Conn. Winchester Rifle plant to close
Wednesday January 18, 2:37 pm ET
U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Inc. announced late Tuesday it will close its New Haven, Conn., Winchester firearm factory, leaving the future of the legendary Winchester name in question.
Clayton, Mo.-based Olin Corp., which owns the Winchester brand name, sold the plant in the late 1970s to U.S. Repeating Arms, along with the right to use the Winchester name until 2007. Olin's Winchester subsidiary is based in East Alton, Ill.
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With regard to the Winchester brand name licensing agreement, an Olin spokesperson told the St. Louis Business Journal no decision has been made. The spokesperson said the company finds the closing "unfortunate" and said Olin "has an interest in having a firearm made available to consumers that carries the Winchester name."
The Winchester rifle was once called "The gun that won the west" and was carried by such notables as President Theodore Roosevelt, who used the 1895 model on his 1909 African safari, and John Wayne, who made the Winchester rifle a signature in his movies.
"It's part of who we are as a nation, just like it's part of who we are as a city," New Haven, Conn., Mayor John DeStefano said of the Winchester name in a release.
The plant, which opened in 1866, produced the bulk of the rifles between the late 1800s and the end of World War II, according to a release.
U.S. Repeating Arms, which is owned by the Herstal Group, a Belgian company, has said for years that it was on the brink of closing the plant.
Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN - News) manufactures metals, chemical products and ammunition products under the Winchester brand.
Published January 18, 2006 by the St. Louis Business Journal