Confirmed on January 18, 2006: Winchester Rifles will no longer be made in America.
Or anyplace else.
Currently being produced by a Belgian company "Herstal Group, the Belgian company that owns U.S. Repeating Arms and the right to the Winchester name", the New Haven, Conn. factory which currently manufactures Winchester Rifles for U.S. Repeating Arms will close its doors forever as of April 1, 2006.
No, this is not an early April Fools joke.
Winchester Rifles will continue to be made in Belgian and other European plants, but the traditional designs will not be among the product line.
Citing declining sales, Robert Sauvage, spokes man for the Herstal Group, this week announced that the 200 employes at the New Haven plant will be without a job after March 31 of this year.
The recent history of Winchester Repeating Arms, once owned by Olin Matheson, includes a "massive strike" by Machinists in the late 1970's which caused Olin to sell the plant, and the copyright to the Winchester Name, to the U.S. Repeating arms. That company is going out of business in six weeks.
"It would be like Chevrolet going out of business or Chevrolet being made in Japan or China," firearms historian Ned Schwing said. "Winchester is an American legend, whether you're a gun person or not."
We'll miss them.
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