generated more revenue than the .307's and whatnot, but the company was already folding by the time they decided to make anything close. FN becomes a different story, and they already have the tooling for '92's, 86's, etc. We may be heading into a 'sunrise' after all.0
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