End of an Era

[FghtinIrshNvrDie]

Did any of the NRA members here see the story about the 30-30 in the American Rifleman? They're closing down the plants in March, so buy one while you can...

Ryan

[carnivore #1]

What plants are you talking about, a lot of firearms manufacturers make 30-30 caliber rifles.

[CRO]

I THINK THAT I HEARD THAT WINCHESTER WAS SHUTTING DOWN.

[carnivore #1]

Browning bought out winchester.

[FghtinIrshNvrDie]

I'm talking about model 94 production. It's coming to a halt.

Originally shown in American Rifleman March 2006
By the time you read this, one of the aforementioned lever-action legends will no longer be made. On January 18-- two days before we shipped this issue to the printer-- U.S. Repeating Arms Co., the maker of Winchester Rifles and shotguns, announced its New Haven, Conn., plant will close March 31. The Model 94 and Model 70 rifles and the Model 1300 shotgun will no longer be manufactured. It was a shock that left our entire staff speachless and with a profound sense of loss. "Many efforts were made to improve profitability at the manufacturing facility in New Haven, and the decision was made after exhausting all available options," stated a release from the company. Winchester over-under and semi-automatic shotguns and Limited Edition rifles will continue to be offered. A Winchester representative also advised that there are no plans to make Model 94s or 70s anywhere else at this time. So ends an era that spanned 140 years... and a legend. We'll have more on the loss of two of our most beloved guns -- icons in the hearts and minds of generations of American shooters and hunters -- in the coming months.

Whew! That took a while to type.

Ryan

[Sombeech]

30-30 is the first gun I ever hunted a deer with. That's a shame they'll be out of production.

[DocHolladay]

As far as I have been told, the model 70, model 1300, and model 94 will no longer be made. The Herstal Group is who owns Winchester, Browning, and FN. They are the ones selling the company due to lack of profit and sales. It is a sad day in firearms history.

End of an era as Winchester rifle plant prepares to close
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer | January 17, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Inc. said Tuesday it will close its Winchester firearm factory, threatening the future of a rifle that was once called "The Gun that Won the West."

"It's part of who we are as a nation just like it's part of who we are as a city," Mayor John DeStefano said.

The announcement touched off a lobbying effort by city officials and union leaders who hoped to find a buyer for the plant before it closes March 31. If no buyer comes forward, it could spell the end for nearly all commercially produced Winchesters, said Everett Corey, a representative of the International Association of Machinists District 26.

"Winchester would be pretty much defunct," he said. "They're not going to produce them, other than a couple custom-type models."

The company has been plagued by slumping firearm sales. More than 19,000 people worked there during World War II, but the plant employs fewer than 200 now. All will lose their jobs when the plant closes.

The Winchester model 1873 lever action rifle was popular among American frontiersmen at the end of the 19th century for its reliability. John Wayne made the Winchester rifle a signature of his movies and Chuck Connors posed menacingly with his Winchester on the poster for the television series "The Rifleman."

"Marlin made lever-action rifles but nobody ever had a Marlin in films or TV series. They were always Winchesters," said Ned Schwing, a firearms historian.

Perhaps the company's greatest unofficial spokesman was President Teddy Roosevelt, who used the 1895 model on his famous 1909 African safari, which historians credited with boosting the sale of Winchester sporting rifles.

Since the plant opened in 1866, tens of millions of Winchester rifles have been produced, the bulk of which came between the late 1800s and the end of World War II, said firearms historian R.L. Wilson, who has written books about Winchester. More than six million copies of the Winchester Model 94, the company's most popular rifle, have been produced.

"Several generations have worked at this place, a lot of fathers and brothers, sons, uncles and daughters," said Paul DeMennato, facility director at U.S. Repeating Arms.

U.S. Repeating Arms, which is owned by the Herstal Group, a Belgium company, has said for years that it was on the brink of closing the plant.

DeMennato said the company is negotiating the plant's sale. Missouri-based Olin Corp. owns the Winchester brand name. In the late 1970s, after a massive strike by its machinists, Olin sold the plant to U.S. Repeating Arms along with the right to use the Winchester name until next year.

Olin had no immediate word on its plans for the Winchester name. DeMennato said he hopes the name will be sold along with the plant. Nobody at Herstal's headquarters in Belgium could be reached Tuesday afternoon.

[Hunter_Dan]

But there's still other 30-30 rifles aren't there? Than the ones that aren't being made anymore?

[KwackWacker]

Yes, 30-30s are still being manufactured, it's just that the model 94 was probably the most utuilized rifle in American History and now it's been decomissioned.

[Hunter_Dan]

Oh, I think one of my friends actually have the model 94...

[truk]

one of the best shooters i own is a model 94 winchester pre-64 in .32 special, and i am real excited that hornady is coming out with the .32 special ammo in the leverevolution in 2008!