Author Topic: Where are the Winchester rifles made? (Read 4834 times)

Graybeard · « **Reply #30 on:** March 03, 2005, 12:20:37 PM »

I thought that list rather interesting for what it left off. If I recall correctly it listed the Models 94 and 70 rifles as well as the rimfire 94s which are being discontinued. It listed the 1300 shotgun but not the semiauto guns. So are we to then assume all other guns bearing the Winchester label are NOT US made?

Truthfully I'm less concerned about the country of manufacture as to know France isn't involved. I'd still like to get a handle on who now owns Herstal but that info seems hard to come by. My hang up is with France.

Flash · « **Reply #31 on:** March 03, 2005, 01:44:40 PM »

The Winchester over and unders are made in Belgium, NOT in the United States. I am quoting from a page in the Traders Guide that "The Winchester Model 23 side by side was manufactured in 1979 at it's Olin-Kodensha facility in Japan. Winchester Western Division.,Olin Corporation means just that. It is a division of the Olin Corporation in the western world. The Olin-Kodensha facility couldn't very well be called Winchester Eastern now could it? The Winchester Double Xpress was also made in Japan by the eastern Olin facility. It is hard to tell how many guns were produced in Japan but without a doubt, there is a manufacturing facility of Winchester's on the island of Japan.

Ramrod · « **Reply #32 on:** March 03, 2005, 01:49:18 PM »

GB, The 1885 single shot rifle was marketed by Browning and made in Japan. The Winchester version probably is the same gun. The semi-auto and the O/U both use Browning Invector choke tubes, so I would guess they are made in Japan too.

Ramrod · « **Reply #33 on:** March 03, 2005, 02:04:59 PM »

Quote from: Flash

Winchester Western Division.,Olin Corporation means just that. It is a division of the Olin Corporation in the western world. The Olin-Kodensha facility couldn't very well be called Winchester Eastern now could it?

You are kidding, aren't you? For those who might think you are serious, let me point out that Winchester Western was the name of the company after they bought out the Western Cartridge Company, and before they became a division of Olin.

Quote

It is hard to tell how many guns were produced in Japan but without a doubt, there is a manufacturing facility of Winchester's on the island of Japan.

Not Winchester, but there might be an Olin manufacturing facility there.

Flash · « **Reply #34 on:** March 03, 2005, 02:34:59 PM »

No, I'm not kidding. I know all about the purchase of Western Cartridge Company and the company was called Winchester Repeating Arms long after that purchase. The current Winchester Western Division.,Olin Corporation is all the same, not two separate entities. As someone stated and I believe that it was ramrod, "Winchester is a trade name of the Olin Corporation" as also stated on the Winchester web site. The Olin Corporation is the parent company and Winchester is just a subsidiary. Therefore, a Winchester is produced by Olin, whether it's in Japan or United States, the trade name Winchester is produced by Olin.

Ramrod · « **Reply #35 on:** March 03, 2005, 02:53:53 PM »

:roll: O.K., after this I give up.........Winchester, the cartridge company, owned by Olin, and "Winchester" the gun company, are two different things. This is from the Winchester ammunition website...

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In December, 1980, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the restructuring of the Winchester Group. This restructuring allowed Olin to better focus more of the company's resources on Winchester's sporting and defense ammunition business.

With this restructuring, Winchester's U.S. sporting arms business, which had been part of the company for nearly half a century, was set up as a freestanding operation. In July, 1981, it was sold to the U.S. Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut, which now produces Winchester brand rifles and shotguns under license from Olin Corporation.

Somerled · « **Reply #36 on:** March 03, 2005, 04:27:40 PM »

The New Haven plant is a union shop. Machinists still turn something out up there in New Haven or the plant would be on the market. Now, is one entire firearm made there? How does one define "made"? If one views "made" in a narrow sense such as "assemble", yes some Winchesters are certainly "made" in New Haven.

At least some of those 800 Herstal-employed U.S. workers must toil in the New Haven plant. And this is a well-known firearms forum. Are there any Winchester builders out there? Please tell us if you get some shipments of non-U.S. made components to assemble with parts made in house. If you do what is the percentage of non-U.S. parts? Are all the barrels crafted, rifled, and short chambered in the same plant where they are later fitted to actions?

I'm just curious and like to know the manufacturing process used to build any firearm I am planning to buy. It doesn't matter if the company is foreign owned or not. It is just like when a fellow bugs a custom gunsmith with questions before he and the artisan settle on a project of mutual benefit to them both.

I have bought Winchester rifles in the past and will do so again. The two Model 70 Featherweights I've shot worked fine right out of the box. I've not bought any new lever actions since the AE versions came out. I'm happy U.S. workers are keeping the machines turning in New Haven, no matter who owns them. To be sure, it doesn't take as many machinists to build one these days. They just keep those CNC units going.

Donaldo · « **Reply #37 on:** March 03, 2005, 06:14:05 PM »

OK, I will probably get flamed for this but here goes. We live in a world economy. Get used to it. Pieces and parts are outsourced all over the world. My Dodge pickup is made in Mexico. Does that make it worse or better? No. Thats just the way it is. The beloved Leupold scope that touts to be made in the USA buys their optics from Japan. No I can't prove it for sure, but to my satisfaction. For instance the production of fine multi coated lens is so specialized it is not economical for a manufacturer of "scopes" to do everything "in house". There are only about two scope manufactures that do everything in house. Just look at the prices, the two highest priced scopes do it all in house. Same way with rifles. As to who owns who, there are so many cross ownerships in the industrial world today I doubt if anyone knows for sure who owns who. But... if a french or belgium company owns a plant in Conn. or wherever that makes Remchesters, it is still Americans that are running the machines and putting the parts together. Buying only "USA made" today may limit you to the stuff you produce in your own workshop. As a side note this mess, what I really wanted to say was that I saw a Winchester 94 in 30-30 today at Walmart for $278. Seemed like a close out price to me, but I don't keep up with the price of these type rifles. Maybe they are closing out another line to go with the Russian made Remingtons. :shock:

Muskie Hunter · « **Reply #38 on:** March 03, 2005, 11:23:01 PM »

Donaldo,
" Russian made Remington's". Where did that come from?

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #39 on:** March 04, 2005, 12:51:54 AM »

Yea, really? I mean, I know Spartan Gunworks are now under Remington, but that's a subcontract of Baikal (or EAA or sumtin like that?). They're just being produced under Remington's name is all. They're not actually Remington. :grin:

armory414 · « **Reply #40 on:** March 18, 2005, 03:42:14 PM »

My 1967 Win. 101 says "Made in Japan." A Model 70 Stealth I handled at a gun show last year said "Assembled in Portugal from parts made in Japan"

According to the brochure I read a couple of years ago, FN Herstal owns the licencing for Winchester, Browning, Mauser, Blaser, and SIG-Sauer.

JohnClif · « **Reply #41 on:** April 10, 2005, 11:07:18 PM »

Most Winchester standard catalog rifles in current production are made in the US, such as the Model 70, 94, and 9422 variants.

Winchester Super-X shotguns are identical to Browning Gold shotguns and are made in Europe on the same production line. Virtually all parts interchange between the two models.

New production Winchester 1885s are relabeled Miroku/Browning 1885s and are made in Japan, along with Browning Citoris and .22 Auto rifles.

Many of the recent 'repro' Winchesters (52, 92, 1895, etc.) are made by Miroku in Japan.

John Browning went to FN after his dispute with Winchester (the original Winchester) over the Auto-5 shotgun. It was the first gun that he wanted a per-gun license fee, while Winchester wanted to keep the standard one-time lump sum fee. He went to Remington first, but the president of Remington died of a heart attack literally while Browning was waiting in his outer office.

Browning came back to US and had Remington make the Auto-5 (as the Model 11) and the .22 Auto (as the Model 24) after the US government imposed a tariff on Belgium. FN was still turning out these models but selling them overseas only during this period. When the tariff was lifted, FN-made Brownings again made it to the US marketplace.

Browning Arms cultivated a relationship with Miroku in the 1970s when rising labor costs in Belgium (because of socialist governent policies) were pricing Browning guns out of the US market. A current-production Miroku firearm is made from better materials and assembled to tighter tolerances than any mass-produced Winchester made before 1964 in New Haven.

FN's purchase of USRAC (who themselves purchased all of the physical assets of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company from Olin, and exclusively licensed the Winchester trademark for firearms fron Olin) put a much-needed shot of cash into USRAC and allowed them to modernize their production line. Yes, buying new CNC machinery did cost jobs, but the remaining jobs pay more, and today's US-, Belgian-, and Japanese-manufactured Winchester firearms are the best the company has ever made.