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Would anyone dare buy a Winchester rifle?


Axiom

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 Ok so, after deciding I would use a 270win caliber rifle for my up coming mountain lion hunt, I had to choose a maker.. After considering many manufacturers I finally settled in on a Winchester model 70.. Amongst other reasons, Its  reasonably priced, wood stock, uses controlled feed, the bolt emulates a Mausers bolt and, well, its a Winchester.. Developer of the 270 win round, not to mention they been around for since like for ever....  Or so I thought.. Found out Winchester no longer manufactures rifles and hasn't since 2006.. but instead leases its label out to some joe blow company in south Carolina who manufactures the parts and then sends them to Portugal for assembly then imported back to the U.S.

 

So here's my dilemma, Do I trust this gun?.. Should I assume Winchester exercises some measure of quality control over the joe blow manufacturer?.. after all, Winchester still does manufacture guns and ammo and I would think they have an interest in seeing to it those who operate under their name are producing quality products.. Reviews of the gun are great but, I doubt many of them know they are not actually produced by Winchester.. Maybe that's a good thing, I dunno.. :hmmmer:

:D

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Let's put it this way, we haven't been reading about lousy quality by Winchester as we have with some other manufacturers. But my Winchesters are both much older and I have no clue about the newer ones. Love my model 70 pre '64 style in 7 mm Rem. mag.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Actually, "Winchester" hasn't manufactured rifles since December 1980, when Olin-Winchester ceased firearms production after a union labor action. The New Haven manufacturing facility was then sold to its employees who incorporated under the name U.S. Repeating Arms Co. (USRAC).  USRAC continued manufacturing firearms in New Haven CT, under license from Olin-Winchester, until 1989 when USRAC filed for bankruptcy protection. Coming out of bankruptcy, USRAC was acquired by the Belgian "Herstal Group" who in addition to the "Winchester" firearms brand, owns both Fabrique Nationale (FN) & Browning Arms Co. The Winchester ammunition brand is still made by Olin.

 

You are correct in citing that USRAC no longer manufactures rifles at the New Haven plant, & hasn't since operations there where shuttered in 2006. However, the "Joe Blow" company you're referring to in South Carolina that currently produces the Model 70, is in fact Herstal's FN division, which manufactures the rifle from start to finish on ultra modern CNC machinery. Since 2013, Herstal has been shipping the Model 70 to it's plant in Portugal for final assembly, before importing it back to the U.S. for sale. Incidentally, this is the same plant that has been assembling Belgium made Browning Hi-Power 9mms for decades.

 

None of Herstal's subsidiaries makes junk. Rest assured, the Model 70 currently being produced is a fine rifle, held to incredible tolerances, being made by one of the largest firearms manufacturing groups in the world today.

Edited by loaded4bear
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My Mrs. is Portuguese and I am sure Portugal's economy will appreciate your purchase......she will be there in July....Ill send her to inspect the assembly  plant....

ESTATESALESBYOLGA.COM    ALWAYS BUYING ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE ITEMS  CALL 908 868 8236 MIKE

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 hmmm, from the responses here and reviews elsewhere,Sounds like the Winchester would still be worth buy'n..  But that Mauser 12  has now caught my attention .. Better grade of walnut for the stock and Winchesters bolt is based off the Mauser.. Beautiful gun .. But, its priced a little higher than I like.. Add a good scope to it and the package could be over $3000.. Not sure i'm getting anything other than better looks at that price..

:D

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I am surprised that you are using a heavy 270 on a mountain lion hunt. In the old days when we had to run on snowshoes behind the dogs for 20 miles and we wanted the lightest gun we could find.

My Idaho buddy uses either a pistol or a really light Weatherby Mark V in .244 Weatherby. It is not as strenuous now because the dogs are on GPS so you don't have to chase them for 20 miles but at my age a few miles on snowshoes up and down mountains is still tough going. The lion is typically up a tree when you shoot it so the distance is really short and accuracy is not a major concern.

My Idaho buddy has lion dogs, bred specifically for hunting mountain lions. I have a picture somewhere.

 

By the way, Winchester and Browning are basically the same company now.

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