I just got a response from an inquiry about Winchester gun availability where the distributor said that the plant in South Carolina has been moved to Portugal?
Does anyone know about that?

Thanks

Sorta

Yes....now they are made there and assembled in NC

Nice

No, Winchester isn't in Portugal. Parts come from there and are assembled in NC. Kind of like like how most stuff is made today.

I thought they were made here and assembled there.

Found this:

Winchester has recently admitted on its Facebook page that 2013 will see Model 70 rifles assembled in Portugal instead of South Carolina. Winchester states that the change will allow them to increase their output of Model 70 rifles to meet demand. Parts for the rifles will still be made in the U.S.A., but will be shipped to Portugal for final assembly and fitting before being shipped back to the U.S.A. for sales and distribution. SX2, SX3, and Model 101 over/under shotguns are already manufactured according to this model, so it must be more efficient than it sounds. Winchester aficionados already differentiate between pre- 1964 and post- 1964 manufactured Model 70 rifles. Will this change of final assembly point add yet another line in the sand for collectors to debate over? Only the finished product will determine if there is any significant difference in quality between the South Carolina assembled rifles built through 2012 and Portuguese assembled rifles built starting in 2013… - See more at: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/...sthash.aHnyWqhB.dpuf

So the economy is doin so well that American workers would turn up their noses at more jobs?

Browning bar and the winchester version is made there.

quote:

Originally posted by Muttly:
So the economy is doin so well that American workers would turn up their noses at more jobs?

The labor rate in Portugal is much lower than in the US.

They are being sent to Portugal to get the stocks put on them Fn has a their own in house stock making operation. Good ol U.S supplier of the model 70 stock went to shit and the QC got bad Winchester was sending more back to the supplier.

quote:

Originally posted by olarmy:

quote:

Originally posted by Muttly:
So the economy is doin so well that American workers would turn up their noses at more jobs?

The labor rate in Portugal is much lower than in the US.

It's a sad thing when American arms companies get cheaper labor rates in Europe ... How can that be?

Sounds like it was due to quality issues in the US.

I'm all for American jobs, but can tell you when we moved stuff (IT equipment) to China in the late 90's/early 2000's, quality increased significantly.

quote:

They are being sent to Portugal to get the stocks put on them Fn has a their own in house stock making operation. Good ol U.S supplier of the model 70 stock went to shit and the QC got bad Winchester was sending more back to the supplier.

I was under the impression the stuff was made here and actions, triggers etc were fitted in Portugal. This is this fist i have heard that FN has taken over stocks. Also sounds like a lot of work to send barreled actions to Portugal to get put on versus the stocks sent here.