Heard news winchester is closing its new haven plant,,Could it mean the end for them? http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-b...region-apconnecticut

Clay, this morning's paper had an article about that, and among the more interesting aspects was a quote by an Olin PR type who expressed corporate dissatisfaction over the state of affairs. As the current license agreement granted to USRAC expires next year, I am hoping that Olin will not renew, Herstal Group will wind up eating cold crat stew for dinner, and Olin will resurrect the Winchester line of products.

If it were to be so I'd hope they would follow in the steps of more recent success stories such as Dakota, and build the guns Winchester is famous for, and do it with high quality as a hallmark. Frankly I'd pay a lot more...a whole lot more mind you, for top quality work bearing their name. Add some custom shop options in regards to LOP, and perhaps work in tandem with some quality engravers and woodworkers...would be a plus. I'm thinking something beyond a stock selection of "custom" features on that, a potpourri of possibilities if the customer was willing to pay the freight. Apparently a lot of folks these days do, else the likes of D'Arcy Echols, David Miller, J. Rigby(the CA version) et al would not be in business. Anyway, that part would be the icing on the cake IMO.

When USRAC reintroduced the CRF Model 70 I was a tad shy on cash so I never picked one up. Very nice guns at the time. I did converse with the custom shop some time later with an eye to having them build me a 7x57...the gal said they couldn't do that...they couldn't make it feed apparently. Recognizing BS when I heard it of course, and a bit of time having passed, I noted that the quality of their production Model 70's was declining. That was about 7-8 years ago. Fit and finish don't ya know. Oddly enough, the F'n F on the 94/22 series seemed to improve with passing time...the one I recently purchased is a jewel in all regards...especially the wood. But I haven't seen a Mod 70 in a store that I'd own in the last 7 years. Some of that is due to the Stainless Tupperware Wizzin', er , WSSM line of products, none of which will EVER pass thru my portals. Some of it was just wood and blue, but it was poorly done in every regard. I can let some other fella pay the list price for that stuff, it'll be on the market when I need a donor action...or I'll buy a Dakota/MRC action.

Well, enough of the prattle. Time will tell regarding Winchester's future, hope it comes back, I truly do. Model 70, 94, 94/22, 12, and 21. That's all they need.

Dan

Pres., TYHC

http://www.IdLikeA.2535Takedown94WithAnOctagonBarrel

A qoute from the African Forum: What are the news? I thought they discontinued 1964?

Regards,
Martin